War and Peace

I finally finished it, all 1358 pages of it, no mind that it took me five years of starting, stopping, restarting, stopping, babies, blues, moves, restarting, stopping and then I dug my feet in two months ago and read to conquer. It was such a unique reading experience, so broad in its scope and yet so exact and intimate in detail, as only Tolstoy can manage. There was birth and death, love and betrayal, sin and forgiveness, good and evil, joy and suffering, and yes, war and peace. Maybe a little too much war, but it is Russian.

With regret, I told Mark that I felt like I was dropped in the middle of Paris or something and sent off to explore and wander on my own--how much more I would've probably appreciated and understood if I had had a guide.
Oh well, it was still beautiful and brilliant. And Pierre has to be one of the greatest men in literature ever. I still think I like Anna Karenina better though. Just don't tell Mark....