A Year of War & Peace

I was looking for something about War & Peace, and saw Brian E. Denton on Medium did a year of reading the book in 2016. I had done that in 2010 and blogged about it, and it still kind of amazes me I did that, and then did a one-person show telling the story through improv in 2015. Every once in a while I’ll remember how much time I spent with the book, and how much I loved it, and then I see these projects going on as well. I’m also reminded often of the characters and themes of the book. I was spurred on to read it by a literature professor who said he cried when he taught it, and I can’t read it without tearing up, either.

During the pandemic, I heard a radio story about a group reading War & Peace with a professor who published a book about it. I wrote to her about loving the book and spending so much time with it, but didn’t hear back, and now I can’t find the book. And apparently it was a popular read during the pandemic.

That’s why great literature lasts. Human truths are human truths. Still reading of course, though that is a singular experience in my reading life that I’m so grateful I took the time to do.

I still haven’t gotten through Middlemarch.