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SpiritOfTheShadow — Moment of truth
Published: 2008-06-27 20:05:42 +0000 UTC; Views: 1407; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 18
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----"What's this? Am I falling? My legs are giving way," thought he, and fell on his back. He opened his eyes, hoping to see how the struggle of the Frenchmen with the gunners ended, whether the red-haired gunner had been killed or not and whether the cannon had been captured or saved. But he saw nothing. Above him there was now nothing but the sky- the lofty sky, not clear yet still immeasurably lofty, with gray clouds gliding slowly across it. "How quiet, peaceful, and solemn; not at all as I ran," thought Prince Andrew- "not as we ran, shouting and fighting, not at all as the gunner and the Frenchman with frightened and angry faces struggled for the mop: how differently do those clouds glide across that lofty infinite sky! How was it I did not see that lofty sky before? And how happy I am to have found it at last! Yes! All is vanity, all falsehood, except that infinite sky. There is nothing, nothing, but that. But even it does not exist, there is nothing but quiet and peace. Thank God!..."
Lev Tolstoi
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I tested myself, I wanted to see if I can draw without seeing a picture. This is pure imagination. And I apologize it is quite sketchy but I quite like how Andrei`s eyes turned out.
This is my favourite part in the book and when I look at the blue sky I always think about it. All is vanity, all falsehood, except that infinite sky.
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Comments: 28
You can see his dying and thinking about his life... Good work... Somehow, I never sympathised much with this character. He never knew what he wanted, always undecided about everything. I liked Pierre a lot more
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I have to agree with You. He had many negative qualities and he wasn`t prodigy of ideal person. His tragical end affected me. After reading it I mourend like somebody real had just died.
Few days ago I discussed with my friend what kind of book character resembles me the most. And I found that I am quite similar with Andrei`s sister Maria Bolkonskaja 
What do you think, which book character resembles You the most?
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sorry to cut in like this. but i really want to say this 
anyway, i really like his character, although he's far fro perfect. he remind me of Pechorin, the main character of lermonotv's novel Hero of our time. i find them quit similar, both undecided, never satisfied with what they got.
anyway, great drawing!
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I am very glad that You like my drawing and that You got the same feeling as I while reading.
Pechorin`s character affected me as well, but prince Bolkonsky was somehow more tragic for me.
Did ou know that Pechorin, Bolkonsky, Onegin, Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights and Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera are all called Byronic heroes because they have all similar negative qualities and tend to be antiheroes?
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yeah i know, i learnt that back in highschool. although War and Peace is a Realist novel, while Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and Lermonontv's Hero of Our Time are novels of the Romanticism period, they do have some similar characteristics. I haven't read The Phatnom of the Opera yet, but i'm planning to
still, russian novels remain my favourites
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Phantom of the opera is great. Especially the film. The book is more like a detective story and doesn t give the right feeling that it should give. Maybe You shoud read Susan Kay`s Phantom, it is much more better.
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That is a very interesting question. I had to think a long time to answer it... I never really found my own character in any book. I really like Marcel Proust's thoughts about art, love and other emotions, in "The Search for Lost Time". It resonates with me.
I also try to live according to Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, the most I can. It is one of the best books of all time. Maybe next to the bible for me... I think I was born after my time. I should be very happy in times of old Romans or
Middle ages.
I read a lot of Biographies from antiquity, like Alexandar the Great, Caesar and Diocletian... It would be immodest to say I feel like them, but I like to use their way of thinking and using reason to solve problems.
But from book character... Maybe Goldmund from Hesse's Narcis and Goldmund, athough I am closer to his Steppenwolf than I'd like to be... He was an artist, very sensitive and with intense emotions, and felt as if he didn't really belong in his surroundings...
Which traits of Maria Bolkonskaja do you think you have most in common?
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Maria Bolkonskaja had a very soft personality. Expressing her mind and feelings was a very difficult task for her. Sometimes I have the same problem.
She helped other people and she was a very religious person. Also, if I have an opportunity I always help people too and I live along Christian values. I am not as submissive as she was but I always consider the oppinions of other people.
She had big blue eyes like me ha-ha.
I think I would be more happier person if I had lived two centuries ago. For me this period is ethically and aesthetically beautiful, elegant and quite gallant. I think this time would have offered me more than it offers now.
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It is wonderful that you live along Christian values. It is becoming very rare these days. Our hedonistic, capitalistic culture teaches tries to turn us away from religion as much as possible. It tells us all sorts of bad things about it. How it produces narrow minds, religious hatred and intolerance. But all the crusades, religious wars and unrests of past centuries were initiated not by true Christians, but by the same people who produce them now, the power-hungry and the greedy earthly people… It is sad that evil people usually very easily find their way to the top in human societies. If you look at Napoleon, what good did he really do, even to himself? Killing off hundreds of thousands of people so he could secure himself a name… It is madness..
If everybody tried to live by the Christian principles, it would be paradise on earth already. Everybody needs a strong perfect vision to look up to and try to perfect himself. God fills that role, science can never do that. But it is fashion now to get all the pleasures of life as quickly as possible, and not even try to better oneself.
I am curious, which branch of Christianity is dominant in Estonia? The Poles are Catholics, and the Russians Orthodox. Serbian national church is orthodox, very close to Russian and Greek. But 50 years of Communism has uprooted much of the religious feelings and codes that sustained the Serbian people for five centuries under Turkish oppression. Not that it makes a difference which type of Christian someone is, I think a good Christian, Buddhist, and Moslem are ultimately very similar in their way of life. The moral precepts are mostly universal….
I know what you mean by the ethical and aesthetic beauty of the past ages. There are always romantic souls that look in the past, I am one of them. But in the end, I don’t think people back then were much different that today. It would be fun to be born among the aristocracy, but that would mean that you live on the toil of the poor people who sustain you for no other reason but that you exist. The nobility have always considered warfare their chief occupation. That’s really how nobility is made.
All the kings and queens, the royal families, hold their position because their ancestors were famous barbarian chieftains and raiders. The only thing that separates the aristocracy from their subjects, apart from the culture and education, of course, is the willingness of their ancestors to be very violent and bloody. Today’s system, with all its shortcomings and mistakes, is probably more just. The biggest problem s the destruction of nature that it produces… But the average person today has the quality of life that could be compared to Louis XIV, If you think of all the food, entertainment, books, opportunities for knowledge and learning. As for the soul, well, that is a different subject…
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At the beginning of this year we had a enquiry about believing in God. Only 14 percent of our nation believed in something and I think this 14 percent is represented by the Russians too. So Estonians are pagans
It is interesting that Estonians have always been suspicious about Christianity. If they had a opportunity they always killed pristes and other people connected with Christianity. Countryfolk believed in fairies and bowed down before the forests and nature in general.
In our capital city - Tallinn there is a beautiful Russian Orthodox church called the Cathedral of Alexander Nevskj. I always go there if I am in Tallinn. I have even seen a photo where Nicholas II is standing in front of this cathedral. So it is quite special to go there and breathe the fragrance of history
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It sounds like a fascinating place. I don't know anything about Estonia...I just looked it up on wikipedia. There are some photos of you national dress, it is beautiful. It reminds me of Mucha's Slav Epic paintings. But there is so few of you! Only a milion and a half. I thought Serbia has little population, but you are like the Mohicans! But you seem to be doing well economically.
So if so many Estonians hold pagan rites of nature, how did it happen that you are so spiritual? You have a fascination with the Romanovs. Are some of your ancestors Russian? Princess Anastasia, maybe?
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It is very difficult to like the culture of a nation by whom Estonia was conquered twice. Thanks to this everthing connected with Russia is very unpopular in Estonia, sadly, because I find this country very fascinating.
I read also about Serbia. Your country`s history is quite difficult. Belgrad looks very beautiful!
Haha, today is Eurovision. I haven`t watched it for years but today I am planning to watch it
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Well, there might be something there
Historically, Russia was always far away, there really never was any real help, it was always diplomatic support at most… But the language is similar, and the folk stories and music, so there are some ties between our people. Not to mention communism which everybody now would rather forget. There are some lunatics now that would rather be annexed to Russia just so they can annoy the European countries… The recent period has been one of the dark chapters in our history, so there are a lot of murky ideas coming up.
Well, I’m glad you like Belgrade. One day you might come and visit it.
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I watched the semifinal. It was quite creepy. But I am glad that our country passed this time to the main contest. I think it is quite impudent
But yes... if I watched it... some songs... I got scared. Is Europe really at this level as it was shown yesterday? Huh.
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You talk of it like you watched a horror movie... Were the songs bad? Mainstream music these days is horrible, as most modern art.
Every song Serbia ever tried to push to that contest was something turkish-iranian with some geese and village motifs on the videos... I guess those things are standard for eurovision.
Yes, it is brave of your singers to sing in your own language, but it's not like you'll get invaded by Russia for doing that, is it?
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Haha
I think that opera with pop music is quite grisly. And there was even a comment which sayd that this genre is becoming more and more popular in Europe...
Although Russians have done enourmous work with the stage. I quite liked it.
I hope that they accept it that our singers are singing in Estonian.
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Well, If everybody votes for their own singer and there are 145 million Russians, maybe it would have been better to sing so they can understand it... Estonian is not close to slavic languages, eh? Holding my fingers for your song if it helps...
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Estonia got the 6th place. Pretty Good.
I watched a documentary about Baron Wrangel who was one of the leaders of White movement during Russian Civil war.
I didn`t know that after the deafeat in Russia the remaining parts of the White Army escaped to preterit Jugoslavia and that he is buried in Belgrad. Have you heard anything about him?
I am thinking that is it possible that the name of Your capital city- Belgrade- comes from Russian words belyi- which means white and grad- like gorod which means city.
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You are right. But Grad means city in Serbian too. And Beli means white. But you are definitely on the right track. It was called Singidunum before that, founded by the Celts.
I heard something about those White Guardists, but I'll ask my history teacher, he should know more about that. A lot of Russian nobility came here after the revolution and continued to live. But then communism caught on here too, I don't know what happened to them then.
There was a famous general in the battle of Borodino that was of serbian origin. I'll try to remember his name...
And few people know, Ana Karenjina's lover was killed in the battle and buried in Serbia...
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Andrei..."Lads, FORWARD!" So brave, and finding revelations at the oddest of times! I only wish he would get that revelation without having to be shot, darn it! Can't he just like, take Liza out for dinner under the starlight and then they can have deep talks without blood and guts being involved??
I love the shading on his face, kind of dirty like he was getting messed up in war, and the longer I look at his eyes the deeper his gaze seems to penetrate...
~Tris
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Ah yes. I understand why Andrei didn`t take Liza seriously. These days, women were brought up to be just pretty little things. This was their job. And Liza didn`t offer him mental world what Andrei needed the most.
Andrei is such an interesting character. People like he can`t live in this world, it is not the right place. And his death was ineluctable. To me, Tolstoy showed his true genius in this part of the book. How he made his character to see what is death and God.
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Why...why is it, do you think, that Andrei married Liza? Did he think there was something deeper to her, but then realized she only likes parties and being all social butterfly-ish?
~Tris
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Yes, I believe so.They were so different and they came from different worlds.
I rember that Andrei was talking with Pierre and told him not to marry before he gets old and has done everything important in his life. To me, the way how Andrei acted towards his wife was very cold. He took her away from her friends and made her live without everything she loved. And how Liza told Andrei, that she was scared and how he even didn`t want to understand why she worried.
But I am glad that he understood under Austerlitz that Liza was precious to him. I saw a clip from russian movie where Andrei comes home and Liza dies after giving birth to little Nikolai. This is just stunning how V. Tikhonov played the part.
I just could discuss about this book forever. ^^
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Moi aussi! ^^ I love talking about War and Peace.
Yeah, I do recall Liza saying Andrei was taking her away, and Andrei replied, "With my father and my sister, remember." I thought Liza was a little self-centered when she whined about being taken away, because...would she rather live all alone in her house and give birth by herself while Andrei goes to battle? I don't know, maybe she wanted to stay at--wait, does Liza have friends besides Marie? Because the only other option besides going to Bleak Hills is staying at a friend's house, right..? Maybe she could have stayed at Ellen's place??
But yeah, Andrei didn't seem to care when Liza told him she was afraid. "What are you afraid of, Liza? I don't understand." All cool and emotionless. Didn't Liza say his attitude changed toward her once she got pregnant? Could there be something to that--all of a sudden, he truly realized that he was stuck into family life for good and would only get more and more responsibilites? Hmm..
The Russian Movie...I cannot wait to see it! V. Tikhonov, is that the actor who portrays Andrei? Sorry, I know nothing of it! BLUSH.
~Tris
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It is kind of interesting that when Andrei asked Natasha`s hand in marriage, there is a part that Natasha started crying of happiness. And suddenly the poetic love towards Natasha disappeared. Even in the book he found that his love changed. And then he went away. And here I find similarities between the love of Natasha and Liza. He got in s certain moment where he escaped the reality.
Have you already read the part where Andrei dies?
Ah as for the russian film... this is splendid! I`ll give you a link where you can see the ball scene. [link]
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Yes. I couldn't believe...at first...I was reading it out loud to my teacher, because I can choose what to do for my assignments (so of course I chose to read War and Peace!) and could not read, my voice choked up. I had to read to myself, barely able to see the page. I could hardly bear it, especially when he looked at Nikolai, gave him the blessing, and then looked at everyone as if to say, "Is there anything else I have to do? I'd like to go now, please." I wanted to scream!! It was like, "ANDREI, COME BACK!! COME BACK!!" I got kind of hysterical.
And I still think about him at random times, I remember how he loved to dance. I remember how he rode back to Bleak Hills and it was vandalized...it's like, when someone is so real...how can they be dead?
By the way that is an interesting point, how his love changed for Natasha. He did seem to come back to earth, and wasn't he even a little worried, like, "What have I done, getting so deeply involved?!" If they had wed, perhaps...the same thing would have happened again, like how it happned with Liza!
Thank you for the link, I'll check it out when I can. That was really super nice of you to send it!!
~Tris
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Yes. I got the same feeling. At school, our literature teacher copied this part of the book for everyone, that we could read it. And I knew nothing about the plot. I was very influenced by Andrei`s dream when he tried to cloze the door from death. And then I promised myself that I will read the whole book.
I think I have a thing for book characters and people with sad destenies. ^^
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