Nikolai Rostov
An impetuous young man
Also known as: Koyla, Koko, Rostov, Nikki, Nikolenka, Nikolushka
BOOK ONE
Book One, Part Two
8 Jan: Chapter 8
The oldest Rostov son is “short with curly hair and an open expression”. He is growing his first bit of facial hair and has an impetuous and enthusiastic expression. He is dressed as a student and holds himself very differently from the calm and collected Boris.
9 Jan: Chapter 9
The young man has left university and spurned a nice little job in the Archives Department to join the Pavlograd Hussars. Not for friendship, he insists, but because war is his “vocation”, and he thinks he is no good anywhere else. “I don’t know how to hide what I feel.”
10 Jan: Chapter 10
Nikolai never says anything by halves. In the conservatory, he tells Sonya, “What is anyone in the world to me?” and kisses her. How different his friend Boris is: so cautious and diplomatic in his romances.
11 Jan: Chapter 11
Here we learn that Nikolai is a cadet, a volunteer from a good family who joins the officers rather than joining the ranks.
15 Jan: Chapter 15
At Natasha’s name day, he sits talking to Julie as Sonya seethes with jealousy.
16 Jan: Chapter 16
Like so many young men at grand occasions, he wishes to say grown-up and serious things. But typically, he is too enthusiastic for the occasion. However, Julie and Sonya approve in their own different ways.
17 Jan: Chapter 17
The cause of so many tears and high emotion tonight, although he seems mostly oblivious to it. He sings a romantic song he has just learned: “To feel that in this world there’s one / Who still is thinking but of thee?” Sonya listens and must hope the song is directed at her.
22 Jan: Chapter 22
From Julie’s letter to Marya, we learn of her love for him: he is noble-minded, pure and poetic. But he is too young for her, and it will never be more than a “sweet friendship”.
Book One, Part Two
29 Jan: Chapter 4
“Long live the whole world!" Rostov joyfully tells his German landlord, on the day the army learns of the Austrian defeat, and Lieutenant Telyanin steals Denisov’s purse. Nikolai calls war his “vocation”, but he immediately gets himself into a mess, attacking an officer in an inn. Oh, and note his horse, Rook. Rostov is never far from a horse.
30 Jan: Chapter 5
The situation escalates. Nikolai complains to their superior, who covers up for Lieutenant Telyanin to protect the honour of the regiment. Nikolai calls him a liar and refuses to apologise, instead threatening to challenge the colonel to a duel.
I am not a diplomatist. That’s why I joined the hussars, thinking that here no one needs diplomacy.
There is no place where diplomacy is not needed, and Nikolai is learning the hard way that, beyond the Rostov nursery, nothing is black and white.
2 Feb: Chapter 8
The young cadet is caught up in his head about his altercation with the colonel, and his own romanticised view about what battle will be like. The reality is grim. He forgets to bring any burning straw to the bridge, so there is no point in him being there. He is shot at for the first time, and noticing the calm blue sky, he is terrified. He considers himself a coward, although no one has noticed.
13 Feb: Chapter 19
Rostov goes into battle. He expects the “joy of an attack”, and for a brief moment, everything becomes “happy and animated”. But immediately afterwards, his horse Rook is killed under him, and he is wounded. Disorientated, he sees the French advance towards him:
‘Who are they? Why are they running? Can they be coming at me? And why? To kill me? Me who everybody loves?
When he throws away his pistol and runs away, he experiences a “fear for his young and happy life”, running as a boy playing tag.
15 Feb: Chapter 21
Nikolai is injured and can’t walk. Tushin gives him a lift on one of the cannons to the camp and the fires. There, he feels his pain and his sense of isolation. He remembers himself at home, happy and well. And he wonders why he ever came.
Book One, Part Three
21 Feb: Chapter 6
He sends a letter home telling them that he has been wounded and promoted to an officer. In his letter, he speaks of his "dear Sonya, whom he loved and thought of just the same as ever.'
22 Feb: Chapter 7
Rostov has been made a cornet and celebrates by buying Denisov's horse, Bedouin. He was "in debt all round." He has bought another horse from a Cossack. He is shabby in his cadet uniform but believes he will impress Boris with his appearance.
He is full of "martial swagger," but Boris shows no interest in his conquests. Nikolai rudely tells Berg to get lost so he can talk to his old friend. His mother has sent him a Letter of Recommendation to give to Bagration, but Nikolai throws it away. "I want nothing, and I won't be anyone's adjutant." When he tells Berg and Boris about Schon Grabern, he lies without meaning to lie.
Andrei enters, and Nikolai tells him his story is not "like the stories of those fellows on the staff who get rewards without doing anything." After this meeting, he wonders whether to challenge Andre to a duel and is surprised to discover that deep down, he would like to have Andrei as a friend.
23 Feb: Chapter 8
Nikolai, at the review before the two emperors: “a feeling of self-forgetfulness, a proud consciousness of might, and a passionate attraction to him who was the cause of this triumph.” He experienced a feeling of tenderness and ecstasy such as he had never before known. He fears he might “die of happiness.” Seeing Andrei, Nikolai feels this is a “time of such love”: “I love and forgive everybody now.”
24 Feb: Chapter 9
Rostov is disappointed to miss out on the next battle, a minor victory at the town of Wischau. The hussars drown their grief and Rostov buys one of the horses captured with the French cavalry. Rostov swoons when the emperor looks at him for two seconds. The emperor shudders at the sight of the wounded. “What a terrible thing war is.” Rostov wanders around, dreaming of dying for Tsar and country.
28 Feb: Chapter 13
Rostov obviously hasn’t heard Kutuzov’s advice about getting a good night’s sleep before battle. He falls asleep in the saddle with thoughts of home and Natasha and the emperor becoming confused in his head. He volunteers to scout the enemy positions and ignores instructions not to cross the stream. The French fire at him, and he retreats. He asks Bagration to serve at his side tomorrow, and the general agrees.
3 Mar: Chapter 17
“All his wishes were being fulfilled that morning.” A heart full of joy and happiness, expectations of meeting Kutuzov or the Tsar, and a belief that everything is possible and all will be well. But events prove otherwise. Nothing seems to be going right on the battlefield, and where he has been sent, there are already French troops and French cannons.
4 Mar: Chapter 18
The battle is lost, rumours are flying, and Rostov “went in the direction where they said he would be killed.” He is overwhelmed by terror and pity for himself. He comes across the emperor alone on the battlefield. Like a trembling “youth in love”, he is incapable of approaching his sovereign and even convinces himself that he must not. When Captain von Toll arrives and comforts the Emperor, Rostov realises his missed opportunity. “What have I done?”
BOOK TWO
Book Two, Part One
7 Mar: Chapter 1
Rostov returns home to a hero’s welcome. Natasha asks him to speak to Sonya with the formal vous, not the familiar tu, as she wishes him to be released from their childhood promise. Nikolai decides this is a wise decision. “I must remain free.”
8 Mar: Chapter 2
He’s bought another horse and a lot of fine clothes. Now “one of the best matches in the city,” charming, attractive, and polite, he is making the most of his hero status and his time on leave. He drifts away from Sonya, spends time with “a lady on one of the boulevards,” and spends a lot of time at the English Club and with Denisov.
9 Mar: Chapter 3
At Bagration’s big bash, we can hear “young Rostov’s ecstatic voice” above the three hundred others. “He nearly wept.” His father did weep, but more from pride than patriotism.
10 Mar: Chapter 4
Rostov looked inimically at Pierre, first because Pierre appeared to his hussar eyes as a rich civilian, the husband of a beauty and in a word—an old woman, and secondly because Pierre in his preoccupation and absent-mindedness had not recognised Rostov and had not responded to his greeting.
Pierre forgets to toast the emperor, and Rostov feels the insult as though it is personal: “Confound him, he’s a fool!”
He agrees to be Dolokohov’s second in the duel with Pierre and stays at the club with Denisov and Dolokhov, drinking and listening to the gipsies. Dolokhov tells him how to fight a duel.
11 Mar: Chapter 5
Rostov helps remove the wounded Dolokhov from the duelling ground. He then goes to tell Dolokhov’s family and discovers “to his great surprise” that he lives with his mother and daughter and “was the most affectionate of sons and brothers.”
16 Mar: Chapter 10
Nikolai claims to understand Dolokhov’s thoughts on friendship and love. It seems fairly evident that he does not. He tells Natasha that Dolokhov has a great soul and that the idea that he has fallen in love with Sonya is “nonsense.” He spends less time at home and a greater part of his time away at dinners, parties and balls.
17 Mar: Chapter 11
After Christmas, a leaving dinner is held at the Rostovs for Nikolai. He and Denisov will soon rejoin the regiment. He is late and misses Sonya’s refusal of Dolokhov’s proposal. He seems happy that “my Sonya” would do this, but he also feels the need to convince her to accept:
“I have been in love a thousand times and shall fall in love again, though for no one have I such a feeling of friendship, confidence, and love as I have for you,” says Nikolai. He calls her his angel and says he is not worthy of her. It is possible that he is right.
18 Mar: Chapter 12
At Iogel’s ball, you can see Nikolai has never considered Natasha “a weal beauty” because he doesn’t know who Denisov is talking about. Later, he tells Natasha to ask Denisov for a dance. “He is a real dancer, a wonder!”
19 Mar: Chapter 13
After Sonya’s rejection, Dolokhov stays away from the Rostovs. Then, before leaving for the regiment, he invites Nikolai to a farewell feast. There, between two candles, he challenges Rostov to cards. “Or are you afraid of me?” he asks as the stakes get higher. On the fate of a seven of hearts, the young Count Rostov watches his “newly appreciated and newly illuminated” happiness plunge into misery.
20 Mar: Chapter 14
The card game continues, but it is no game. Rostov mounts up a forty-three thousand rouble debt, to be paid tomorrow to the man with the red hands. “When did it begin?” Rostov asks himself as he tries to pinpoint the moment he slipped from happiness to misery. “And I did not realize how happy I was!” he thinks. Dolokhov makes it clear what this is about: Lucky in love, unlucky in cards. “Your cousin is in love with you.”
21 Mar: Chapter 15
Nikolai returns home to the house of joy. Denisov is composing a song, and everyone is coaxing Natasha to sing. So intense are their feelings that sister and brother cannot comprehend or conceive of each other’s happiness or misery. But when Natasha begins to sing, the finest part of Rostov’s soul is moved into a moment apart and above everything in the world. “This is real.” If only it could last forever.
22 Mar: Chapter 16
Nikolai tells his father about the forty-three thousand. “Nonsense,” says Ilya Rostov. He is ashamed of how he tries to make it seem like nothing, and his father’s flustered acquiescence makes it even worse. Nikolai spends the next two weeks with Sonya and Natasha, pays Dolokhov and then joins his regiment in Poland. Sonya loves him all the more, but he now considers himself unworthy.
Book Two, Part Two
6 April: Chapter 15
Nikolai Rostov returns to the regiment, a found family and a home removed from the “turmoil of the world.” He sets out to atone for his faults and repay his debts. The war is going badly and the regiment has lost nearly half its men to hunger and sickness. Everyone fears the hospitals. Rostov takes in a destitute Polish family then flies into a rage when a comrade asks to be introduced to the pretty Polish girl. Denisov intervenes. “What a mad bweed you Wostovs are!”
7 April: Chapter 16
Denisov keeps Nikolai away from his madcap scheme to steal food from the infantry.
8 April: Chapter 17
Nikolai goes to visit Denisov in hospital. A doctor tells him that the typhus is rampant, five doctors have died already, and that Denisov is probably dead. In the soldier’s ward, Nikolai sees a delirious man desperate for water and a young soldier dead beside his comrade. “He’s been dead since morning,” the old soldier says. “After all we’re men, not dogs.”
9 April: Chapter 18
In the officers’ ward, Nikolai encounters Tushin, the artillery captain who rescued him at Schöngrabern. He’s still got his pipe, but he is one arm down. Denisov is alive but in a foul mood. He wants to fight his case, but Tushin advises him to submit and petition the Emperor for a pardon. Rostov know not to press the point and wound Denisov’s pride. But later, Denisov quietly hands Rostov the petition.
10 April: Chapter 19
The war is over. At Tilsit, France and Russia make peace and become allies. Boris makes sure he is there for this historic meeting. He is having supper with a French officer when Nikolai arrives with Denisov’s petition. Rostov feels hostile and senses he is not wanted. Boris advises him not to give the petition to the Emperor, who “is very severe in such affairs.”
11 April: Chapter 20
Nikolai leaves Boris thinking, “all is over between us.” He resolves to hand Denisov’s petition personally to Emperor Alexander. Rostov is in Tilsit without permission, out of uniform and on the worst possible day to submit a petition. He almost gives in to his fears, but manages to hand it to a cavalry general who shows it to Alexander. The emperor makes a public show of rejecting the petition: “The law is stronger than I.”
12 April: Chapter 21
Rostov witnesses Napoleon embrace Alexander as equals and reward a Russian soldier, while Denisov goes “punished and unpardoned.” Boris asks Rostov what’s the matter and he says nothing. But “terrible doubts rose in his soul.” He proceeds to drink heavily, and when others express their dissatisfaction with the peace, Nikolai rants and shouts down his own inner turmoil. Our duty is “to fight and not to think!”
Book Two, Part Three
9 May: Chapter 1
Nikolai has taken over Denisov’s squadron and lives a blessed life of idleness in the army. His mother’s ominous letter recalls him home. At Otradnoe, life goes on as before, but with an uneasiness caused by the bad state of their affairs. Nikolai thinks Natasha does not seem like a girl in love, and their mother also has doubts about the marriage.
10 May: Chapter 2
Nikolai decides to get business matters out of the way first and demands an account of everything from a frightened Mitenka. Nikolai loses his temper, and Mitenka ends up in a shrubbery. He calls the steward a thief, and his father is embarrassed by the whole situation. Nikolai tears up a debt owed by Anna Mikhailovna, abandons business affairs and devotes himself instead to hunting.
11 May: Chapter 3
It is mid-September, and the weather is perfect for hunting. Nikolai consults with the head huntsman, Danilo, a man disdainful of everyone.
13 May: Chapter 5
Nikolai waits at his post for the wolf appear. He prays to God to grant him this one piece of luck. The wolf appears and Nikolai releases his dogs. He considers this the happiest moment of his life. Briefly the wolf escapes before being cornered by Uncle and captured by Danilo. Her cubs are killed and she is taken to show the others.
14 May: Chapter 6
The count goes home, and the hunting party chase a fox. A rival hunt led by Ilagin take the fox and Nikolai expects a fight. But Ilagin is courteous and friendly and the two hunts join together to chase hares on Ilagin’s uplands. The rivals race their expensive dogs but are both beaten by Uncle’s borzoi.
15 May: Chapter 7
Uncle invites them back to his cabin, where his housekeeper lays on a feast, and his coachman Mitka strikes up a tune on the balalaika. The siblings are children again and are swept up by the enchanting atmosphere. Uncle plays his guitar, and Natasha dances the shawl dance perfectly. On the ride home, they laugh and sing, happy and in love.
16 May: Chapter 8
Back at Otradnoe, the Rostovs have very unsuccessfully tried to downsize. There appears to be only one solution to their financial woes: Nikolai must marry the rich heiress Julie Karagina. He and his mother argue about it, and Nikolai grows closer again to Sonya.
17 May: Chapter 9
A dull day in Christmas week. Nikolai is asleep on the sitting-room sofa. Natasha sends Sonya to wake him because she wants him to come and sing. They eat at the tea-table and then he, Sonya and Natasha go to the sitting room, ‘to their favourite corner where their most intimate talks always began.’
18 May: Chapter 10
Nikolai and Natasha share ‘poetic, youthful’ memories, while Sonya struggles to keep pace. Natasha sings and Petya announces the mummers. They all dress up and set off to one of their neighbours. Sonya’s costume awakens something in her and as they ride across a new and enchanted meadow, Nikolai discovers he is in love with the Circassian with the burnt-cork moustache.
19 May: Chapter 11
At the Melyukova house, the mummer party dance and play games. Nikolai does not leave Sonya’s side. They stay for supper and learn of the empty bath-house where you can hear your fortune. Despite or because of the ghost stories, Sonya asks to go. Nikolai follows her out the house and meets her on the path. They kiss and embrace, go to the barn and return, separately, to the house.
20 May: Chapter 12
On the ride home, Nikolai tells Natasha he has made his decision about marrying Sonya.
21 May: Chapter 13
After Christmas in fairyland: the return to reality. Nikolai tells his parents of his intentions to marry Sonya. The countess summons Sonya and speaks many cruel words leading to a furious row with Nikolai. Natasha prevents anything worse and calms tempers. Nikolai leaves for the regiment, with the serious intention to retire and marry Sonya.
BOOK THREE
Book Three, Part One
25 June: Chapter 12
In 1812, Nikolai Rostov is back with his regiment where he has been promoted to captain. He writes to Sonya to say he will fly to her once the war is over. Despite the depression and unease at headquarters, Rostov and the army are merry and content. Nikolai has a young acolyte, Ilyin, and a newfound scepticism regarding stories of heroism. Together, they set out to a tavern where their comrades are relaxing with the doctor and his wife, Marya Gendrikohovna.
26 June: Chapter 13
In the tavern, a group of officers sit drinking tea and flirting with Marya Gendrikhovna. Her husband sleeps as they ask her to stir their tumblers with the only spoon. They propose to play cards for the honour of kissing her hand. But the doctor wakes up, and he takes his wife to sleep in their cart. The rest lie in the tavern, exchanging conversation and merry childlike laughter.
27 June: Chapter 14
Before anyone in the tavern falls asleep, the order arrives to advance to Ostrovna. They move off towards battle. Rostov notices Ilyin’s agitation about the impending danger, reminding him of his first experiences of battle. They await in reserve until a cavalry charge moves downhill. Nikolai is exhilarated by the sound of gunfire but notices the cavalry are being pursued by French dragoons.
28 June: Chapter 15
Without reflecting or considering, Nikolai sees that the dragoons can be driven off by the hussars. He leads an attack and overtakes a French officer, striking him with his sabre. The man surrenders, but his homelike face and look of terror haunt Nikolai. Rostov is given the St George’s Cross for bravery but is overwhelmed by moral nausea and incomprehension. Afterwards, he takes command of a hussar battalion.
Book Three, Part One
Chapter 13
Nikolai Rostov is camped ten miles from Bogucharovo and rides out with Ilyin and Lavrushka to take the estate’s provisions before the French arrive. The soldiers encounter drunk peasants, Alpatych and the maids from the house. Alpatych tells Rostov that the peasants won’t let Marya leave. He goes to her and offers his protection. She tries not to evoke pity; he tries to remain deferential — but it is a moment torn from a picture book of old.
Chapter 14
Pulsating with impetuous rage, Nikolai Rostov storms off to speak with the peasants. He has Karp, the ringleader, and Dron tied up. Marya gets Dron released to help get their possessions onto the carts. Rostov escorts Marya to Yankovo, where he respectfully takes leave of her. On the road to Moscow, Marya wonders whether she loves him. Meanwhile, Nikolai is angry because he knows she will make the perfect wife.
BOOK FOUR
Book Four, Part One
Chapter 4
Tolstoy reminds us that even in national crises, most people do not think of heroic self-sacrifice. Take for example, Nikolai Rostov, who is happy not to be close to the field of action, but far off at Vorenzh buying horses. He enjoys a smoke in a snuggery and a party at the Governor’s house, where he flirts naively with another man’s wife.
Chapter 5
Nikolai flirts with the blue-eyed beauty, unaware that what is pleasing to him is unpleasant to the woman’s husband. Nikolai is introduced to the aunt of Marya Bolkonskaya. The governor’s wife proposes to matchmaker Nikolai and Marya, prompting Nikolai to confide in her about his conflicted feelings on the matter.
Chapter 6
Nikolai’s presence disturbs Marya’s peace, and she is at a loss about what to do. When they meet, they are both bewildered by the effect they have on each other. Nikolai has ‘a short but sincere struggle’ with his conscience before submitting to fate and circumstance.
Chapter 7
At the cathedral, Marya and Nikolai exchange words – the encounter has a strong impression on Nikolai, who prays to be released from his promise to Sonya. As though answering his prayers, letters arrive from Sonya and his mother. They are at Troitsa. Sonya wants Nikolai to consider himself free. His mother tells him about Natasha and Andrei. Marya sets off to reach Andrei, and Nikolai returns to the regiment.