An invitation to a soirée
War and Peace Week 1: Book 1 Part 1 Chapters 1 – 7
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Welcome to War and Peace 2024!
Hello! And welcome. I am absolutely delighted that you have decided to join us for this year-long slow read of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. You are in for a treat. This is a rather extraordinary book: a great story full of complex always-changing characters and a kaleidoscope of human experience. Reading it slowly and collectively expands and deepens this story into something greater than itself. Stick with us, and hopefully, you will see what I mean.
Everything you need on this journey will appear on the main War and Peace page of Footnotes and Tangents. There is a reading schedule that links through to daily chat threads for each chapter. There is a list of weekly updates. And there is a wiki of character profiles to help you keep track of all the people you will meet in these pages.
Every Wednesday1, I will send out a reading update like this one, covering the chapters from Monday to Sunday of that week. You can save it for the weekend or browse it as you read. Whatever works for you!
And speaking of parties…