Tuesdays 12:30-2:30 PM
September 30 through November 18, 2003
D.O.C. House
Henry James missed the mark by a mile when he spoke of War and Peace as a "large, loose, baggy monster." It is neither loose nor baggy, and it is certainly not a monster. But it is large - more than 1000 pages divided into 15 "books" and two epilogues.
Through a mixture of lecture and discussion, we will consider one or two of these books every week, paying particular attention to the various techniques that Tolstoy used to gain his effects. This so-called monster is put together and balanced with consummate skill. It has been said that no other novel processes such an enormous quantity of material, providing nothing less than a comprehensive picture of an entire epoch.
Tolstoy wrote this book in the wake of his happy marriage to Sofiya Behrs in 1862, and it embodies his principle that one should live for oneself and one's family. During the late seventies, as his marriage deteriorated, his work came to embody a very different principle: Live for others and for God. These principles kept at bay the specter of death, which haunted him all his life.
Class is limited to 20 participants.
Richard Sheldon is Professor Emeritus of Russian Language & Literature. He received his BA degree from the university of Kansas, his JD and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He chaired the Russian Department at Dartmouth for 20 years.
