This is beautifully illustrated by Natásha. War does not only bring out the worst in people, it can also bring out the best in people. Life is full of contradictions, and that is what gives it it’s flavour. Because that’s what life is all about!ĭrain the blood from men’s veins and put in water instead, then there will be no more war!Īs the title* suggests, without war there is no peace.

It helps us to realise that no matter how bleak things may seem, there will be good times again. While reading we relive past sorrows, and brace ourselves for horrible things yet to come. I came to the conclusion that when we experience emotions with the characters in the book that we read, it has a cathartic effect on us. Mikhail Shishkin's Letterbook (not yet translated into English) made me cry so much when I read it a couple of years ago, that I wondered why I liked it at all. And that is price wisely the effect that Tolstoy wished to have upon his readers. The book makes you cry and it makes you laugh. Tolstoy wrote it in the realistic era, and as such life is depicted in all it’s aspects: happiness and sadness, love and hate. Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.

War and peace book