tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post3579045093229902402..comments2024-03-28T15:01:12.582+00:00Comments on The little white attic : Rereading War and Peace: Vol.2, P.5Hai Di Nguyenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-62597421622280198062023-01-06T08:30:43.174+00:002023-01-06T08:30:43.174+00:00I wrote more about the Kuragins and the Crawfords,...I wrote more about the Kuragins and the Crawfords, Fanny and Sonya here: http://thelittlewhiteattic.blogspot.com/2022/05/rereading-war-and-peace-vol2-p1-2.htmlHai Di Nguyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-11203077689285059182023-01-06T08:25:53.330+00:002023-01-06T08:25:53.330+00:00I have no idea, but they're certainly similar....I have no idea, but they're certainly similar. Sonya and Fanny too. Hai Di Nguyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-21185743223812404362023-01-06T02:49:55.258+00:002023-01-06T02:49:55.258+00:00Got here by googling "kuragins war and peace ...Got here by googling "kuragins war and peace crawfords mansfield park". I wonder if there is an acknowledgment of the similarity anywhere in the scholarly literature on Tolstoy and Austen.The Philosophy Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09818634065467163542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-47117192442680422982022-06-03T23:53:51.161+01:002022-06-03T23:53:51.161+01:00That's right, Nikolai at the end of the novel,...That's right, Nikolai at the end of the novel, discussing revolution with Pierre, coming down solidly on the side of the tsar. He's a dedicated member of the establishment. While Pierre goes off to become a Decembrist in the unwritten sequel.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-48390846921367990902022-05-31T18:05:02.179+01:002022-05-31T18:05:02.179+01:00Ah that bit I don't remember.Ah that bit I don't remember. Hai Di Nguyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-5787228449237712062022-05-31T16:58:07.773+01:002022-05-31T16:58:07.773+01:00True. And his children are more impressive than he...True. And his children are more impressive than he is, in that way. If you'll recall, it is not merely that Nikolai marries an heiress, but he also transforms himself into a responsible man of business, exactly so as to prevent his children from experiencing what he did. Michael Nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03232433990975678142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-16908312211777119372022-05-31T11:46:16.484+01:002022-05-31T11:46:16.484+01:00I think old Count Rostov is a loving father and go...I think old Count Rostov is a loving father and good in that way, but he is not very responsible and, as you say, catastrophically bad with money. He himself knows he ruins his own children's future. It's just lucky that later on Nikolai ends up with Marya and Natasha gets Pierre.<br />When he returns from a trip and notices that Natasha pretends to be unwell, and Sonya and Marya Dmitrievna look shamefaced, he knows something has happened but chooses not to ask, so as not to let it disturb his own mind. I understand it, but at the same time that's not very good for a father. He always buries his head in the sand. <br />Hai Di Nguyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-30219688023274274382022-05-31T11:34:25.040+01:002022-05-31T11:34:25.040+01:00When reading that scene, I did wonder if Tolstoy s...When reading that scene, I did wonder if Tolstoy shared the same thoughts as Natasha.<br />I know though, that he also tried to write plays himself, and apparently they weren't very good. I want to check out his plays. Hai Di Nguyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02230670162621139739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-391609273691110202022-05-30T20:29:21.248+01:002022-05-30T20:29:21.248+01:00Reading the famous scene in the theater I found my...Reading the famous scene in the theater I found myself—long before I had occasion to think of Tolstoy's dislike of Shakespeare—powerfully struck by how distasteful Tolstoy seemed to find the kind of theatrical performance of which he was writing, as a trivial, silly, artificial thing, such as he was to flatly declare it in his critique of Shakespeare. (Indeed, in laying out his theory of "defamiliarization"--what has since often been called "alienation"--the critic Viktor Shklovsky specifically discussed that scene at length as an example.) And while Natasha's response reflected her suffering through her personal crisis I couldn't help wondering if it wasn't also that he would have expected a character like her (whom so many have interpreted as a "natural," or "ideal" woman from Tolstoy's standpoint; the same character who performed as she did during the folk dance) to share his dislike of the artificial, trivial theater of the big city.Naderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06937701625419069972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901980733463068698.post-43840958122053048102022-05-29T19:26:12.578+01:002022-05-29T19:26:12.578+01:00I laughed at "a scheming, oily, opportunistic...I laughed at "a scheming, oily, opportunistic bastard like Boris." He's also cuckolding Pierre, who has to restrain himself from running Boris through with the ceremonial masonic sword. Later, Pierre threatens to bash in Anatol's head with a paper weight and shakes him back and forth by the lapel. Pierre's violent rages are always gratifying, because they generally only happen when he (and we) are morally outraged. One more comes later, during the French invasion of Moscow. <br /><br />The funniest part of Boris' attempted courtship of Marya is that she literally fails to notice it. She is so thoroughly preoccupied with her father's emotional abuse that she can think of nothing else. It is also interesting that for all of his venality and superficiality, Boris is capable of recognizing that Marya is more desirable than Julie (he prefers Marya, despite her homeliness, but gets no encouragement from her), and he also recognizes that Natasha is worth far more than Helene (despite that fact that he's one of Helene's lovers, and she is so beautiful). But he's still utterly materialistic, and settles for Julie's fortune (and not having to spend too much time with her). <br /><br />I wouldn't call old Count Rostov terrible. Yes, he is childlike and catastrophically bad with money, but he's a wonderful father in many other ways -- the warmth and loving atmosphere of the Rostov house is primarily due to him. He's like Dickens' Micawber. As for the old Prince Bolkonsky, I don't think he was always a terrible father, but he becomes so with age and creeping senility. <br /><br />I think without Sonya and Marya Dmitrievna, Natasha would certainly have gone off with Anatol and destroyed her life. The whole situation was a perfect storm for her. After a year of loyally waiting for and missing Andrei, she is crushed and humiliated by her horrible reception at the Bolkonsky's (Princess Marya's unconscious hostility, followed by the father's overtly hostile appearance in his bed clothes). Most importantly, I think Natasha is furious at Andrei (as well she might be), without herself being aware of it. This leaves her vulnerable to Anatol's advances and Helene's machinations. All without the benefit of having her mother nearby to talk with -- as the Count correctly observes, it's bad for girls to be without their mothers. But Natasha was very lucky to have Sonya nearby. Otherwise her end would have been tragic.<br /><br />The scene with the comet is magnificent, one of those great moments in Tolstoy. <br /><br />Michael Nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03232433990975678142noreply@blogger.com