Not much swimming

There is only one reference to swimming to Tolstoy’s War & Peace.  It is when Prince Andrei returns to Bald Hills, his family estate, after battle.  The French, under Napoleon, have devastated the countryside and the fields and houses have been plundered.  The men in Prince Andrei’s outfit are exhausted and take a swim in a pond, described as brown and dirty.

Obviously I didn’t read War & Peace for its swimming content.   It had been on the periphery of my reading list for a while – though not actually on the list itself. I have always used it as a metaphor (“Ever seen the menu at La Caridad, 78 the Cuban-Chinese place on the upper west side?  It’s longer than War & Peace,”  “Going to the DMV?  Take along a copy of War & Peace?”).  It is an investment in time.  So, on an impulse last May I bought a paperback copy – it was still a few pounds – at the WORD bookstore in Greenpoint.  As I paid for it the clerk asked me if I wanted it gift-wrapped.  As if people give War & Peace as a present (“Happy Bar Mitzvah Jonah – this will keep you going until your 30!”)?

My goal was to read 20 pages a day.  But first I had to put a special bookmark on the page listing the names of all the characters – because they each have at least three variations of their names – a Russian thing.  I had a basic, rudimentary sense of early 19^th century European history. The French Revolution led to change in Western Europe; reforms were just beginning across the continent; and Russia was slowly opening itself to the world beyond the Urals.  Other than the tasty, but always difficult to cut up pastry named after him, my knowledge of Napoleon was limited to his petite statue and the fact that he wanted to dominate Europe.

And they have character

Tolstoy tells the story of Napoleon’s advance eastward into Russia from 1804 through 1812 through the eyes of four families.  All are members of the 1% of their day.   After slogging through the first 200 pages I started getting into it.  As with any great novel the characters came to life.  Count Pierre, at first a buffoonish rich man’s son; Nicholai, sort of a wishy-washy dreamer; Prince Andrei – the Mr. Intensity of Bald Hill; Natasha, the lovely young scatterbrain; Princess Maya, humorless and repressed; and Helena, a slut for the ages. If Tolstoy had an eye for casting think Seth Rogen as Pierre, Chris Hemsworth as Nicholai; Christian Bale as Andrei; Ellen Page as Natasha; Jennifer Lawrence as Maya; and of course Lindsay Lohan as Helena.

I did finish more than half before we left for our yearly sojourn to Beaver Lake, Nebraska early this month.  It was there that I had the time to devour the book.  Lake life consists of early swims, coffee on the deck, driving into Omaha to buy the New York Times, planning the next meal, and of course reading.  For eight days I worked on my freestyle each morning, and spent the better part of each afternoon in the19^th century Russia with my new friends: Pete, Nick and Andy.

Sort of like the present?

A great novel stands the test of time and resonates across cultures.  Though I was sitting in a deck chair at the Beaver Lake Riviera, I really was in Russia – at an over the top soiree in Petersburg, at a duel in the snowy woods and watching as Moscow burned. And, like all classics the themes are just as relevant today as they were in the 18^th century.  Parents are still concerned with their children’s future, their finances, and of course where to go for summer vacations (though we don’t have serfs to carry the baggage). This relevancy extended to current events.  Watching the campaign unfold I was blown away reading Tolstoy’s words on Napoleon:  “The ignorance of his associates, the weakness and insignificance of his opponents, the sincerity of his lies, the brilliant and self-confident limitedness of this man to move to the head of the army…his childish boldness and self-confidence win him military glory.”  Sounds like someone running for office today?

The magnificent thing about War & Peace is how the characters do change – for the better – at least most of them (spoiler alert – Helena and her creepy brother Anatole do not change for the better – and they pay for it).  In an odd way it gave me hope for the future – both personally and for our country. As I head towards a milestone birthday I aim to do it with less cynicism.  If Pierre could do it – after all he went through – maybe I can too.

After my Russian trip I’m now in France and Spain with Hemingway a la The Sun Also Rises.  Papa’s characters are truly despicable – but the weather and the food are so much better.