Posts (page 2)
Prior to reading War & Peace, I had no idea at all who the characters were or what the plot was. All I knew was that it was really, really long and widely considered the greatest novel evah. After reading it, I can see why the plot and characters aren't quite woven into our collective conciousness like, say, The Count of Monte Cristo. Even people who have never read it could tell you that it's about revenge. Not so with War & Peace.
First of all, there isn't really a linear, vibrant plot like Count. It meanders a bit, which makes it feel more lifelike but doesn't lend itself very well to synopsis. That's not to say that there aren't any exciting, catch-your-breath bits, because there are. Just not quite as many as other novels I've read.
I also understand why the characters aren't quite as well known. It's because there are approximately 20,000 characters. Not really, but there are a whole lotta peeps in this book. It mainly centers around two families (the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys) and Pierre Bezuhov, the weird, bespectacled loner. But all the peripheral characters are wonderfully realized as well, which is a large part of the book's charm.
THIS PART OF THE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
As soon as I was done reading I rushed online to read others' reviews. I had been waiting for weeks to see what other people thought of the characters and the book in general, so it was nice to break my self-imposed spoiler ban. The only thing I was surprised at was the general sense of disappointment over the first part of the epilogue. True, it did read a little bit like the ending of Harry Potter, with the domestic bliss and all the children named after dead or cherished people. (Although, thank God, the little Russian children got cute names like Petya and Andryusha instead of *snicker* Albus Severus.) But the ending was just so sweet. I liked seeing my characters leading a settled, contented life. I was thrilled to see them all as grown-ups, especially Pierre. Of course he's an excellent father. I was most surprised at how well Nikolay and Marya fit. I always looked at their impending match as being a disaster in the making. They're just so different. I'm glad that poor Marya got the family she wanted, and that Nikolay stands in awe of his wife's spirituality.
This is turning out to be wicked long, and it's just too hot to keep going, so I'm ending now on the note that surprisingly, Pierre was my favorite character by the end. I just like him, the big oddball. I think it's the combination of gentleness, absent-mindedness, and spectacles. Gotta love a guy in specs.
If you knew you were about to lose your voice permanently, what is the last thing you would want to say?
Submitted by exer.
"Y'all better learn sign language."
Yes, folks, you heard it here first! I AM DONE WITH WAR & PEACE!!!! I'll post my thoughts sometime soon (finals are kicking my butt) but I enjoyed it. Well, all except part two of the epilogue. First, only in War & Peace would there be more than one part of the epilogue. Second, that last half had no character stuff, just philosophical digression. It took me forever to get through, quite frankly.
What are some of the best(and worst) things about summer?
Submitted by L33tchica.
What a timley question! As I write this to you, Ohio is going through a bit of a heat wave. Yesterday was 90-something and today is supposed to be in the very high 80s. Thursday was wretched because the humidity was about a billion percent, and yesterday was just frickin' hot. Hopefully we'll get some rain today to cool down, because my dorm room is opressive as we have no air conditioning and the room is the size of a walk-in closet. As I sit here I have a wet washcloth cooling the back of my neck.
Aside from all my whining (seriously, it's so hot!), summer is great. No school, green leafy plant life, and my birthday! Woo.
Monday I ordered the complete score of The Fellowship of the Ring. It arrived today, to my great pleasure, since it was expected to arrive sometime next week! Hurrah for little surprises.
Anyhow, I was psyched because it contained some songs that previously had only been in the movie itself. It so great to have it on CD. This music is amazing, and maybe sometime when I'm motivated I'll do a longer post on it. For now, let me share with you two wonderful songs. I think you'll like them even if you have never seen LoTR.
First off is a song played at Bilbo's party. It's very Celtic-sounding and upbeat. I'm a little in love with it.
Last is a sort of Elven hymn*, sung in Elvish. It's a gorgeous, simple, mournful song taken directly from the book.
*That was me outing myself as a giant nerd. :-)
If you had to write your autobiography in 6 words, what would you write?
Submitted by mitzie.
Adapted from the lyrics of that one song by Blind Melon:
My life was pretty plain. -Alex
Look at the first post you ever wrote on Vox. What important developments or changes have occurred in your life since then?
Submitted by Alexandra.
At first I got really confused by the name poser who submitted this question, as my full name is also Alexandra. Then I remembered that the world doesn't revolve around me and that I do in fact share a name with others. Anyhow.
Ah, my first post. So short, so shallow. I have no idea what my blog title used to be. It was something from a Wodehouse book, but soon after I happened upon the name 'Somewhere Quiet' and it just fit.
How many houses have you lived in? How is where you live now different from where you grew up?
I have lived in three actual houses. When my parents got married my dad was finishing grad school, so we lived in a one-bedroom apartment until I was two and a half. Ah, to be a poverty-stricken young family. ;-) We were lucky, though, in that my dad got a very good job straight out of school, a job he's still at today.
Our first house was adorable, on an oak-lined street. I had my own bedroom with forest green carpeting. The backyard had plant life and the occasional bug, which made it my own wonderland. There was a beech tree, a big oak tree that reminded me of the color grey, violets in the yard, a magnolia tree in the back that we could kick the branches of as we were on the swingset, and a mulberry tree that made the birds' poop turn purple. I loved that house.
When we adopted the girls, we outgrew our little house, so we relocated. This house had train tracks literally in the backyard. I spent about the first week in terror of a train derailing. :-) I had a big bedroom painted spring green, and a connecting bathroom with my own sink. I had no idea how spoiled I was! Our street was no longer tree-lined, but we had all sorts of animals come in and out, like snakes and rabbits.
Six years later my mom got bored or something, so we moved to a different house in the same town. We relocated just a half-mile from the Lake. I had a smaller room and now all my siblings and I shared a bathroom. Not a very advantageous change for me. We were the very first people to live in our development, so for the first half year we had no mail or garbage service on our street. We also saw more exotic animals like deer and turkey.
I hated every one of these moves except possibly the first one, but it's turned out for the best every time.
I'm in a bloggy mood right now, so apologies if no one finds this interesting but me. :-)
Last year I found out I was a "mistake". I was sitting there thinking, "Aw, my parents are celebrating their 19th anniversary. Wait a minute, I'm turning 19 this year. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August...huh." Recently my mom brought it up and cleared up lingering thoughts, like how everybody reacted and the fact that no, they didn't get married because of me. (My mom actually found out she was pregnant as she was leaving for the rehearsal dinner. Surprise!)
At first I was kind of embarrassed that it took me so long to figure it out, but on second thought it's actually pretty cool, because I never once *felt* like a mistake. I'm the first grandchild on both sides, and I've always been the apple of everyone's eye. Hurrah for secure childhoods.
It is amusing to me to realize that I was the only unplanned one out of my siblings. I assume my sisters came as a shock to their bio mom, but their arrival was probably the most thought-out of our family! ;-)
My camera made the sun gigantic again.
