Television: War and Peace (2016) by BBC; Based on Leo Tolstoy's Novel

I watched BBC’s historical drama TV series “War and Peace” which is based on Leo Tolstoy’s novel of the same name. This is a fascinating series of 6 episodes of approx. 1 hour each. I love reading about history and this TV series brought to me history of French invasion of Russia in year 1812 in the form of a wonderful motion picture.

Paul Dano as Pierre Bezukhov and James Norton as Andrei Bolkonsky are two primary characters and have both done wonderful job in their roles. Jessie Buckley as Marya Bolkonskaya has done a great job too.

I liked the way portrayals of family members have been done. The Bolkonsky family paints a picture of strength as well as tragedy. I liked the character of Andrei Bolkonsky; and was touched by the way he finds this life and world not worth living. And just when he was dying in the battlefield, he looked at the sky and noticed that the world he was so dispassionate towards was actually so beautiful! I also liked the character of Pierre Bezukhov, although I could not connect with it. I felt relief and happiness seeing that he survived. Andrei, unfortunately did not and perhaps that is the theme of many novels where they let principle characters die. Love between Andrei and his sister Marya as well as with his son was touching. I did not like the character of Sonya Rostova who cheats on Andrei. Hélène Kuragina on the other hand is pure evil. It is interesting to see that even during those times people married just for money and after marriage they tried to grab money and run away. Prince Vassily Kuragin is pure evil as well.

The historical account of French invasion of Russia is realistic. After watching this series, I went on to read a lot about this war and also about Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte looked like in the league of Alexander the great. I wish we had such leaders today who would stop menaces like global terrorism by punishing the countries which are harboring terrorist groups and threatening the civilized world.

This is a wonderful TV series, recommended for all history lovers.

- Rahul Tiwary

Book Review: The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy

‘The Cossacks’

By Leo Tolstoy

‘The Cossacks’ is a wonderful story of a young man who has seen the ‘best’ of the times and has volunteered himself out of a cozy rich life. Having lived carefree high society life for years, Olenin decides to give it up and goes to live the harsh life of a military man in the region of Cossacks. There he discovers his peace of mind and a balance that he was looking for. But things were not to remain just like that. He falls in love and finds himself in conflict with keeping his love or to maintain his friendship with a young Cossack man called Lukashka. He ends his stay by making it a journey and discovers the other side of human faces in the end.

Minutest details are captured so well in this novel, be it geographical or human psychology, that I don’t think any other author will be able to match Tolstoy in this area. It has been an enlightening read.

- [Rahul Tiwary]