War & Peace Update

So, I am about 1/10 of the way through War & Peace at this point. I have now passed any point I reached in my previous attempts at reading this novel and think I have an idea why. Most of the pages of this book really detail the delicate social workings of the Russian nobles immediately prior to the war with Napoleon. The interactions between the various characters are largely cautious, manipulative, and insincere.

Of course, there are less serious interactions but those that seem to carry the most importance to drive the plot forward really are rather difficult to read for someone like me. As an adult, I am of course more familiar with the small courtesies and manipulations that go on in many dealings, though I still find that kind of social interaction rather exhausting. Personally, I have a few very close friends to whom I am pretty much willing to bear my entire soul but cannot stand to have inconsequential, casual interactions with people I simply know socially. This either explains or is explained by two things I suppose ... my profession and my social life. In my profession, it is a rather solitary pursuit or when forced to interact it is often an in depth discussion about a particular topic where you are challenged directly and probed for as much information as possible. Those debates then carry over into every walk of life, so one becomes accustomed to analyzing everything and everyone around them to levels most people find uncomfortable. Anyway, suffice it to say that social grace is not my specialty nor will it be anytime soon given my current vocation.

For the meantime, though it is exhausting, the story is interesting in historical context and the characters (all 127 of them) do have unique personality traits that lead to interesting interactions I am interested in watching play out. There are also aspects of each personality with which I identify, so I am interested in seeing what impact those traits have on their decisions and eventual fates in Tolstoy's mind.

Perhaps upon finishing this story, I will gain in social graces, but most likely I think I will just continue to be generally apprehensive until I replace those feelings by starting a new book. Since I read a fair amount before bed, my dreams have been filled with nervous, rather odd interactions the last three days, making waking up alone a bit reassuring really. Obviously I am in dire need of friends to interact with here in Germany.