Book Review: War and Peace

War and Peace

By Leo Tolsoy

This has definitely been one of the hardest books I've ever read. Four months later and One THOUSAND three hundred eighty-six pages later, I'm finally FINISHED! Woot! I'm patting myself on the back for this one :)

I've always wanted to try reading this book, mainly because it's such a huge classic that I wanted to know what it was all about. For those of you who aren't familiar with the novel, it was published in 1869 and is classified as historical fiction, my favorite genre. It covers the Napoleonic Wars with the French invasion of Russia, starting in 1805 and continuing through 1813 and an epilogue in 1820. The novel is seen through the eyes of five aristocratic families and chronicles their struggles and connections mingled with the history of that time period. Just this year War and Peace was #1 in Newsweek's Top 100 Books of All Time. So of course I have to read the #1 Book EVER written right?

So here is my opinion: I can see why this book is a classic. Tolstoy is brilliant in the way he describes his characters and events. He goes into so much detail that you really understand people's motives, feelings, etc. You meet hundreds of characters throughout the novel, so for the first half of the book, I had to write everyone's name's down so I could keep them all straight and figure out which ones were important enough to remember. However, I personally got lost in the details of the book. He goes on for pages and pages about war strategy, or describing a battle. And in the second half of the book, Tolstoy dedicates SEVERAL chapters to essays on the subject of war and Russian history, and I didn't care for these parts of the book at all. But I think the majority of the problem was that it is Russian history, which I don't really care about. If I were a Russian, and understood more about the war and the places, events, etc. that Tolstoy describes, I would probably appreciated the book more. Or if the book was centered around our own Civil War or Revolutionary War (something that I understand), I would be able to follow it better. But, I did learn a lot about the Napoleonic Wars that I didn't know before so I guess that's a plus.

As far as the fictional story of War and Peace, I really enjoyed that part. I grew to love certain characters, but even in that aspect Tolstoy disappointed me. He kept killing off my favorite characters and the book didn't end at all like I wanted it to. Consider Twilight for a moment (Tolstoy would probably roll over in his grave knowing I'm comparing his classic to a vampire love story) - How would you feel if Bella ended up with Jacob? You'd feel cheated right? Because she's SUPPOSED to be with Edward. Well, in War and Peace, Natasha ends up with Jacob...and Edward dies. At least that's my opinion. I always thought of Pierre (aka Jacob in this analogy) as kind of a dipstick, so I hated that Natasha ended up with him. But I guess she went a little nutty herself so I guess they were perfect for each other. And I cried when Prince Andrey (aka Edward) died (sorry, kind of a spoiler there but I figure nobody reading this - if anybody does end up reading this - will actually read the book- so no harm done!). ANYWAYS, So given all of that, I have to say War and Peace is not on my personal list of Best Books of All Time. I'll probably never read it again, but I am glad that I took the time to work my way through it.

So after I got done reading the book, I thought I'd rent the movie version and see how it measured up. There are a few movie versions out there; I rented the 1956 version starring Audrey Hepburn as Natasha. I have to say this is the first time in my life (that I remember at least) that I thought the movie was better than the novel - but don't read too much into that because the movie wasn't outstanding by any means. I liked that it captured all of the best parts of the book and it was fun to see the characters brought to life. Reading the book definitely made the movie much easier to understand.

I'm glad that I stuck with it and finished this book through (All one THOUSAND three hundred eighty-six pages of it :) but I'll probably never read it again. There are too many other books out there I need to get to.

Next project: The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott (should be interesting :)

Palisades

Last Friday, Brandt wanted to go on a day trip to Palisades Creek (up past Idaho Falls). So all week leading up to Friday he was trying to talk me into going with him. Neither one of us had been before. I had no desire to go; I just wanted to veg on the couch all day (I'm quite lazy on my days off). But he said we could go on a hike up to this pretty lake where he could fish while I read my book, the weather was going to be really nice, the leaves should be changing colors so it would be really pretty, etc. etc. So finally I consented to go.

The first half of the day was pretty great. The weather was absolutely perfect for hiking and everything was so pretty. Here are some pics we took along the way...

I think Brandt said it was about a four-mile hike to the lake. But after hiking for about two hours, we were hungry so we stopped on this flat rock and had lunch before turning around. Not ten minutes later, we see this...

And I'm thinking, "Great. It's going to snow." And sure enough, it did. And it snowed hard. And we still had an hour and a half of hiking before we could get back to the car. At this point, I am just loving the fact that I came along on this little adventure. I'm walking pretty quickly so as to get out of the storm as fast as possible. We walk across this bridge and I turn around to make sure Brandt is still with me and he looks at me with these puppy dog eyes, looks down at the creek, and then back at me.

"You want to fish, don't you?" I ask him.

"Can I?" He asks me back.

"Do you not see that it is SNOWING out here?!" I throw back at him.

"Just 20 minutes and if I don't catch anything, then we'll go," he tries to persuade me.

"Fine." So I find a spot under the bridge to hide and keep dry while this crazy man does his thing...

(You can click on the pics to enlarge)

Lucky for me, he didn't catch anything and 20 minutes later we were on our way. Here's some pics of us as we trudge on through the snow...

That's me making the expression "normal" people make when there 57 degree perfect hiking weather suddenly drops to 35 and snow comes crashing down when you still have three miles to go. And, of course, there's Brandt giving his take on the turn of events.

Oh well, It's Idaho right? What more can you expect from this state? But even amidst the snow and sleet I still had a good time and was glad that I tagged along. Brandt didn't get to fish as much as he had hoped, but we still had fun. And, looking on the bright side, it could have been worse. It could have rained and we would have ended up a lot more wet than we did with the snow. And Brandt could have ended up catching a fish in those 20 minutes and we would have had to stay there all day while he tried for a second :) So it turned out pretty good for both of us. It was so pretty up there and so quiet and peaceful. If any of you have the chance to go up there, it's worth the drive, especially now when all the leaves are changing. Just check the weather forecast before you go and pack warm clothes. Just in case.

Polly-Dent

The ADHA (American Dental Hygienists' Association) hosted a YouTube competition for hygiene students where they had to create a short video that teaches 5-year-old kids how to properly brush their teeth. The general public then voted on the videos to select a winner. This was the winning video, and Brandt and I thought it was pretty funny (I think Brandt got a bigger kick out of it than I did). It's definitely better than the "fish porn" Brandt posted last week :) So enjoy!

p.s. You can go to ADHA's YouTube Channel to view other videos. We didn't really like the 2nd place video, but the 3rd place one is pretty good also.

The Obsession

Dani has informed me that it is my turn to update the blog of Hines. However, there has not been a lot of excitement around the home these days. I am quite excited that now it is October and officially Halloween season (my second favorite holiday after Christmas). That almost seems like an oxymoron. But, thus it is. But I am getting side tracked. I did think of a post I could publish and so here it goes.

A few posts ago I mentioned the love and appreciation I give my dear wife for a sometimes obsessive hobby. Fly fishing. The obsession began when I was a wee lad. I loved to fish but never actually fished the fly, instead I dunked the worm. I am not sure why, perhaps because I was young and intimidated by the beauty of the cast or the complexity of the sport. As I grew up I lost the loving feeling and became enveloped in other things such as school, sports, girls, and The Lord of the Rings. But the thoughts and feelings, though suppressed, lingered still and waited patiently for a time when life and decisions were more my own.

Enter marriage. Now, it may seem that this would be the least likely time when decisions and life are more your own and more than ever belong to someone else, usually the wife. For me, this is not true. A few years back, I am not quite sure how or when, I was hit again with the memories and passion for fishing that had evaded me for most of my high school career. I distinctly remember asking my dear wife one day if I might purchase the necessities and gear required for the adventures of such an activity. I also remember her asking if this would be a hobby I would keep with (I often have many a dream and daily change of interest in hobbies. Thus part of my problem choosing a career, but that is another story for another time)I assured her it would be worth while, and thus began the work of becoming a fly fisherman! (Little did she know what she was getting into.)

Now I am no professional but I do enjoy the occasional outing. This is what brings me to the obsessive part. Such as last week when I had to work all night from 10 pm to 5 am and still went fishing the next day without any sleep.
Did I have to slap my self in the face while driving to stay awake? Yes. It hurt too.
Did I suddenly become wide awake whenever stepping into the water? Yes (not only because it is around 50 degrees.)
Did I get sunburned on half my face and neck? Yes, and only half. Due to the sun strangely only shining from the east early in the morning.
Did I have to eventually sleep in the car with windows that don't roll down? Yes.
Did I wake up not only an hour later with a pounding headache and a smell that can only be described as un-showered sea otter baked in a 100 degree car? Sadly, yes.
Am I thinking of making that smell into a cologne? Perhaps.
Did I have to work at 6 am the next day? Yes.
Did I catch any fish? No.
Was it worth the sleep deprivation, sun burning, headache bringing, new smell sensation day? You bet.

I was going to try again a couple days ago but sadly succumbed to the 30-50 mph winds, rain, and occasional snow, and getting up at 5:30. After finding this video trailer I was disappointed in myself. Such videos and images are romantically known amongst anglers as fish porn. Watch it and perhaps you t0o will understand the obsession. If not, it's your loss. Enjoy.