.jpg)
The enduring questions of Tolstoy's ‘War and Peace’
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace may be regarded as one of the greatest novels in world literature, but not everyone is a fan.
The book checks in at more than 580,000 words, spanning from 1,200 to 1,400 pages depending on the edition, and 365 chapters—one for each day of the year. Some readers complain about having to keep track of its numerous characters, many of whom they consider unlikeable, uninteresting, and—since most are part of elite Russian society—unrelatable; others are annoyed by Tolstoy’s digressions into theories on history and philosophy. Critics say the novel’s reputation as a literary masterpiece can make readers feel compelled to appreciate it, and frustrated when they’re unable to do so.
So, in an era when the college-age generation is reading less, what professor in their right mind would want to include War and Peace in a course?
But Boston College faculty members Nicole Eaton and Thomas Epstein have made Tolstoy’s tome the focus of a paired set of courses being taught this semester through the University Core Curriculum’s Enduring Questions sequence.
Eaton, an associate professor of history, and Epstein—a professor of the practice in the Classical Studies Department—teach War and Peace: History and Literary Truths from their respective disciplines; this semester marks their third such collaboration. The classes are held back-to-back on the same days, with the same students in each. Eaton and Epstein also gather with the students four times during the semester for reflection sessions to integrate the courses’ contents with their lived experiences.
Despite its Napoleonic Wars-era setting, the two faculty members explain, War and Peace raises timeless, fundamental, and relevant questions about human existence: How should I live and what is worth dying for? Is war a necessary evil, or something greater, or different? What role do individuals play in the grand structures of human history? How do we live morally? Do we have free will to shape our destinies?
Beyond such historical, classical, and intellectual elements is another dimension to the paired classes: The very task of reading and assessing War and Peace, say Eaton and Epstein, is valuable in and of itself.
“War and Peace offers the chance to sustain one’s attention for a lengthy text that presumed a very different reading audience in a very different time,” Eaton explained. “Right up front, we talk about the challenge the book presents, that we want them to read the printed version, rather than scrolling it on their phones or computer—and that they should find a quiet place to read.”
“War and Peace simply defies description: Referring to it as a ‘19th-century novel’ is so inadequate,” said Epstein. “It was a groundbreaking poly-stylistic work that went well beyond the standards of 19th-century literature. Therefore, the book is especially useful in exploring how closely related the disciplines of history and literature are, and how they each transform our experiences into stories.”
The very task of reading and assessing' War and Peace' is valuable in and of itself, say Associate Professor of History Nicole Eaton and Thomas Epstein, a professor of the practice in the Classical Studies Department. (Matthew Healey)
Epstein and Eaton utilize traditional class lectures and reading assignments, including other texts covering similar moral and philosophical ground (such as Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage), but they don’t want students to passively absorb information. Small-group discussions exploring specific scenes help them form and articulate views on the material, which they share with the larger class. Students are each assigned a character from War and Peace and keep a handwritten diary in the character’s voice—Eaton provides the class with journals—based on his or her experiences as they are related in the book; these are graded for creativity, detail, insight into the character’s mindset, and accurate page numbers and scenes references. Viewings of film or television adaptations of the book also help spark discussion.
Despite the book’s early-19th-century setting, War and Peace touches on numerous subjects that resonate with students, according to Eaton and Epstein, such as societal changes and corresponding shifts in attitudes regarding marriage; the possibility of pacifism in the contemporary world; the limits of human freedom; and which qualities are considered “masculine” and “feminine.”
“Tolstoy wrote War and Peace as a coming-of-age story for many of the characters, as they see their vision of the world being torn apart,” said Eaton. “Our students have certainly been experiencing and witnessing considerable upheaval themselves, so it’s something they can relate to.”
Students formerly or currently in the War and Peace classes had varying degrees of familiarity with the book and its reputation but have relished the experience of reading and analyzing it.
Yizhe Shi ’28, a philosophy and English major, points to the book’s very title as the reason for its enduring place in the imagination.
“It’s ‘War’ and ‘Peace,’” he explained. “To a degree, the two notions exist in relation to each other. We only live to treasure and understand peace if we grasp the dehumanizing horror of any kind of war. Similarly, we have a deeper understanding of the war when we learn what peace entails. Seeing the conflicts going on throughout the world, I think there is some obligation for us as part of a Jesuit institution to initiate some changes. War and Peace deals with the question of what it means to be a human. We see questions being raised in the book during battles that took countless lives; we also see Tolstoy probing such questions with the characters’ journeys and changing ways of living.
“One can say it’s a book about us, too.”
For Samantha Raia ’28, a Management & Leadership and marketing major with an English minor, War and Peace had always been “one of the classic novels that people say they should read, but rarely actually do.” Early on, she wondered if she’d bit off more than she could chew—especially when she was carrying around a 10-lb. book—but found the class discussions and projects invaluable.
“The project we did on societal expectations helped me see the characters in a different way, especially how many of their decisions are shaped by the roles society expects them to play. Looking at characters like Prince Andrei, Natasha, and Pierre through that lens made the story feel much deeper, because their struggles were not just personal but also connected to the pressures of the society they lived in. It made me realize that many of the novel’s conflicts come from the tension between what the characters truly want and what they feel they are supposed to do.”
“Unlike a novel where a character faces one problem and overcomes it by the end, War and Peace is more like an epic where the reader observes many characters change in countless ways over a long stretch of time,” said biochemistry major John Mack ’29. “For me, this makes it a purer reflection of our own lives, where personal growth is not achieved through overcoming one specific challenge but is instead a journey of prolonged and varied ups and downs. The novelty of the story makes these changes compelling, and that focus entices us to ponder our own lives in return.”
Elena Florentinos, a sophomore from Cresskill, NJ, who is a double major in English and accounting for finance and consulting, found much to appreciate about the opportunity to delve into the novel.
“It has interesting commentary on human nature and the philosophy of history, especially the ‘Great Man’ theory,” said Florentinos, referring to Thomas Carlyle’s concept of history being shaped by extraordinary individuals with innate, superior qualities. “I think these ideas are still very relevant today.
“And,” she added, “who doesn’t like the achievement of having read War and Peace”?