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TIGHT_PIECES

                                        January 27, 2006

   Upon re-reading "War and Peace"...
   it's remarkable how *tightly*
   it all fits together.

   There are very few -- if any --
   passages that could be deleted
   without harming the whole work.


        For example, there's that long
        scene of hunting on horse back
        that seems interminable: okay,
        I get it, the Rostov's are
        irresponsible (perhaps
        "decadent"): fiddling about as
        Moscow is about to burn...


            But then later, we see Nikolai Rostov
            in battle, spontaneously leading
            a charge against the French forces --
            behaving exactly as he did when hunting.

                He's left somewhat
                dazed, awarded the
                "St. George's Cross"
                for this "bravery",
                when it seems to
                himself like he's
                reacted by reflex, 
                and run-off some 
                scared French soldiers...



  Consider that you can draw a parallel
  between Prince Andrei abandoning his
  body, and the Russian army abandoning
  Moscow.  Winning through surrender...


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