Yeah I am. So far it’s going well. I tried once before a year before and gave up after a while. I’m reading a different translation this time — Louise and Alymer Maude, apparently the old favorites whom I should have went with the first time around – and it’s both a lot more pleasant and a lot easier to keep track of which characters are which. Of course, ALL the characters are referred to much of the time as “the Prince” or “the Princess,” which makes it harder. If they are ALL princes and princesses, perhaps that is not the most helpful way to identify them. Sigh.
But, I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Pierre is a great character, and I like the part where he ties a policeman to a bear. And Dolokhov is very cool and creepy. And I haven’t even gotten to any actual war; everyone is still just going to parties in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. I think it would all make a great HBO miniseries, but I’m thinking that about most things I read lately, and not everything can be made into an HBO miniseries.
It is still dauntingly long (and alarmingly, my copy is on hold back at the library on the 18th). But if it keeps going along at this clip, I think I’ll be okay for the long haul. I will keep ya’ll updated as things develop. Spoiler: I predict that the bastard Pierre is going to be legitimized by the Emperor and inherit his father the Count Bezukhov’s vast fortune!
