Chapter 11
In the morning, Prince Andrew needs to be presented to the Emperor Francis. He goes to Bilibin's study where Prince Hippolyte Kuragin (son of Vasili and brother to Anatole and Helene) is waiting, among others. They are a collection of "young, gay society men" (smirk), almost exclusively diplomats, and have interests related to "high society, certain women, and the official side of the service". They meet up and gossip a little bit about society, but mostly about the women. Like The Inbetweeners, if they had better clothes and jobs. Prince Hippolyte is the one they all make fun of.
Chapter 12
Prince Andrew is finally in front of Emperor Francis. He's not very interested in hearing Prince Andrew's dramatic story and keeps interrupting with boring questions like "what time did the battle begin?". Afterwards, Andrew learns that an important bridge has been crossed by the French army, despite it being fitted with bombs and ordered to be blown up to prevent exactly this. No one knows why it wasn't destroyed, and the Russian army is cut off. Prince Andrew is thrilled; this his clearly his destined opportunity to be a war hero and lead the Russian army to victory from the jaws of defeat. Bilibin tells Prince Andrew that the French took the bridge by trickery, which seems to impress him. When he realises that Prince Andrew intends to return for honour and glory or some other idiocy, he tries to persuade him not to, and calls him a hero. I have decided not to read it as a compliment.
Chapter 13
Prince Andrew sets off for the army - though he doesn't know where it is - while the rest of the court packs up to head to Olmutz. Prince Andrew is having happy dreams of either winning or dying gloriously, whichever comes first. As Terry Pratchett would say, there's an important word in that sentence, and it's not the word "gloriously".
Prince Andrew manages to accidentally stumble into the army. I guess an army is a hard thing to miss. He gets poached by Kutuzov, despite wanting to go with Prince Bagration, who I swear we haven't met before. I think that's the group his friends are in. Kutuzov will hear none of it.
Okay, I googled, and Pyotr Bagration is a real Russian general whom Tolstoy considered the "hero of heroes". He dies at Borodino in November 1812, so we have that to look forward to.
Friday 14 September 2018
In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 2, Chapters 9 & 10
Chapter 9
The Russians are vastly outnumbered by the French army and the civilian population are not greeting them as heroes, as they had expected. This is not going well. They are also out of supplies, and so they are retreating, fighting only enough to protect their equipment. However, even their enemies acknowledge that they fight with courage and endurance - and it's the third-person narration saying this, not darling Bory's mother - which still only serves to make them retreat faster. This is a solid, tactical move, but not the noble war they thought they'd be fighting. Kutuzov was instructed, by Austrians, to mount an offensive at Vienna, but that plan has gone out of the window. His only goal is to join with the advancing Russian forces without losing his entire army "as Mack had done at Ulm". I'm sure the text has referenced Mack before. Yes it has, in book 2, chapter 4 and I talked about it then. Mack is Karl Mack Von Lieberich, who suffered a defeat. This was a big deal, presumably because he lost his entire army.
We zoom back in on the 28th of October. The Russians have actually beaten back a French division and taken banners, cannons, and two generals! They are very pleased about this. Rumours have begun that they have - or will very shortly - beat back Napoleon himself. The Austrian General Prince Andrew was buttling, or whatever the term is, has been killed in action and so Prince Andrew doesn't have a specific job right now, so he gets sent to tell the Austrian court of the Great and Glorious Russian victory. Apparently this is an important step towards a potential promotion. Also, Prince Andrew has a deceptive level of physical endurance, considering his lack of musculature. We're following him, as he rides along in the night, enjoining the calm and the sense of accomplishment and having happy little daydreams about how excited they'll be to see him and how grand his proclamations will be. That begins to fade as he gets closer to delivering his message and he begins to feel disdainful towards those far from the front lines. The minister of war is indifferent, and Prince Andrew is left feeling hollow.
Chapter 10
Prince Andrew is staying at Brunn with Bilibin, a Russian diplomat. Is he not going back to the war zone? He's enjoying all the comfort he's been deprived of anyhow. He's also happy to be speaking to a fellow countryman, even though they're speaking French. Bilibin and Prince Andrew knew each other back in St Petersburg, and both are young men with promising careers. Prince Andrew complains about his reception, and Bilibin points out that it wasn't a very impressive victory. Prince Andrew points out that the Austrians have been losing, so how can they be unimpressed by a Russian victory? Because they're Austrian, is the answer, and also because Viena isn't liberated from the French, Bilibin explains in French. Prince Andrew begins to understand that his news really isn't all that impressive. He is very small and sad. Still, he gets to spend the night in a nice, clean, feather bed with "warmed and fragrant" pillows, so it's not all bad. The battle has now become a happy daydream and a story about his own heroics.
The Russians are vastly outnumbered by the French army and the civilian population are not greeting them as heroes, as they had expected. This is not going well. They are also out of supplies, and so they are retreating, fighting only enough to protect their equipment. However, even their enemies acknowledge that they fight with courage and endurance - and it's the third-person narration saying this, not darling Bory's mother - which still only serves to make them retreat faster. This is a solid, tactical move, but not the noble war they thought they'd be fighting. Kutuzov was instructed, by Austrians, to mount an offensive at Vienna, but that plan has gone out of the window. His only goal is to join with the advancing Russian forces without losing his entire army "as Mack had done at Ulm". I'm sure the text has referenced Mack before. Yes it has, in book 2, chapter 4 and I talked about it then. Mack is Karl Mack Von Lieberich, who suffered a defeat. This was a big deal, presumably because he lost his entire army.
We zoom back in on the 28th of October. The Russians have actually beaten back a French division and taken banners, cannons, and two generals! They are very pleased about this. Rumours have begun that they have - or will very shortly - beat back Napoleon himself. The Austrian General Prince Andrew was buttling, or whatever the term is, has been killed in action and so Prince Andrew doesn't have a specific job right now, so he gets sent to tell the Austrian court of the Great and Glorious Russian victory. Apparently this is an important step towards a potential promotion. Also, Prince Andrew has a deceptive level of physical endurance, considering his lack of musculature. We're following him, as he rides along in the night, enjoining the calm and the sense of accomplishment and having happy little daydreams about how excited they'll be to see him and how grand his proclamations will be. That begins to fade as he gets closer to delivering his message and he begins to feel disdainful towards those far from the front lines. The minister of war is indifferent, and Prince Andrew is left feeling hollow.
Chapter 10
Prince Andrew is staying at Brunn with Bilibin, a Russian diplomat. Is he not going back to the war zone? He's enjoying all the comfort he's been deprived of anyhow. He's also happy to be speaking to a fellow countryman, even though they're speaking French. Bilibin and Prince Andrew knew each other back in St Petersburg, and both are young men with promising careers. Prince Andrew complains about his reception, and Bilibin points out that it wasn't a very impressive victory. Prince Andrew points out that the Austrians have been losing, so how can they be unimpressed by a Russian victory? Because they're Austrian, is the answer, and also because Viena isn't liberated from the French, Bilibin explains in French. Prince Andrew begins to understand that his news really isn't all that impressive. He is very small and sad. Still, he gets to spend the night in a nice, clean, feather bed with "warmed and fragrant" pillows, so it's not all bad. The battle has now become a happy daydream and a story about his own heroics.
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