Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky

A promising young officer

BOOK ONE

Book 1, Part 1

Chapter 1

One of today’s guests is Andrei Bolkonsky, aide-de-camp to Kutuzov, the commander-in-chief of the army on its way to Austria. He has recently married Lise Meinen. According to Anna Pavolvna, he has an eccentric father and an unhappy sister.

Chapter 2

His wife arrives first at Anna’s soirée, complaining of how Andrei is deserting her to get himself killed in the war.

Chapter 3

And here he is, with his “measured step” and “bored expression”, a handsome young man who looks thoroughly displeased to be here. And no one bores him more than his wife, Lise. Only his dear friend Pierre can put a smile on his face.

Chapter 4

Andrei seems well-versed in Napoleon’s speeches and proclamations. He uses his superior knowledge to put down the Vicomte, whom he clearly dislikes. Not that Andrei is a Bonapartist or a Jacobin. But he defends his friend Pierre, arguing that the French emperor has been, at times, “great”.

Chapter 5

Our bored prince deals with the unwanted and inappropriate advances of Prince Ippolit towards Andrei’s wife. Back home with Pierre, he soaks up his friend’s “childish words” while unable to explain why he or anyone is going to fight Napoleon.

Chapter 6

After his cold argument with his wife, Andrei becomes animated by a brilliant light. “Never marry”, he advises Pierre, and give up your debauched life with Anatole Kuragin. In a monologue full of self-pity, the young aide-de-camp explains he is going to war to escape society.

Chapter 22

Andrei has written to his sister and is due to arrive shortly at Bald Halls with his wife Lise. He will leave her there and continue on to the frontier and the war in Austria.

Chapter 23

Bolkonsky arrives at Bald Hills, looking sad, and feels uneasy as his wife and sister greet each other affectionately. Marya greets him warmly. He is more animated later with his father, whom he loves despite his eccentricities and harsh manner.

Chapter 24

He finds something amusing about an ancestral portrait and a genealogical tree of the Bolkonskys, describing it as his father’s “Achilles’ heal”. And Andrei respects his father and listens attentively at dinner, while quietly disagreeing with him on most points. He says Napoleon is a “great general” but refuses to elaborate: “That would take too long to tell”.

Chapter 25

We note his tidy and meticulous packing, but also that is a man “capable of reflection” who must now think seriously of his past and future. Marya calls him “Andryusha” and remembers “the slender mischievous boy” he once was. “You have changed so”. He recognises that their father has become more “trying” but does not want to see how hard country life will be for Lise. He says he does not blame himself or her for anything, but they are not happy, and he does not know why. He agrees to wear his grandfather’s icon for Masha. He says goodbye to his father, asking him to send for a Moscow doctor for the birth and, if he dies, to keep his son at Bald Hills with his father. He leaves for the war.