War and Peace - by some accounts one of the
best romantic novels of the
Tolstoy era, creates an atmosphere of
despair,
loyalty and
love to the profound reader. Considered lengthy by some (a full 1500 pages), the novel nonetheless has generated a large following and is hailed as a breakthrough in the analysis of
Romanticism in both Russia and the world.
We are now the children of earth, but eternally the children of the whole universe. Don’t I feel in my soul that I am a part of that vast, harmonius whole? . . . one grain, one step upward from lower beings to higher ones? . . . I feel that I cannot disappear as nothing does disappear in the universe, that indeed I always shall be and always have been. I feel that beside me, above me, there are spirits, and that in their world there is truth.
-
Count Pierre Besukhov
This religious quote, shows the intensity and vision that Tolstoy must have had to create such powerful amorous words. His characters (War and Peace has more characters then almost ANY other book) are each created with mind to every last detail and are all a unique personality that add to the value of the novel. In retrospect, Tolstoy employs much the same techniques as Shakespeare, showing all sides of an argument when he is trying to prove only one singular point, creating a sense of fair-ness to his stories.
References: http://www.friends-partners.org/oldfriends/literature/war_and_peace/war-peace_intro.html