In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapters 3, 4, and 5

Chapter 3

Everyone is very excited about the dinner for Prince Bagration, and 'Kutuzov' is a dirty word.  Also, people are wearing Russian kaftans, which I did not know was a thing, but I like them! Prince Bagration is feeling awkward, especially when someone reads out a poem about him.  After the meal, there are many toasts, beginning with the Emperor.  The most interesting thing is that we learn that Bagration's first name is Peter, after which everyone sings a song to him.  Count Ilya Rostov is very moved, especially when they toast him, for organising the whole thing.

Chapter 4

I forgot to mention - I sat my last exam this morning!  Not just the last exam for this academic year, but the last in my entire degree!  I do have another year to go, because I'm doing an MSci in Genetics, but the last year is the project, so there is no exams, only coursework.  I also hope to do a PhD after this.  Anyway, I've been reading this book since second year, not because it's particularly hard going - it's just long and has a lot of characters - but because I leave long gaps between chapters.  I've read books of comparable length in the meantime - 1q84 and Atlas Shrugged, for instance - but they were a bit easier, because I didn't commit to sitting at my PC and typing each chapter.  I've also not read a Stephen King novel in two years, though I do still consider myself to be in the middle of reading his entire published work.  I'll likely change my daily goal to being a few pages or a percentage of his novels, once I've finished that.  Anyway, what I've been building up to saying is that my new goal is to read 3 chapters a day of War and Peace, which should have been finishing by early September.  I'm moving house, going on 2-3 holidays and working during that period, so we'll see how it goes.  Two of those holidays are see-the-place-do-the-thing type holidays, but the other one is a relaxing-in-a-hot-tub type holiday, so I might get more reading done on that last one.

Chapter 4 of book 4 opens with Pierre, Dolokhov, and Nikolai.  Pierre is depressed, and has heard many hints (from his half-sister and nasty anonymous letters) about his wife and Dolokhov.  He steadfastly refuses to believe these rumours - because he's a loyal big dumb kitten - but still doesn't want to be in Dolokhov's company.  He is beginning to see how other people could believe these rumours, even while he's denying them to himself.

When Dolokhov came back from war, a few months back, he came straight to Pierre, who put him up and leant him money.  Helene approved of this, and Dolokhov was very complimentary about her.  Dolokhov stayed with them until they came to Moscow, though I'm not sure quite how long that's been - days, or weeks, or maybe a month or two.  Can't be much longer, since they got back from battle at the end of Autumn and it's early spring now.

Pierre is remembering how Dolokhov looks when he's cruel, like when he tied that policeman to the bear, way back in chapters 10-11 of book 1 (I didn't need to look that up - it's my favourite fun fact about this book), and thinking that Dolokhov probably would enjoy betraying Pierre's trust.  Though, of course, he still doesn't believe it.  Denisov has joined Nikolai and Denisov, sitting across from Pierre, and they seem very gay.  I am not going to make a joke about Nikolai's love for the Emperor here.  Rostov's throwing dirty looks at Pierre, firstly because he seems like a boring old woman, having not gone to war and being married and so on, and secondly because he didn't greet Nikolai or even seem to notice when he arrived.  Just to pile insult on insult, Pierre doesn't even join in the toast to Emperor Alexander.

Rostov calls him out at that last one, and Pierre sighs and joins the toast.  He then realises that he recognises Nikolai and greets him, but Nikolai is busy huzzahing.  Dolokhov and Denisov try to get him to acknowledge Pierre, but Nikolai is now busy being offended.  Pierre can't hear them, but knows they're talking about him, and goes red.  Poor big dumb kitten.  Someone should pick him up and put him in a nice book, not Mean Girls in a 19th Century Warzone (and Peace) which is what I appear to be reading now.  Denisov says "one should make up to the husbands of pretty women,", and Dolokhov turns to Pierre and toasts the health of lovely women and their lovers.

Honestly, I have gone right off Dolokhov.  Pierre joins the toast without looking at or answering Dolokhov.  It's only when the waiter hands Pierre - as a honoured guest - a leaflet with Kutuzov's cantata and Dolokhov snataches it that Pierre finally loses his temper.  Two men nearby - "Nesvitski and the neighbour on this right", who I'm not sure we've met before - know the rumours about Dolokhov and Helene, and are pretty sure this will devolve into a brawl soon, and react in alarm.  Dolokhov is pleased to have finally gotten a reaction out of Pierre, who challenges him to a duel.  As he hears himself making the challenge, Pierre finally realises that he does believe the rumours, and that he hates Helene and is forever sundered from her.

Personally, I am convinced that Dolokhov wrote the anonymous letter himself, just to be a dick.

Nesvitski agrees to act as Pierre's second, and Nikolai will be Dolokhovs.  The duel is for the next day.  Pierre goes home, while Dolokhov, Nikolai, and Denisov remain at the club "listening to the gypsies and other singers".  When Dolokhov is leaving, Nikolai asks if he's calm, and Dolokhov shares his philosophy of dueling.  It's oddly similar to Granny Weatherwax's - you go in convinced that the other person is going to lose.

Next day, at 8am, they all meet at the Sokolniki forest.  Denisov has come too.  Pierre seems distracted, and does not appear to have slept.  He's now certain of the affair, but is still forgiving towards Dolokhov.  Apparently, his logic is that since he means nothing to Dolokhov, Dolokhov has done nothing wrong in betraying him.  Poor big dumb kitten.  He's pretty sure that the two outcomes are either that he will kill Dolokhov or that Dolokhov will hit him in "the head, or elbow, or knee".  It doesn't seem to cross his mind that Dolokhov is prepared to kill him.

When everything's ready, Nesvitski tries to tell Pierre that he's in the wrong and should apologise so there won't be a duel.  I think this is like the thing people do where they ask people to be nice to racists or to pretend not to be gay in front of homophobes, rather than just asking people not to be racist or homophobic, because they think the nice people will make less of a fuss.  Pierre agrees that the whole situation is horribly stupid, but the duel is still going to happen.  

Chapter 5

No one quite seems to know how to begin the duel, and there is some awkward back and forth.  Pierre is smiling in an eerie way.  Denisov decides to act as referee.  Pierre successfully shoots a gun for the first time in his life, and manages to injure Dolokhov's hand.  I am completely on Pierre's side here.  Dolokhov played stupid games and won a stupid prize.  He starts to beg, and Pierre's emotional shell cracks, and he sobs and rushes towards him.  Dolokhov tells him to go back to his barrier though - he still wants to duel.  Pierre faces Dolokhov and waits for the shot.  Dolokhov manages to miss entirely and then faints.  Pierre runs off into the forest, muttering about folly, death, and lies. 

Dolokhov is silent until Nikolai and Denisov get him back to Moscow, when he starts crying about having killed his mother, who will surely be heartbroken when she sees him dying.  He asks Nikolai to go on ahead and warn her, and Nikolai does so, surprised to learn the Dolokhov lives with his old mother and hunchback sister and "was the most affectionate of sons and brothers".  Why is he such a dick to everyone else then?

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Rostovs are rich now, due to remortgaging all their property, so Nikolai gets a whole new wardrobe to gad about Moscow in now he's back.

Rostov now considers himself a man, having gone off to war and come home with a Cross of St George, which I had assumed was only an English thing.  He's still a little enamoured with the emperor, and has not gone back to Sonya but is cultivating manly pursuits like hanging out with generals, and going to the races.  

It's now March, and Count Ilya Rostov is ordering a dinner for Prince Bagration at the English Club, where Nikolai has also been hanging out.  This involves much discussion of menu and flowers.  Anna Mikhaylovna is still here, and, honestly, I am bored of her.  She's going to go bother Pierre, because he has both flowers and a letter from Darling Bory.  Apparently, Helene has had an affair with Dolokhov.

In other news, everyone in Russia has been shocked by the defeat at Austerlitz and no one quite knows what to think.  Everyone is blaming it on the Austrians and the Polish and French generals.  Prince Bagration is considered a hero for being the only man to withdraw his column unbroken.  If I recall correctly, that's because they never actually entered the battle.  Also, approving of Bagration is a way of showing disapproval to Kutuzov.  At the end of the chapter, we finally learn that Bolkonski died.  It's possible that that's only what the gossips of Russia believe, since we last saw him wounded and in French custody, but he was very badly wounded.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapter 1

Chapter 1

That battle took place - if I recall correctly - in October or so of 1805.  It's now early in 1806 and Nikolai Rostov is on leave, on his way home to Moscow to see his family.  He's invited Denisov, but Denisov has drunk 3 bottles of wine and is having a little snooze in the cab as Nikolai gets more and more excited about being home.  He forgets Denisov entirely when he reaches his house and his family try to smother him with hugs and kisses.  Sonya - his cousin and girlfriend - is now sixteen, very pretty, and gazing at him lovingly.  Anna Mikhaylovna, mother of Darling Bory is also there because apparently she doesn't have a home to go to.  Denisov comes in as Nikolai's mother is sobbing all over his Hussar's uniform and wipes his eyes at the sight.  Denisov - whose first name is also Vasili, which I am sure will not be confusing at all - is introduced to the family, and Natasha calls him "Darling Denisov!", leaps on him and kisses him, which is confusing for all.  No one wants to let Rostov out of their sight.  Rostov is happy, but kept expecting to feel happier.  

Rostov and Denisov sleep in until 10am the next, when Rostov's family can bear it no longer and the servants start bustling around getting them ready for the day.  Petya, Nikolai's little brother, is obsessed with the weapons they've brought home.  As soon as Nikolai is up and dressed, Natasha leaps on him again, constantly talking, laughing, and admiring his moustache.

Sonya ran away as soon as she saw Nikolai, which confuses him.  He asks Natasha about it, and she ignores the question and asks if he's going to refer to Sonya with 'thou' (intimate form) or you (more formal).  He says "as may happen" and Natasha insists that he use 'you' and she'll explain why later, so clearly there is some juicy gossip here.

Apparently, Sonya has nobly decided to renounce Nikolai, even though she will love him forever, because she doesn't want him bound by childhood promises.  Nikolai insists that he would rather like to be bound by that promise, and Natasha says they knew he'd say that, but they've decided.

Nikolai thinks it over for a minute, and while Sonya is very lovely and also in love with him, and he realises he has a lot of interests other than just being married and decides to just go with it for now.  They move on to talking about whether Natasha is true to Darling Bory and she laughs at the very idea.  She says "I don't think about him or anyone else and I don't want anything of the kind".  Now she's got a crush on a dancer called Dupont, which seems fair enough for a fifteen-year-old girl.  Better than ending with a gold digger like Pierre did with Helene.

Natasha has decided she is going to be single forever and become a dancer.

At breakfast, Nikolai isn't sure how to act around Sonya and he's convinced that everyone is looking at them.  They exchanged detailed looks, indicating that, firstly, she will always love him and is sorry of reminding him of his promise, and, secondly, he will always love her but he is grateful for his freedom.  The eldest sister, Vera, comments on how oddly they're behaving and that they've changed their form of you, and everyone feels uncomfortable, even Nikolai and Vera's mother.  She's glad they're not getting married, she wants a better match for Nikolai.  Denisov finally turns up to breakfast and is the perfect gentleman, which is a bit of a surprise for Nikolai.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapters 18 and 19

Chapter 18

Rostov is still looking for Kutuzov and/or his beloved emperor, but he can only find crowds of disorganised troops.  Eventually someone tells him that they've already run away, but Rostov dismisses him as a drunk.  Someone else tells him that Emperor Alexander rode away in his carriage an hour ago, and Rostov marvels at just how many drunks there are in the Russian army today.  They did have vodka for breakfast, so it can't be that much of a surprise.  The next rumour he hears is that the commander in chief is wounded, having been struck by a cannon ball in the chest, but that it wasn't Kutuzov.  Rostov decides that that must be what has happened to the Emperor.  When he asks for directions, he's told that the road ahead is certain death, but decides to take it anyway, because what is his life without Tsar Alexander in the world?

Rostov finally reaches a village, where he hears that the carriage was, in fact, driven by Count Tolstoy and the Emperor really was wounded, or maybe not.  The rumour mill is grinding.   Rostov hears a rumour that someone from HQ was seen in the village behind them, and goes searching for them.  It turns out that it is his beloved Emperor!   Nikolai knows he needs to speak to him and deliver his message, but he loses his nerve at actually approaching the Tsar.  All his planned speeches were intended for noble moments, like after victory or when he's dying heroically in the Tsar's arms, not at 4 o'clock in the afternoon while asking for instructions that were needed at 9am.  Captain von Toll - who we haven't met before - happens to be riding past and goes to comfort the emperor, and Rostov is struck with jealousy and despair.  He goes after Kutuzov, having lost the emperor.

It's now 5pm and the battle is lost on all flanks.  I'm not sure if Andrew is dead or not, but I think he might have been the one who took a cannonball to the chest, so probably.  Dolokhov is the only one left of his regiment (can't recall if that's the one Andrew was in) because everyone else is dead by cannonball.  He tries to run across the ice on a frozen lake with a crowd of others, but it sinks as the cavalry follow them and everyone dies.

Chapter 19

Andrew is alive!  He's been lying where he fell all die, because he's pretty injured.   He regains consciousness properly as night falls and tries to figure out where he is.  He can't move, since he's lost quite a lot of blood.   It's probably for the best, because Napoleon is wandering around nearby, admiring the Russian dead as "fine men".   He calls Bolkonski's "a fine death", since Andrew is so still, but then Andrew manages a groan and gets captured as a prisoner of war.  He loses consciousness again, until the next day when he's taken to a French hospital.  Napoleon comes to see him and a few others as members of Tsar Alexanders honoured guard, but all Andrew can think about it is how insignificant his hero now seems, compared to the sky he saw as he was dying.  The cross his sister Marya gave him had been taken by a French soldier, but is hastily returned when they see how respected these guards are by Napoleon.  Andrew thinks about how he envies his sister's faith, which is the first time he's thought of his sister throughout the whole book.  He still hasn't thought about his unborn child.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapter 17

Chapter 17

We're back to 9am, so presumably a little bit before Andrew gets shot (I am assuming he was shot).  Bagration doesn't want to march into battle, so he tells Dolgorukov, who's pushing for a commencement of the action, that he's going to ask the commander in chief (Kutuzov) for further instruction.  They're more than 6 miles apart, so even if the messenger is not killed (which Bagration is implied to be hoping for), and finds the chief, he won't be back before evening.  He sends Rostov.  Rostov is eager and acts what he should do if he meets His Majesty, the beloved Emperor, before the commander-in-chief, and Dolgorukov gives him permission to ask the emperor instead.

As Rostov rides towards Kutuzov, he begins to hear gunshots and to see bits of the battle through the fog, but not in enough detail to figure out what's happening.  He accidentally gets caught up in the Horse Guards, who are advancing to attack the French cavalry, but he manages to get free without being swept into battle. Rostov admires them and will he horrified later, when he learns that only 18 survived.  Suggested soundtrack below.

As Rostov rides by the Foot Guard, darling Bory calls out to him.  He's thrilled to have been in a real battle and survived.  He finally gets around to asking Rostov what he's up to, and there's some confusion over who Rostov is looking for before he's able to continue his quest.  Shortly after that, he hears gunshots behind the Russian troops, which surely can't be right.  It is though - he's in the middle of the same battle as Andrew, I think.  The Russians, Austrians, and Germans have turned against one another (like that's new, though maybe it was in the 1800s).  Rostov decides not to think about it, because surely none of this can be right, especially not the French soldiers near where he was told Kutuzov is.  He rides on.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapters 14 and 15

Chapter 14

It's 5am and the Russians are advancing.  They are feeling very optimistic about this, at least for the first hour.  Then they start to feel that something had gone wrong, especially since, as we know, the generals aren't particularly enamoured of the plan and so haven't bothered to go around cheering the men up about following it.  The narration says they blame the Germans, calling them 'sausage eaters'.  Really, they are the wurst.  Seriously though, I did not know that bit of slang went this far back.

No one is where they're supposed to be, and everyone is angry about it.  The narration informs us that the Austrian flank was moving to the left, which meant the centre was too far separated from the right flank, and so the Austrian cavalry had to turn around and come back, blocking the advance of the infantry.  So while they all think it's Germany's fault, it is actually Austria's fault.  I am not going to make a Hitler joke, it would be in poor taste.

An Austrian guide and a Russian general start fighting at the front, because the Russian wants his infantry regiment to get past without waiting for the cavalry, and the Austrian tells him its the fault of his higher command (it is).  None of this helps the troops' collective mood.

This whole thing takes an hour.  Then they finally make it down the hill and the first shots are fired.  Unfortunately, they'd expected the French to be further away, it's foggy, and none of the officers are telling them what to do (because they are also lost in the fog).  That's the first to the third columns.  The fourth column, including Kutuzov, are still on the hill.  I don't know where Nikolai is - presumably he's already down there, since he asked to be at the front.  Napoleon's standing on the opposite hill, gazing down at the sea of fog below which a battle is taking place.  His plan is going as intended - the Russian's think he's further away, in another direction.  He doesn't attack yet though - it's the anniversary of his coronation, and, watching the battle going his way, he has "the face of a boy happily in love".  You know, in another world, I think he and Nikolai would get together and paint little soldiers and map out amazing battles that take up entire flats.  Anyway, Napoleon tells his regiment to charge at the soldiers still on the hill.  It's just after 9am.

Chapter 15

We're back in time, at 8am.  Kutuzov is leading his fourth column down the hill.  Prince Andrew is behind him, and he's also feeling excited and optimistic.  I realise this is absolutely not the same thing, but the controlled calm suppressing excitement and irritation is how I go into exams.  Anyway, Prince Andrew feels that it's "the day of his Toulon, or his bridge of Arcola", which I looked up.

[1] On 17 November 1796, fighting the Austrians in northern Italy, Napoleon, at the head of his grenadier and with a banner in this hand, charged onto the bridge at Arcole to keep the enemy from taking it. The plague that was raging in Jaffa when the French stormed the city afflicted both the local population and the French army. Napoleon visited the plague victims in the hospital with his marshals Berthier and Bessières, an incident commemorated by the French painter Jean-Antoine Gros (1771-1835) in The Plague Victims of Jaffa (1804).

 So, in what Prince Andrew thinks is a moment of victory, he likens his feelings to that of a victory the enemy he's currently facing had won previously, in which everyone got plague.  This really does not feel like a good omen to me.

Prince Andrew is expecting difficulties when he finally joins the battle down in the foggy basin, and is daydreaming about how he's going to handle that, and how it will lead to his glory.  The fourth column finally reach the village and there's some difficulty in getting past it.  In response to someone turning up to ask if the fourth column has passed the village, Kutuzov sends Andrew to see if the third column has gotten past yet, and if they have sharpshooters.  They have, but do not - the head of that column doesn't realise he's anywhere near a battle, and, tbh, he may not be.  I'm beginning to suspect all the shots in the fog are just nervous Russians.  He gets back to Kutuzov, who is in no hurry to move forward.  The two emperors ride past, and Nikolai is going to be so mad he missed this.  The Tsar is not happy with Kutuzov - who he calls Michael Ilariovich - waiting, and tells them to get on with it, they're not on the Empress' field for parade.  Kutuzov replies that that's exactly why they're not moving yet - because it's not a parade.  Everyone is shocked that he would say such a thing to the Emperor, but Kutuzov has gone back to looking innocent and agrees he'll do what he's told.

Chapter 16

Kutuzov and his column stop after about half a mile, or five minutes.  The fog's clearer and they can see the enemy about a mile and a half away, on the opposite hill.  Then someone suddenly shouts and they realise there are more troops, less than five hundred paces away,  Prince Andrew decides this is his moment of glory and rides up to Kutuzov to tell him that the French must be stopped, but then the French start firing at them and people start screaming and running away.  Kutuzov doesn't run, even when someone tells him to, even when his face is wounded.  Prince Andrew forces his way back to him to check he's okay.  Andrew is less heroic and more scared now.  Kutuzov tries to get his men back, but is carried away by another column running away.  He finally gets through, with only four members of his suite (I am gathering, a smaller group within the column?), and rides towards the sound of gunshot.  Kutuzov tells them to get the column back, but gets shot at again.  This time, the French know he's a general and they're purposefully aiming for him and his suite.  The guy holding the flag gets shot, along with several others, and Kutuzov calls for Andrew.  Andrew jumps off his horse, grabs the standard and runs with a cry of 'Forward!', feeling pleased that people are shooting at him.  I can see how this would be a fun challenge and also how you'd be getting a massive jolt of adrenaline, but I also think he doesn't really believe that he can die.  Seeing how confidently he charges, the battalion come with me.  I did not have much faith in Andrew's dreams -

- but they seem to be working out for him.  A sergeant tries to grab the standard off Andrew, because Andrew can't really hold it up properly, but he immediately gets shot and Andrew runs on.

He makes it to the front, where he can see Russians running back towards him and French soldiers turning the guns around to fire back at them.  Still he keeps going, until he is very suddenly stopped, by some je ne sais quoi.  His legs stop working and he falls to the ground, he is unclear on why.  Presumably, he's been shot somewhere.  He's not dead - he's staring up at the sky and realising everything is vanity and falsehood except the infinity sky.  Not once in this whole thing has he thought about his wife and their future baby.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapter 13

Chapter 13

While Andrew Bolkonski is sitting through a war meeting, Nikolai Rostov is outside, on skirmishing duty, slowly drifting off while daydreaming about the Emperor.  He decides that, tomorrow, he'll ask to be on the front lines, so as to be closer to his hero.  Suddenly, he's woken by shouting, which he assumes is the enemy camp.  The hussar next to him - who is not named - is non-commital.   Prince Bagration and Prince Dolgorukov show up behind them, also trying to find out what the shouting is.  Since it's French cheering for L'Empereur, I suspect it is the enemy camp.  The generals order Rostov to go take a closer look.  Rostov gets shot at and comes back to find Dolgorukov insisting that the French are terrified and retreating and clearly only lit fires as a trick.

Rostov reports that the French haven't moved from where they last saw them, and manages to get in his request to be sent to the front, in the secret hopes that he'll be sent to the Emperor with a message.

Bagration agrees and asks if he's Ilya Rostov's son, which Nikolai ignores.  I am not sure whether he is or not, I can't remember if it's come up.

I googled, it has and he is.

We - the all-seeing audience and the narrative voice - then nip over to the French camp, where it turns out the shouting is because Napoleon is riding around while his proclamation is sent around the camp.  He's telling them that the Russians will attack tomorrow, that they've beaten them before, and how he intends to attack their flank as they march around on the right (I can't recall if that's actually their plan or not - I dozed off with Kutuzov when they were talking about it.  I suppose it's possible that the actual plan could be something so stupid that Napoleon would never foresee it).  He also refers to the Russian army as the 'hireling of England' (which may be accurate, we have had a lot of wars with France), and vows that he'll be out on the front lines if they ever appear to be at risk of losing, which he doubts will happen.  And there we end.  I suspect that the French will win, but we'll find out tomorrow I guess.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapter 12

Chapter 12

At the meeting, Weyrother - who came up with the agreed-upon plan of attack - is excited.  Kutuzov is not.  Prince Bagration skips it entirely.  Prince Andrew comes to tell them and remains in the room, based on Kutuzov's previous implied invitation.  Kutuzov doesn't care - he falls asleep.  Weyrother's plan is so long and boring and complicated that the narration wraps it up with "and so on".  It takes an hour.  Langeron, a Count from Southern France - who is a Russian general - points out the problems in the plan, but Weyrother is confident that Napoleon is just waiting around to be crushed even though, as Langeron points out, that would be stupid.  Kutuzov briefly wakes up, but realises they're still talking about the battle plan and goes back to sleep.  Prince Andrew is also waiting to express doubts, but only because he's convinced his plan will be better.  He's not able to, because Kutuzov wakes up, points out that it's now after midnight and too late to change the plan the emperors have agreed to.  Prince Andrew is concerned that the learned Generals have so many problems with the plan, and yet he and the other soldiers are still being asked to risk their lives on it.  He finally thinks of his father and wife as he realises he may actually die tomorrow.  He distracts himself with a nice daydream in which he saves the regiment single-handedly and is put in charge.  He realises that he's more afraid of not being a glorious hero than he is of dying trying, which are indeed the two options he's been given.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapter 11

Chapter 11

This chapter picks up right where the last one left off.  The army is at Wischau, but, news, the Emperor Alexander has summoned his physician, and news spreads amongst the army that he is ill, because he's so sensitive and upset about the sight of the killed and wounded in this war he's decided to have.

A French officer turns up a few days later, waving a flag of truce -

- and demanding to speak to the Russian emperor.  He's given a name - Savary - so I assume he'll show up a few more times in the remaining 306 chapters of this book.  Prince Dolgorukov escorts him back to the nearest French outpost, which sparks some gossip.  You may recall - I didn't - that Dolgorukov is the one who Andrew asked to find a job for Darling Bory.  The army suspects that Savary came to request that Emperor Alexander meet with Emperor Napoleon and that Dolgorukov was sent to negotiate with Napoleon on Alexander's behalf.

More grist is added to the rumour mill when Dolgorukov comes back and remains with Emperor Alexander for some time.  This is the 17th, and the next big event, the battle of Austerlitz, happens on the 20th (I have forgotten the month and year).  The Russian army marches forwards two days, and manages to make the nearest French outposts retreat with only a few shots fired.  A big bustle of activity starts up around the Emperor and high command on the 19th, spreading to the others by the evening.  Eighty-thousand troops march, in a column six miles long, throughout the night, and the result of the battle is revealed in a rather lovely paragraph which I am going to quote in its entirety.

"Just as in the clock the result of the complex action of innumerable wheels and pulleys is merely the slow and regular movement of the hand marking the time, so the result of all the complex human activities of these 160,000 Russian and French - of all their passions, hopes, regrets, humiliations, sufferings, outbursts of pride, fear and enthusiasm - was only the loss of the battle of Austerlitz, the battle of the three Emperors, as it was called; that is to say, a slow movement of the hand on the dial of human history".

Before the battle, Prince Andrew has been running around and trying to figure out all the gossip.  He has a bad feeling that people are upset with him, about something he's not been informed of.  He finally gets the chance to ask Dolgorukov what Napoleon is like.  Dolgorukov is convinced that Napoleon is quaking in his boots, and also manages to slip in another remark about how young men are much better at war than old generals because of their hot blood and 'instincts'.

Prince Andrew wholeheartedly agrees and is rather keen to explain his own plan of attack while critiquing the one that's been agreed on.  Dolgorukov gets bored and says Andrew can explain it later, at Kutuzov's council of war.  Bilibin - who made fun of Hippolyte Kuragin in a previous chapter, I just checked - laughs at them and points out that Kutuzov is the only Russian in charge of a column in the Russian army.  Making fun of Hyppolyte now seems a bit mean.  He's the least messed-up Kuragin.  Dolgorukov contradicts him by naming three others, which still doesn't seem like much from 80,000 soldiers.  Later, Andrew asks Kutuzov what he thinks about the battle, and Kutuzov is pretty sure they'll lose.  He said as much to Count Tolstoy - another real person, later gaining the name Ostermann-Tolstoy - and asked him to tell the emperor, but the count said he was busy with his dinner and Kutuzov should deal with his own military matters.

I assumed the name 'Tolstoy' was a coincidence, but the Count is actually a relative of the authors.  I also learned that Leo Tolstoy's ancestor was made a count by Peter the Great, and that one of the author's descendants is the current advisor of culture to the president of Russia.  This may perhaps explain why the book is taught in schools today (that was a joke, it's a good book).  There was another, related, Count Tolstoy alive and a soldier in 1805, but he wasn't at the Battle of Austerlitz.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapter 10

I made a spreadsheet for reading War and Peace.  The dates are when I expect to read each chapter, assuming one chapter a day.  The first row at the bottom is what percentage I'll be at when I finish each part, then what percentage of the whole each part is, and then the average percentage each chapter in that part contributes to the whole.  I enjoy spreadsheets, I find them relaxing.  I also made a little calculator.

If I read one chapter per day, I won't be done until next March, but if I read 3, I'd be done by the end of August.  I've still got a solid week of exams to go, but I'm thinking of reading a bit faster after that, especially since I'll get busy again in September.  Anyway.

Chapter 10

It's dawn on the 16th of November, and Denisov's squadron, in which Nikolai serves, is marching out.  Unfortunately, they remain in reserve and Nikolai is disappointed, especially when the Russian's win without his contribution.  They've occupied Wischau and captured a whole French squadron.

He's also annoyed to have wasted all that time being worried and then not going into battle, which I get, because I spent last night revising pharmacogenetics and it didn't show up this morning's exam.  Denisov suggests that they drink, and I'd forgotten about his lisp.  He can't pronounce his Rs, which doesn't stop him from trying to buy a captured French horse.  It used to belong to a young Alsation, which I guess means someone from Alsace.  He speaks French with a German accent.

The Alsation has gone a bit mad, and thinks he's back in his own army.  Rostov buys his horse, since he's now the richest officer, having received his mother's care-package two chapters ago.  Then the emperor turns up, and Rostov forgets all his earlier disappointment and is "as happy as a lover" to be in the Emperor's presence.  I'm beginning to understand why the Russian commentator for Eurovision 2018 thought he could explain away Ireland's gay love ballad as being about two really close male friends.

...the narration then describes the emperors face as being fully of gaiety, and honestly, I know it was a different time, and patriotism and male friendship and so on, but I'm still waiting for someone to say "no homo".  A little later, Rostov sees the emperor shudder in response to a dying soldier, and it is this - sympathy for his beloved emperor - that finally prompts him to think that war is a terrible thing.  It seems everyone is in agreement re their beloved Tyrant, judging by the response when Rostov proposes a toast to him that evening.  Afterwards, Denisov finally says it; "As there's no one to fall in love with on campaign, he's fallen in love with the Tsar."  I knew it wasn't just me.  I am starting to wonder if Russian has more words for love than English does, because while it is a little romantic, in the sense of Rostov having big dramatic daydreams about dying for the Emperor, it's not sexual in any way - more a cross between agape and philia.  The chapter ends by pointing out that 9/10s of the Russian army feel this way, though to a slightly less dramatic extent.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next day, Darling Bory rides out to visit Andrew Bolkonski, hoping to wrangle himself into a better post.  He's a bit annoyed with Rostov, who's just been sent 10,000 rubles, for talking about not wishing to be anyone's lacky.

He doesn't find Andrew, but he does see a lot of people in shiny uniforms attached to the two emperors, and he really wants to be part of that world.

He tries again the next day, and this time he manages to find Andrew, who is talking to a decorated general.  Prince Andrew ditches the old general with a sightly contemptuous French accent, and Bory realises the unwritten law that would allow a mere Captain to do that.  I am not yet sure what that law is.  Is it the golden rule?

Prince Andrew says he's been thinking about Darling Bory and says he will talk to his friend, Prince Dolgorukov about him.  Prince Andrew is willing to do this, the narrative tells us, because it keeps him in touch with the successful inner circle.

At the same time, a council of war is being held, and, against the advice of experienced generals, it is decided to advance immediately.  The youth have advocated for it, with shiny optimism.  I predict that this does not end well.  Prince Dolgorukov was on the side of fighting asap, because obviously the Russians will beat Napoleon.   He's pleased with the result - it's the first thing he says to Bolkonski, when they meet.  Dolgurokov gets called away as soon as Andrew brings up Darling Bory, but says he'll do what he can.  On the way out, they meet Prince Adam Czartoryski, who is (was) a real person.

Bolkonski is not a fan.  There are other named characters, who may well show up in larger roles later, but it's difficult to tell who they are, and it's only small cameos in this chapter.

The chapter ends with the information that Bory is stuck with his regiment for a while, right up until the battle of Austerlitz.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It's the day after Nikolai has been to see Darling Bory, and the Emperors of Russia and Austria are surveying their troops.  They're doing marching, fancy marching with bayonets and banners, like that mini-game in FF7 that I'm bad at it.

...also that I could not find a gif of.  Anyway, the soldiers are all very clean and shiny, which is a tad unrealistic for an active warzone.  I mean, in the sense that the generals caring about that as opposed to basically anything else seems a bit incongruous, but that whole scene also seems pretty realistic, so I assume Tolstoy is being satirical again.  The soldiers are enjoying it anyway - they feel like small cogs in a big, powerful, impressive machine, and they're excited to see the Emperors.  Nikolai is very moved by this feeling of national pride, including a 'passionate attraction' to Emperor Alexander as the cause.  He will go to war for this man, which is handy, because that's the exact goal the army was going for.  There is a wave of Hurrahs as the Tsar passes.  Nikolai feels that he might die of happiness if the majestic and enchanting Tsar speaks to him.  After the Tsar has moved on, he spots Andrew Bolkonski nearby and debates whether to challenge him, but decides that he loves and forgives everybody right now.  Also, the armies are beginning a ceremonial march, and Nikolai takes the opportunity to show off his horsemanship (it is good).  The Emperor remarks that the Pavlograds (Nikolai's regiment) are fine, and Nikolai thinks how happy he would be to die for the emperor, again.  Later, the soldiers are able to talk, and they basically all had the same epiphany as Nikolai.  I feel like Putin would rather like to have this effect on his populace.  They are all very confident that victory is on its way.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We're back at war, where Nikolai Rostov is very happy to receive a note from Darling Bory, telling him that Bory is ten miles away and that he has a letter and some money for him, since he's now in debt to everyone around him, what with celebrating their victory.  He sets off on a horse he's bought from a Cossack in his shabby old cadet clothes, since he's not yet bought new ones.  He's quite pleased about this, since it makes him look like he's been in the wars, which, of course, he has.  Bory's regiment, the Guads, have had a very easy go of it, and have treated their whole march "as if on a pleasure trip".  They've had dinners, knapsacks carried on carts, and have entered and left towns with their bands playing.  Darling Bory has been making many useful contacts.  Truly, he is his mother's son.

Among others, he's now met Andrew Bolkonski, through a letter of recommendation by Pierre.  It was Bolkonski who delivered Nikolai's letter.  He also has a friend, called Berg, who is German and has become a captain along the way.  Rostov arrives while they're playing chess.  Nikolai knows Berg, so maybe he was at the drunken bear party too.  Nikolai wants to greet Bory in an unusual way, since they're such close friends, but no one's invented fancy handshakes or the bro-hug yet so he just lets Bory kiss him a few times, as per the usual greeting in Russia at the time.

Both of them want to show off how much they've changed in the last six months.  Rostov shows off his manly, mud-splattered trousers and wounded arm, while Darling Bory talks about the splendid march he's had alongside His Imperial Highness the Emperor Alexander, and how gracious the Tsarevich was.  Finally, Darling Bory hands over the letter, and Nikolai begins sending angry glances at Berg as he reads it.  Eventually, he asks him to leave, as he obviously should do when someone receives a personal letter from home and is reading it in front of their childhood friend.  Berg takes the unsubtle hint.

As soon as he leaves, Nikolai starts berating himself for not having written to his family sooner, and having left them so worried.  Darling Bory fetches wine while Nikolai scoffs at a letter of recommendation to Bagration that his mother has obtained.  Darling Bory asks why on earth he's not making use of it -

- and Nikolai says he won't be anyone's lackey.  They call Berg back, because he'll drink and Darling Bory won't.  Got to keep a nice clear head for all that social climbing.  They exchange a bit of gossip, the most enjoyable of which is that the Grand Duke/Tsarevich's favourite expression of annoyance is "Arnauts".  That works in English too.

Rostov tells his war stories "just as those who have taken part in a battle generally do describe it, that is, as they would like it to have been, as they have heard it described by others, and as sounds well, but not at all like it really was".  He doesn't mean to lie, but he also knows that there's a way this story go, and his absolutely true account would be met with looks of bafflement or assumptions that he'd done something wrong somewhere.  Prince Andrew turns up as Nikolai is describing the frenzy of his attack, as opposed to describing falling off his horse and running away from a French officer.  He's unimpressed by Rostov, a mere 'hussar of the line', and had been hoping to meet Darling Bory alone.  Everyone in the room can sense this, and Rostov goes red and gradually falls silent.  He's angry that Prince Andrew - who has never seen battle - would be so condescending.  He tells Prince Andrew off, but Prince Andrew outright refuses to accept him, and tells him no insult has been given or received.  It is very hard to describe.  Rostov has a lot of staircase thoughts after this, and considers going to confront Prince Andrew at headquarters and telling him off with a pistol in his hand, but also, he really wants to be friends with him.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapter 6

Chapter 6

For Chapter 6, we're in the Rostov household.  Nikolai Rostov - this translation calls him Nicholas, but I'm sticking with Nikolai to avoid confusion with the old Prince - was injured in book 2, you may recall.  He was one of the young men at the party with the bear in book 1, I think.  Anyway, his father, the Count, has just received a letter from him.  Anna Mikhaylovna, Darling Bory's mother, who organised the party at which Pierre was told he'd proposed to Helene, is still staying with them.  Nikolai - his father calls him Nikolenka, which is cute - has been injured, as we know, and promoted to officer, which I'm not sure we'd heard about before.  They've not told Natasha, Nikolai's sister, yet, but she knows somethings up and, later, begs Anna to tell her.  Anna does so, asking Natasha not to tell her mother.  What's that phrase?  Two can keep a secret so long as one of them is dead?

Well, Natasha doesn't tell her mother, she tells Sonya, who I think is her cousin, and who I know had a thing with Nikolai before he went off to war.  Petya, Nikolai and Natasha's 9-year-old brother, decides to tell them how much better he would have done in handling the news, and if he'd been in Nikolai's position.  What an armchair strategist.

Natasha asks Sonya if she remembers every detail of Nikolai, confessing that she can't remember Darling Bory very well.  His mother would be shocked.  Sonya is also shocked, and tells Natasha that she could never forget Nikolai - she loves him.

(My little joke there is that that gif is from Shadow Hearts II, which has a Russian character named Nikolai, but there weren't any gifs of him because it's not a very famous game.  Also Nikolai loved Karin, but fuck Karin, she knows what she did).

Natasha knows she's never been in love like Sonya is, which is understandable because she's, what, thirteen?  Sonya says she'll write to Nikolai if he writes to her, and Natasha asks, won't she be ashamed?  Natasha would be ashamed to write to Darling Bory, and Petya insists that that's because, since she last saw Darling Bory, she fell in love with Pierre, and then with her Italian singing master.

While all this has been happening, Anna has told their mother, so that secret turned out not to be a big deal at all.  They read the letter together, and Nikolai sends his love to Sonya.  Over the next few days, lots of people come to read the letter, and the countess is filled with pride at the thought of her little baby boy being a grown-up officer.  He was her first child, so every single stage of his growth seemed impossible and miraculous.  I get that.  How is it possible to just...make a person?   And they grow inside of you and then outside of you, and become proper people and adults?  It all seems very strange to me.  Also, we learn that Nikolai's first words were 'pear' and 'granny', which seem like odd choices.  Along with reading the letter to people, the household has been busy writing back and collecting all the money and equipment Nikolai needs to be an officer.  I always assumed that sort of thing was provided, which is probably quite a modern perspective.  They don't have an address for Nikolai, so they send the letters and money to Darling Bory, assuming that the Grand Duke's office is probably somewhere quite close to the Pavlograd regiment.  I feel like this might end in disaster.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The last chapter ended with Maria thinking she was the Beast and Anatole was the Beauty would see past her exterior, truly love her, and be rewarded with her fortune.  Meanwhile, her poor French companion, Mademoiselle Amelie Bourienne thought she was in Cinderella and Anatole was the handsome prince who would recognise that she was so much more lovely and deserving than a rich Russian heiress and pluck her from obscurity.  Meanwhile, Anatole was thinking about marrying Maria and having an affair with Amelie.  He falls asleep immediately, happy with his world, while everyone else lies awake.

Maria is thinking of how kind Anatole is, in awe of the idea that he will be her husband.  She gets spooked, becomes convince that a devil in sitting in the corner and calls for a maid to sleep in her room.  Amelie is walking up and down the conservatory, practicing imaginary conversations.  Lise - Prince Andrew's wife - is finding her bed uncomfortable, which might have something to do with her pregnancy, and definitely has something to do with being reminded of when she was young and light and free and not growing a new person while her husband plays soldiers.  Meanwhile, Prince Nicholas is angrily pacing up and down, feeling insulted on his daughter's behalf.  He's mad that she was so eager to leave him that she dressed herself up and acted in a way unlike herself, especially when Anatole was clearly making eyes at Amelie.  He's going to get rid of her.  I hope he also gets rid of Anatole.  He thinks his daughter has no pride, and is offended that she doesn't at least have pride on his behalf.

The next day, Maria goes to her father's study as usual, and Anatole and Amelie meet in the conservatory, being in unspoken agreement as far as the first act of their romance (but not the part where he marries someone else for money).  Prince Nicholas tells Maria of Anatole's proposal.  He starts off trying to be nice but quickly loses his temper, and, to be far, I don't think he's ever held it for more than a minute at a time before.  Maria knows that her father doesn't approve, but also realises that this is a moment to decide her fate.  She begins to explain that she wishes to follow her father's will, but if she did express her own desire....Prince Nicholas predicts her answer, and spells Anatole's plan out to her - that he will marry Maria for money, but keep Amelie as his lover.  He takes it back when he sees she's close to tears and tells her he was only joking, and she has the right to choose since her life's happiness rests on the decision.  He knows she'll pray over it, but he hopes she'll think as well.  He gives her an hour.

Maria wanders off, glad that she can choose to marry Anatole, but still hurt by her father's claims about Amelie.  She wanders into the conservatory, and is only roused from her own thoughts when she hears Amelie's voice.  She turns a corner and catches them embracing.  Amelie screams, presumably in embarrassment, and runs away.  When Tikhon - basically the butler - goes to fetch Maria for her answer, he finds her comforting Amelie, who is sobbing and apologising.  Maria tells her that she loves Amelie more than ever and that she understands.  I really hope she's about to tell Anatole to fuck off.

Both Prince Vasili and Prince Nicholas are waiting for her answer.  Prince Vasili repeats the proposal, with lots of flowery compliments.  Prince Nicholas demands a yes or no answer, and also shouts that he reserves the right to state his own opinion.

SHE SAYS HER DESIRE IS TO NEVER LEAVE HER FATHER OR MARRY!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I do type these posts in real time as I read.  Sometimes I'll scroll back up and edit, if I realise I've mixed two characters up or spelt a name wrong, but otherwise it's just a stream of real-time consciousness.

Prince Vasili begs for just a little bit of hope, and Maria insists that she will never be Anatole's wife.  I like her so much more now.  Prince Nicholas announces that he is pleased to have seen Vasili and embraces him, which is perhaps the most diplomatic thing I've seen him do in the whole book.  He wants this money-grubbing man out of his house.

Maria keeps talking, and says she will do everything she can to arrange Amelie's happiness, since she's accepted her own fate as the ugly spinster daughter.  She outright states that if Anatole is not rich she will make him so and for god's sake Maria, shut the fuck up.

The chapter ends there, before we can see Vasili's reaction.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3

We're now back at Bald Hills, the home of old Prince Nicholas Bolkonski, father of Prince Andrew Bolkonski.  I've had to go back and look at my notes from the end of book 1 to remember who's here.  Prince Andrew's pregnant wife is - I'd actually forgotten he had a pregnant wife waiting back home, but, to be fair, he didn't think of her once in the whole of book 2.  So is Prince Andrew's sister, Mary or Maria.  She's the pious one I wanted to slap because she snottily insisted on rereading the bible instead of reading another book.  I did like old Prince Nicholas though - he thinks the only evils are idleness and superstition, and the only virtues are activity and intelligence.  God only knows how he ended up with a daughter like Mary.

Prince Nicholas has received a letter from Prince Vasili, announcing his visit and the fact that he's bringing Anatole, and Prince Andrew's wife drily remarks that they certainly don't need to go finding suitors for Maria when they just invite themselves.   The old Prince is not at all impressed by Vasili's sudden and meteoric rise to power and wealth, and he likes him even less when he reads between the lines and realises that Vasili is proposing that Anatole marry Maria.  Old Prince Nicholas is certainly not a big dumb kitten.

On the day that Vasili et al are expected to arrive, the road is blocked by snow.  The old Prince goes out to see if it's cleared, but is greatly offended when his servants believe he want it cleared so 'the minister' (prince Vasili) can come in rather than so his daughter can go out.  He is grumpy all day, and calls his daughter "fool...or dummy!", which cheers me up a bit.   She's come to cheer him up with her companion, Mademoiselle Bourienne.  Prince Andrew's wife - the little princess, as the narrative calls her - has heard the old prince is in a bad mood and is hiding.  It's probably the right idea, since he throws his plate at the wall as soon as anyone dares talk to him.

I just did a bit of confused googling, because, at the end of Book 1, Maria received a letter from Julie Karagina, which said that Julie was being pushed to marry Pierre.  Pierre is now married to Helene Kuragina, and I was briefly puzzled as to whether they might be the same person, Julie and Helene, but they are not - they just have last names which are almost identical, which you can understand is very confusing.  But Julia Karagina is just Julie Karagina, and not part of the plot right now.  And nor is Helene.  Also, I've been told that a fair English substitute for the Russian 'prince' is 'duke', so I'm mentally substituting that the whole time.  I ended by skimming the wiki page for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which is an adaptation of 70 pages of this book.  It's 70 pages I haven't read, so I did learn at least one spoiler.  I also learned that Josh Groban played Pierre, so that pleases me.

Anyway, Mademoiselle Bourienne asks the old Prince about Prince Vasili's visit, and he insists that he has absolutely no idea why they are coming, and particularly he has no idea why Anatole is tagging along.  He asks if Maria or Mademoiselle Bourienne know, but they insist they don't either.

After dinner, he goes to see the princess, who is hanging out with her maid.  She tells him she just didn't feel well - she is heavily pregnant - and that she doesn't need anything.  Then he goes to check on the servant, to make sure he's put all the snow back on the road properly.  He has, and later, Vasili's footmen and coachmen have to drag the coach over it.  I am enjoying the old Prince's pettiness.

Anatole "regarded his whole life as a continual round of amusement which someone for some reason had to provide for him".  He's looking on this visit to "a churlish old man" and an "ugly heiress" as one of those amusements.  He thinks, why not marry her, if she's rich?  "That never does any harm".  Then he goes to see his father, who has separate rooms.  Prince Vasili compliments his son on his attire, and Anatole responds by asking whether Maria is very hideous.  His father reminds him to take this seriously.  Careful Vasili, your gold-digging is showing.

Downstairs, everyone is gossiping, particularly about Anatole's looks.  They approve.  Maria is nervous.  The little princess - Lise! - and Mademoiselle Bourienne do a quick romance-movie makeover.

Maria is a bit offended, both by the fact that she's nervous because a suitor has arrived, and the fact that no one thinks that's out of character for her.  She may also have picked up on the fact that, as the narrative explains, both Lise and Mademoiselle Bourienne think she's so plain she couldn't ever be a rival, so they're both really doing their absolute best to make her pretty.  They do three outfit changes, and Maria nearly bursts into tears looking in the mirror and makes them stop.  The only bit of her the narrative thinks is pretty is her eyes.   Both Mademoiselle Bourienne and Lise think she looks worse than ever, but stay quiet and leave the room, while Mary falls into a quiet despair over the fact that she's too ugly to ever have the handsome loving husband and child that she dreams of.  I don't want to slap her any more.  She does quick prayer and considers joining a nunnery, but then goes back to the marriage daydream, especially the bit about the handsome loving husband.  Even though she's pretty sure it's a temptation from Satan.

So, she decides to stop worrying about her future and just leave it all in god's hands.  It seems to work for her.

Chapter 4

...then she goes downstairs and is so struck by Anatole's physical beauty that she can barely look at him.  

Anatole isn't good at conversation, but he's so confident and pretty that staying silent works for him and makes people want to impress him.  Lise ends up carrying the conversation, because she's a very good socialite.  Anatole finds himself quite attracted to Mademoiselle Bourienne, especially when she speaks French to him, and hopes that Maria will bring her along when they marry.  The old prince is sulking in his study.  He doesn't want his daughter to get married and leave him, and he doesn't like acknowledging that to himself either.  Even he thinks no one could marry her for love, "plain and awkward" as she is, and wonders if she might be happier to be a spinster.  He decides that he won't accept Anatole's proposal unless he is worthy of Maria.  Then he goes downstairs, and immediately sees that, firstly, Maria does not look good dressed up in Mademoiselle Bourienne's things, and, secondly, Mademoiselle and Anatole are having lots of eye-sex.

The old prince has a brief chat with Vasili, then tells his daughter she looks like a fool and she is banned from dressing up, reducing her to tears.  Then he goes to speak to Anatole, to ask if he's going to the front (I think the old prince knows perfectly well that he isn't).  I am really hoping he stops this marriage.  I am starting to think that everyone might be better of if they'd just let Helene and Anatole do some weird incest thing so they left everyone else alone.  The old Prince lets Anatole go back to the women, and Prince Vasili immediately proposes marriage between their children.  Old Prince Nicholas protests far too much that no one could think he was unable to part from his daughter - no one did, until he said that - but that he would like to know his future son-in-law better.

The three women have so long been starved of young male company that they're drinking Anatole right up like a tall glass of water.  Maria is convinced he is kind, brave, determined, manly, and magnanimous.

Meanwhile, Mademoiselle Bourienne has long been daydreaming of a Russian prince who will recognise that she is far, far more beautiful than Princess Maria and sweep her off her feet instead.  She's pretty sure Anatole is that prince.   She doesn't yet know about his menage-a-trois idea yet, the one where he's married to an actual Princess, with money, and Mademoiselle Bourienne - Amelie! -is his mistress.

Lise, the little princess, is just flirting from old habit.

Poor old Maria.  While she plays the clavichord, Anatole and Amelie and standing next to each other, playing footsie out of sight.  She thinks their smiles are for her, and thinks herself lucky to have such a supportive friend, and such a supportive and handsome future husband.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Prince Vasili has arranged to go on a tour of his neglected estates, taking along Anatole so he can be married to the daughter of Nicholas Bolkonski.  Before that, he has to sort out Pierre.  Also, it's now November 1805, but I can't remember what month and year it was when the book started.  Pierre is now 'absurd, excited, and foolish' as a young lover should be, but has not yet proposed to Helene.

Vasili feels slightly resentful about this, since he's been so kind to Pierre.  It's been six weeks since the 'at home', and Pierre had decided that he really shouldn't marry Helene, but also hasn't yet been able to leave.  Every day, he feels more Expected and entwined.  Vasili has been organising events that Pierre must attend basically every day, so it makes it even harder for him to escape.  Sometimes, Pierre tries to convince himself that he was wrong about Helene before, when he thought she was stupid and probably incestous, and so it would be right to marry her now, but it doesn't stick.  Basically, everyone is attempting to politeness judo Pierre into wedlock.  If this were a different sort of book, Helene would be sticking pins into condoms.

For this evening, Vasili has arranged a party for close family, and given them all to understand that Helene's fate will be settled this evening.  Pierre and Helene are sitting next to one another and feeling quietly pressured.  Pierre is a big, confused, dumb kitten.  He's trying to figure out how he and Helene got so intertwined.  Finally, they are left alone, and Pierre feels like he ought to talk of love but also that he really doesn't want to.    He feels like there's something fundamentally wrong with him that makes him wrong for Helene (he's been going back and forth on that all evening).  Pierre tries to retire for the evening, but Vasili gives him "a look of stern inquiry" as if he's being weird and makes him sit down again.  He also refers to Helene as 'Leyla', just so we have another name to add to the list.  Pierre desperately changes the subject again.  Vasili leaves them alone, then sends his wife to check on them.  Pierre has still not proposed.  Taking matters into his own hands, Vasili decides to just carry on with the politeness judo, and goes to congratulate them on their engagement as if it's actually happened, loudly, and dragging the rest of the family into the conversation, presumably in the hope that Pierre won't be so rude as to contradict him.  He isn't - they're married within six weeks.

Honestly, I'm pretty disappointed with Pierre.

In Which We Discuss War & Peace, Part 3, Chapter 1

This section has 19 chapters, so I should be done with it by June.  By that point, I'll also be done with my exams for the year - well, for the entire degree, since next year is all coursework -  which is exciting!  I'm now at 17%, and I'll be at 24% by the end of this part.

Chapter 1

We're back to Prince Vasili, and it's been a while.  Maybe I should start tagging each post with the characters that appear, to make them easier to look up.  Prince Vasili is the father of Anatole, Hyppolite, and Helene.  Prince Andrew ran into Hyppolite, also a prince, in the last book, where he was the nerdy one in the regiment.  We last saw this Prince Vasili when Pierre's father (Count Bezukhov) died.  Pierre was the one who was raised in France, probably by wolves.  All of Russian society wanted to get their hands on him.  That is presumably even more the case now he has inherited his father's fortune.

Anyway, back to Prince Vasili.  The narrative is describing his character.  Apparently, he has no word for 'manipulative', in the same way that presumably fish have no word for 'water'.  He is not the sort of man to say to himself, "Pierre is a rich man, I must entice him to marry my daughter,", which is an oddly specific example from the narration.  Instead, his instinct simply tells him that certain people might be useful, and, with no premeditation, Prince Vasili begins to flatter them and gain their confidence.  Prince Vasili has done exactly that with poor Pierre, having gotten him a job and moved him into his, Vasili's, house in St Petersburg.  Without actually articulating to himself what he's doing, he's trying to get Pierre to marry his daughter, Helene.

Having not thought it through makes him appear more natural, apparently.  I assume it helps that Pierre is a big dumb kitten.

Since his father's death, Pierre has gone from lonely and free to preoccupied with people who are suddenly very interested in him.  This includes the government and his inherited Chief Steward, as well as many people "who formerly did not even wish to know of his existence but would now have been offended and grieved had he chosen not to see them".  All of them are very firmly confidence of Pierre's noble qualities, now that he is rich.  Pierre is now starting to believe them.  Even his oldest sister has apologised and been nicer to him, just as soon as she found out that the will left everything to him, the formerly bastard son.  Because Pierre is a big dumb kitten, who can't understand why anyone would dislike him, he is thoroughly convinced by those who now like him, especially Vasili who is caring for him like a father (only not like his actual father, who ignored him for most of his life).  He has managed to persuade Pierre that this is a huge favour, and vastly inconvenient to Vasili.  Vasili has also kept the land tax claimed from the peasants living on Pierre's lands, presumably also at great inconvenience to himself.

Pierre is finding St Petersburg to be just as full of kind and loving people as Moscow was, even though most of his gentleman acquaintances are now at war.  Now, his entire time is taken up with dinners and balls, and spending time at Prince Vasili's home (again, where is he staying) with Vasili's family.  Even Anna Pavlovna is suddenly being nice, while previously she had given the impression she thought him a total fool.  It is when she invites him to a party, and mentions that Helene will be there, that he finally begins to sense that a link has somehow grown up between him and Helene.  This alarms him, even though everything up til this point has passed unnoticed.  Oh, Pierre.

Anna Pavlovna is managing her 'at home' like a battlefield.  This time, her honoured guest is a diplomat from Berlin with some new gossip about the war.  She puts him with Prince Vasili and the generals.

Pierre wants to be in that group, but somehow finds himself being sent off with Helene, after being reminded, by Anna, that Helene is an exquisite and stately beauty, with many admirers, and any man would be lucky to have her.  Pierre agrees; whenever he thinks of Helene, he thinks only about whatever flattering thing someone last said about her.

Helene and Pierre are sent off to see Helene's old aunt, who is not a fan of Anna.  Helene tries smiling enchantingly at Pierre, but, because she always smiles enchantingly, he ignores it.  The aunt shows him a snuffbox, and, in leaning over to see it, he manages to come face-first with Helene's boobs, which finally gets his attention (despite his short-sightedness).  Well, actually it's her back and shoulders while she shows off her cleavage, but it's being close to her skin that has the same effect.  He realises that she will be his wife, even if he's not totally sure that's a good thing.  He tries to go back to seeing her the way he did before, but it doesn't work.

Pierre's having his Petersburg house done up, because the architect suggested it.  Anna brings that up, and advises him not to leave Vasili's house, especially with Vasili being such a good friend to him.  At least not until he marries, she suggests, with a glance at Helene.

At home, Pierre tries to figure out what is going on with him.  He doesn't want to be in love with Helene; she's stupid, and it feels wrong, not least because of the rumours about her being in love with her brother Anatole.  Then he gets distracted by thinking of her being loving, and how she would probably be totally different to the way he's thought of her for his entire life up until now.  Big dumb kitten.  He also thinks about how everyone he's spoken to, for months, has just seemed to assume that he and Helene are together, and talk about them as if they're together, and he feels trapped.  Also, he keeps getting distracted by thoughts of her 'womanly body'.