I just ended the third book and… wow, what a rollercoaster. Since the start of the book I’ve had one favourite characther (almost symphatethic) in the story: Prince Andrej.
What I like about him is how he acts and thinks: Tolstoj just puts so much work in his charachters and then he just expresses their emotions in a way that I don’t think can be equaled. He is young (born in 1778, which makes him 27 at the start and 34 at the end), has kind of a man-crush on Napoleon and dreams about being an Aide-de camp to earn the glory of his men (this is seen when he tries to get the standard during the battle of Austerlitz: almost dreaming about becoming his hero’s peer).
And then, during the battle, he just gets… shot down and falls in the middle of the field, passing out and bleeding out on the field as he holds onto the banner, not letting it go for one second.
Then Napoleon, seeing his body, says that Andrej’s “death” is a nice death; but Andrej, who has become disillusioned with the whole “heroic” bullcrap, only cares about the sky he has been seeing ever since he was shot down (he feels a connection with the endless sky, almost dreaming of soaring the nice clouds that in that moment are just connected with his soul).
His charachter, like many others in this story, is complex but compassionate.
Anyway, I think I’m done with my sermon now.
by Justanotheryankee-12