Simon Schama’s frou-frou review wasn’t worth reading or writing. ‘War and Peace’ still stands as an extravaganza of the Russian scene and soul at the time that Napoleon made his megalomaniacal way through Eastern Europe. Tolstoy saw film for the first time towards the end of his life and was fascinated with what he could do with it. His theory of history, embedded in the book, like certain passages in Melville, would have been edited out by a good editor. But it stands as a relic of the great Novel concept and the vain attempt at finding truth in historical reality. As Joyce wrote a generation later, “History is a nightmare and I am constantly trying to rouse myself.” Or as Delmore Schwartz wrote, “History is a nighmare and I’m just trying to get a good night’s sleep.”
Zack AndersonPost author | March 13, 2016
Thank you. Let me reread the Cliff Notes then ask Nurse Yearsley to respond.
Simon Schama’s frou-frou review wasn’t worth reading or writing. ‘War and Peace’ still stands as an extravaganza of the Russian scene and soul at the time that Napoleon made his megalomaniacal way through Eastern Europe. Tolstoy saw film for the first time towards the end of his life and was fascinated with what he could do with it. His theory of history, embedded in the book, like certain passages in Melville, would have been edited out by a good editor. But it stands as a relic of the great Novel concept and the vain attempt at finding truth in historical reality. As Joyce wrote a generation later, “History is a nightmare and I am constantly trying to rouse myself.” Or as Delmore Schwartz wrote, “History is a nighmare and I’m just trying to get a good night’s sleep.”
Thank you. Let me reread the Cliff Notes then ask Nurse Yearsley to respond.