He blogged quite a few years ago, maybe four years ago now, about Tolstoy, and I went on a real slow burn Tolstoy jag through 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina.'.
The best things said about it
War and Peace when you're 11 versus War and Peace when you're 22 could be profoundly different reading experiences.
Ryan Holiday The Daily Stoic · Sep 2022 Why people recommend it
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy is an epic novel that chronicles the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through the intertwined stories of several aristocratic families. On Modern Wisdom, Dan Jones discussed how he started reading Tolstoy after coming across a blog post by a previous guest, which led him on a slow-burn journey through both War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He remarked that these massive works are specifically constructed to be consumed piecemeal over an extended period. Similarly, on The Daily Stoic, Thomas Chatterton Williams spoke about the book while exploring the nature of deep reading. He noted that immersing oneself in such a vast narrative requires hours and hours of mental investment before a reader can fully feel the world that Tolstoy conjured out of sheer language. Williams also highlighted how a person's age drastically alters the experience, pointing out that reading War and Peace at eleven years old versus reading it at twenty-two yields profoundly different intellectual and emotional impressions.
Every mention
Dan Jones He blogged quite a few years ago, maybe four years ago now, about Tolstoy, and I went on a real slow burn T… 1
“He blogged quite a few years ago, maybe four years ago now, about Tolstoy, and I went on a real slow burn Tolstoy jag through 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina.'”
“I slowly read 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina.' They're constructed so you can read them piecemeal over a long time.”
Ryan Holiday War and Peace when you're 11 versus War and Peace when you're 22 could be profoundly different reading expe… 1
“You know, when you immerse yourself in War and Peace or something like that, it requires hours and hours of investment before you start to feel this world that Tolstoy conjured up around you out of sheer language.”
“War and Peace when you're 11 versus War and Peace when you're 22 could be profoundly different reading experiences.”
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“There are decades and layers to this story, like 'War and Peace'; if you only read one half of the final chapter, you might think you understand, but in reality, there's a lot to unpack.”