#W&P

[eleancrvances]

andrei bolkonsky is truly the most "dead since the beginning" character. in his last few days he reaches a very explicit state of undeathness ("they were not attending on him (he was no longer there, he had left them) but on what reminded them most closely of him—his body"), but really, is it the first time he has been like this? in his first chapter, when he walks into anna pavlovna's soiree, "it was evident that he not only knew everyone in the drawing room, but had found them to be so tiresome that it wearied him to look at or listen to them". he goes through the social motions but doesn't really feel them (except with pierre, who understands instinctively many things about him, like that their meeting before borodino is their last), and he's just like that before the end. the night before austerlitz he declares "death, wounds, the loss of family—i fear nothing", and it's close to the absence of terror and general feeling he feels after his last nightmare. he's assumed to have died at austerlitz by everyone and reappears at home with zero explanation. the same thing happens after borodino. during both the near-death experiences, he feels some sort of "awakening" ("death is an awakening"). he identifies himself in an old oak tree that appears to be dead until spring (love) draws some last signs of life from him. and literally the only thing that seems to keep him alive is his last-minute unwillingness to separate himself from love, which to tolstoy is life - "i cannot, i do not wish to die. i love life—i love this grass, this earth, this air". this man is a zombie. he returned from the metaphorical and literal (the battlefield) land of the dead not once but twice with terrible wounds, despite all his efforts he can never find a complete and lasting connection to liveliness but falls back again and again in his mechanical, detached way of moving through situations. even his connection to natasha, life and joy, is perceived to be doomed from the beginning by many. "ah, my friend, it has of late become hard for me to live. i see that i have begun to understand too much" he says to perhaps the only person he has always been honest with, pierre, before receiving his final wound. and when he does die it's impossible to tell. marya can't pinpoint the moment when he's gone physically, and as for his spirit, even little nikolai knows it was torn from him earlier. but it doesn't feel like a sudden and new thing. we've seen him in this state before, though perhaps not on this level. but really, it looks like his struggle to keep death out of the room has been going on throughout the entire novel, and he could never hold the door completely closed. we've never seen him completely alive. on a meta level too, because he is maybe the only main character tolstoy didn't base on anyone but created from scratch, with the specific intention to kill him. when did he die exactly? at borodino? at austerlitz, where tolstoy originally intended him to? when he had his nightmare? when he left natasha? when lise died? when his mother died? before we ever met him, it seems. he died in a dream.

[meshimellow]

warand peace more like um... war and PENIS

[nikolayr]

« Государь был бледен, щеки его впали и глаза ввалились; но тем больше прелести, кротости было в его чертах. Ростов был счастлив, убедившись в том, что слух о ране государя был несправедлив. Он был счастлив, что видел его. Он знал, что мог, даже должен был прямо обратиться к нему и передать то, что приказано было ему передать от Долгорукова.

Но как влюбленный юноша дрожит и млеет, не смея сказать того, о чем он мечтает ночи, и испуганно оглядывается, ища помощи или возможности отсрочки и бегства, когда наступила желанная минута »

[natasharostova1792]

#Яглазамихудожниковмира 🎨🖌️

[thalassous]

and, it's easy done,

OUR LITTLE REMEDY.

[ ID: A painting of a shirtless Anatole Kuragin and Fyodor Dolokhov kneeling in front of one another on a bed. Dolokhov is behind Anatole, his right arm sneaking around Anatole's shoulder to hold his chest, and his left cradling his cheek. Both Anatole's arms are behind his back, and he wears an apathetic yet yearning expression. Dolokhov looks in front of Anatole and smiles widely. The two men are painted in warm colours, while the background is cool coloured. The background has a halftone overlay, and the men are shaded to allude to a light source not visible on the left. END ID ]

[strangebrew]

war and peace is like the final boss of ruslit to me

[spirngakawening]

[pilarsofsalt]

when he's doomed by the narrative 😍😍

[grand-theft-grotto]

He said it!!! Someone said the thing!!!

[melancholiaenthroned]

war and peace is so funny andrei was acting like his life was over and made peace with the fact that doing literally anything and putting any effort into any goals would be pointless cuz his life was basically over anyway and then he sees an old tree still growing and goes. wait a minute. im 31. thats not that old. i literally had to pause and get up HE WAS ONLY 31???? literally shouldve been at the club 😭

[malglories]

will i ever find another story that absolutely obliterates and reshapes me like war and peace did or nah

[dtsaranya]

Hadn’t drawn these idiots in a while.

[vernalloy]

@abacus-and-paper-money

a fellow with all the time on his hands and no way of knowing.

[ID: A digital drawing of Pierre Bezukhov on a black background. He is a man with short brown hair and a beard viewed from the bust up, staring blankly ahead. He wears wide round glasses, a fur lined brown coat, and a yellow top over a white button up shirt. Behind him is a yellow circle with black numbers around the edges like a clock without hands. Yellow impact font above him reads, "Bezukhov". End ID.]

Description of Pierre by @eyobis-andthe-bunnycats

[nikolayr]

«Боже мой! Что со мной было, ежели бы ко мне обратился государь. Я бы умер от счастья»

«Боже мой! Как бы я счастлив был, если бы он велел мне сейчас броситься в огонь»

[natasharostova1792]

Это моя милая Juste une belle famille

К моему глубокому сожалению, не все мои proche оказались на столь прекрасном полотне... Но я готова поделиться всему миру о своих maman et papa, ainsi que mes chers frères et sœurs 💞

[thalassous]

those i have time for, and those i don't.

[ ID : A sketch page of Anatole Kuragin. In the bottom left corner, two busts of him looking at each other with smiles. One has the label, "Toto" and the other, "Cooler Toto". In the bottom right corner a fully coloured drawing of Anatole sits with one knee up as he sticks his tongue out at the viewer. There is a sketch of a violin beside him. In the top left there is a simplified, coloured, and tall drawing of his full body. In the top right, a small sketch of Anatole is bent over onto his knees and rests his hands over his head. One of his eyes is visible. There are sparkles around each drawing. END ID ]