War and Peace...
I'm making up for the fact that I have read, and enjoyed, all of Dan Brown's books. Whatever people believe etc... they are fun to read.

I decided to fix this imbalance of crap, by reading Tolstoy. I am into the epilogue now, and I can't wait to finish it. It has changed my life, I never knew so much about Napoleon before Sharpe started battering him!:D

I also make myself look ultra-pretentious, thus giving the impression that I am super clever.
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:00, 14 replies)

I read War and Peace for the same reason.
Pierre Bolkonsky (have I remembered that right..?) was a wanker, but he's ok in the end.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:04, closed)

...
I'm wading through War and Peace at the moment. It's ace.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:05, closed)

@Bert
Yeah, Pierre is something of a tool to begin with.

I won't spoil the plot for Enzyme!

How far are you into it?
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:09, closed)

@Enzyme
The one thing I didn't like about War and Peace, was that I can't read Russian, French or German, or have a particularly good knowledge of the nuances of their cultures.
If I could read the book in it's original language I know I would have enjoyed it much more.

@w.h.a.t.g.g. I read it about seven years ago, I liked it, I just think I could have liked it more.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:10, closed)

@Bert
Also, do you mean you read it for the self-importance or to balance out ythe dirtiness you felt for enjoying Dan Brown books?!
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:10, closed)

I read
Anna Kerenina on a beach in Thailand, sine then I purchased myself a copy of war and peace, but have yet to start it, I did start re-reading Anna Karenina though. That's a good book.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:11, closed)

@whatgg
I read it before Dan brown, but purely to look clever and so that I could smugly tell everybody that I had.

I've read War and Peace, don't you know.

*grins*

EDIT just checked, it was Pierre Bezukhov, and Andrew Bolkonsky, silly me.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:12, closed)

@Al
As much as I have enjoyed War and Peace, I don't think I could manage another Russian Epic. I was told that Crime and Punishment was good. But I'll be glad once W&P is over so I can go back to finishing books in a week!
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:12, closed)

@Gnomes
I'm just at the start of part 2 - Rostov and Denisov are back in Moscow in early 2006, and a marriage with Sonya looks on the cards. Oh, and Bolkonsky has just fought his duel. I'm reading it part-by-part, interspersing it with other stuff.

Crime and Punishment is staggering. One of the most powerful books I've ever read. Dostoyevsky is one of my heroes...
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:15, closed)

@Enzyme
did you mean 2006? I had a feeling it was set during the Napoleonic war.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:19, closed)

@Enzyme
2006?!!? What crazy version are you reading :DD
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:20, closed)

@al...
Yeah - the latest Napoleonic War. The one a couple of years ago. Don't tell me you didn't notice Europe being ravaged?

GRATUITOUS FACTOID: The word "bistro" comes from the Russian word "b'uistro", meaning "fast", in reference to the Russian occupying troops in Paris after the Napoleonic wars who'd yell it at restauranteurs to make them get a bloody move on.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:22, closed)

@Enzyme
Good fact, I will definitely use that one to make me look smarter.
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:24, closed)

Oh that was a war!
I assumed it was just football hooligans, or the sort of people who take easyjet flights to magaluf.

*stands on class high ground ironing his toilet paper*

Edit - @WHATTG, you might want to thank Enzyme too since it was his fact, but I'm happy to take credit for it!
(Bazongaloid, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:24, closed)