The War & Peace Readalong: Week Five
Woohoo, halfway point! I also started the Villette in March readalong, so I'm reading double-time, but thankfully, both are surprisingly easy to read. The weather is warming up and the snow is slooowly melting into giant splashable puddles (reminder to self: go puddle-jumping ASAP), I can't wait to read outdoors again! Aaaand now the reading prompts (oh so much drama this week:
1) Could the disastrous meeting between Marya and Natasha have gone any other way? Who was to blame?
Weeeeeell... yes, it could have gone better. I don't see how it could have been worse! If only Marya wasn't so judgey and self-righteous and Natasha wasn't so wishy-washy one moment and a complete snob in the next. Yes, Natasha is thrown out of her comfort zone, but she didn't exactly make enough of an effort here.
2) Everyone seems to be secretly considering Marya for marriage at the moment. Do you think it will ever happen for her? Was Boris right to pick Julie?
Marya is not in the right mindset for marriage - she just wants to escape her terrible father and is willing to marry a dude who only wants her money! I mean, what kind of marriage is that? (wait, all marriages in this book seem to be a sham. message received.) Although I want her to find freedom and happiness from that emotionally damaging relationship, I don't think Boris is the right person for her. Good luck, Julie!
3) There's too much drama with Natasha for me to formulate an all-encompassing question, so... I don't know. Discuss.
Ohhh Natasha. Get it together, girlfriend! The worst part of all the drama is that she's not doing it out of malice - she's unfortunately just an idiot. One dance does not true love make. Even if you do finish each other's... sandwiches.
4) Lots of characters are being fairly dickish this week. Who wins the prize for the person you'd most like to slap?
I've learned a new word today: "backpfeifengesicht", which is a compound German word for "a face that should be slapped". Usage: "Anatole is a backpfeifengesicht". You're welcome. Use it well.
Read on, War & Peace friends!
I was actually going to come back and comment later, but...
ReplyDeleteBACKPFEIFENGESICHT. I just had to comment. Best word ever. How on earth
did you learn that!?
The relationship between Count Rostov (the
older one) and his wife seems to be fairly healthy, I think? He was
missing her when she stayed behind. I concede that may be the ONLY
decent relationship in the book though :)
Oooh, good call! Count Rostov hasn't actually disappointed me yet! (omg I'm scared that I've jinxed his character by speaking too soon, we have so much left)
ReplyDeleteI always had a fascination with complex/compound words since I was a wee lass and discovered "verklempt". There are a lot of Japanese and Korean words that have very complicated definitions! I'll have to write a blog entry about them sometime :)
Haha I knew there was a reason I love German :D I'm going to have to remember that one. And yes, Anatole is definitely a backpfeifengesicht!
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Natasha is just a moron is what makes me give her a little bit more slack than everyone else seems to - you can't help being stupid! Whereas Anatole knew exactly what he was doing.
Do write a blog about it! I would be fascinated!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had taken German classes in high school!
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good point on Anatole, but I don't want to cut Natasha any slack because she just can't seem to wise-up! (wow, I should be a nicer person!)
I especially love the word 木漏れ日 :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough, German classes don't generally involve you learning lots of interesting German words, they more involve you banging your head against the desk as you try to work out the overly complicated grammar, hehe. Although having managed to become fluent in Japanese, I think I would kick German's arse now if I tried again!
ReplyDeleteThat is a good one! :D I like the word 秋晴れ for describing beautiful clear autumn days. Having a specific word for it makes me appreciate them more! Although in the UK they are so rare that I can see why UK English doesn't have one, hehe.
ReplyDeleteAlso I did lots of stupid things when I was around her age (so many stupid things) so I want to give her the kind of slack that I want people to give me for my actions then if that makes sense. If she was 28 (as I am) and still up to that nonsense then I would be more inclined to hate her!
ReplyDelete@jimjamjeniko, besides moving to Japan (probably the most effective way to learn), what resources/book/audio/video series did you use to become fluent in Japanese? I'm getting so rusty!
ReplyDeleteOh also, one of the ways that being in Japan helps is really easy access to a lot of Japanese media, but if there are any books/manga or whatever that you want I can always send you some! :D
ReplyDelete