Pyotr Kirillovich Bezukhov

A lost sheep, a lonely bear

Also known as: Pierre, Petrushka

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Book One
Book One, Part One

BOOK ONE

Book One, Part One

2 Jan: Chapter 2

Pierre has recently returned from abroad, where he has been educated. His rich father is dying in Moscow, but here he, “a child in a toy shop”, looking for a profound political conversation to join. He is stout, bespectacled and evidently unaware of the proper way to conduct oneself at such an engagement.

3 Jan: Chapter 3

He and the abbé Morio are “talking and listening too eagerly and too naturally”, the worst sort of behaviour at an event such as this. But note: he is the only man in the room who can put a smile on the weary face of Andrei Bolkonsky.

4 Jan: Chapter 4

Oh, Pierre. With his “extreme youth” and wish to express his mind, he throws himself into an argument with a French émigré. His social faux pas come thick and fast: the “political necessity” of an assassination, “Napoleon is great”, and “The Revolution was a grand thing”. Only his arresting smile, “childlike, kindly, even rather silly”, prevents a truly ugly scene. Oh, and the intervention of his friend, Andrei Bolkonsky.

5 Jan: Chapter 5

Our stout young friend can neither enter nor leave a room in the correct way and yet everyone must agree he’s a “good-natured fellow”. At Andrei’s, he makes himself at home with a book. He admits to his friend that he has spent three months not making a decision about his future. He has been out of the country since he was ten, but his father says he must now choose a profession. He says he would fight for freedom but not against “the greatest man in the world”.

6 Jan: Chapter 6

Pierre is distressed and dumbfounded to see her dear friend so unhappy and at odds with his wife. We learn how much Pierre reveres Andrei. But still, he quickly talks himself out of his promise not to visit Anatole Kuragin. There, among drink and gambling and a harrassed bear, he watches the notorious Dolokhov win a bet with an Englishman, a windowsill and a bottle of rum.

7 Jan: Chapter 7

The wild night ended with them tying the bear to a policeman and throwing them in the canal. Pierre has been sent to Moscow in disgrace, where his father is dying. Despite being illegitimate, there is talk of him inheriting his father’s fortune.

11 Jan: Chapter 11

From Count Rostov, we learn that Pierre is a familiar guest of the Rostovs and has “danced with the children.” He must come to the name-day celebrations!

13 Jan: Chapter 13

A touching portrait of a young man leading a “lonely life”. Prince Vasili is making sure he does not see his father, and he spends his time in his room and in his head. There he imagines he is Napoleon fighting the dastardly William Pitt, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Pierre is happy to discover a “pleasant, intelligent and resolute” friend in Boris.

15 Jan: Chapter 15

Well, everyone is looking at Pierre after what happened in St Petersburg with the bear and the policeman. And he’s the only one who doesn’t notice he’s in the way, as usual. Marya Dmitrievna tells him frankly how shameful his behaviour has been. At table, he sits across from Natasha, and “that funny lively little girl’s look” makes him laugh without knowing why.

16 Jan: Chapter 16

Our monosyllabic bear gives a little grunt when poked, but he hardly seems there. Natasha is the only one who really notices him. Perhaps hoping to make him smile with her hijinks at the table.

17 Jan: Chapter 17

Pierre is bored by the political conversation between Shinshin and the other guests. Natasha asks him to dance, and he is delighted to be dancing with a grown-up man who has been abroad.

18 Jan: Chapter 18

While Pierre makes merry with the Rostovs, we learn his father has had a second stroke and is not expected to survive. We also learn about a will that would make Pierre his father’s legitimate heir.

19 Jan: Chapter 19

Pierre is led to his father’s rooms by Anna Mikhailovna, who pointedly reminds him that she is watching over his interests. He resolves to “not act on his own ideas tonight”, but to do as he’d told. He feels ashamed to call the count his father.

20 Jan: Chapter 20

Like many of us, Pierre has no idea what to do in the presence of someone who is dying. He follows Anna Mikhailovna’s instruction, although she struggles to understand what Count Bezukhov wants and needs. No final words of comfort for the son, only a “lifeless arm” and “a feeble, piteous smile”.

21 Jan: Chapter 21

He stumbles through the charade with the inlaid portfolio, swaying between incomprehension and a sense that all this is somehow essential. He is hungry and tired, and when his father is dead, the young man falls asleep without understanding anything Anna Mikhailovna is saying.

22 Jan: Chapter 22

In Julie’s letter, we get the confirmation that Pierre is now Count Bezukhov, inheriting the “finest fortune in Russia”. All the “mamas burdened by marriageable daughters” are after him, and some are even saying Julie will be his wife. Marya says he has an “excellent heart” and worries about his newfound burden of riches.

Book 1 Part 3

16 Feb: Chapter 1

Now one of the richest men in Russia, Pierre has little time to himself. All his friends are away, and his whole time is taken up with dinners and balls, Prince Vasili and Helene. Everyone is very nice to him, and it is much easier to think of them as sincere than it is to think badly of them. Helene, he has always thought, is stupid. But now, for some reason, he is being drawn to her. He knows she will be his wife, whether it be a good or bad thing. And it is definitely a bad thing.

17 Feb: Chapter 2

Pierre has lost all resolve at the sight of Helene’s beautiful bosom. Though he knows it all has to happen, he cannot bring himself to take the next step. He absorbs all the forced merriment at Helene’s name day and feels anxiously happy. It is something of a relief when Prince Vasili takes the initiative. He cannot remember what one says in these circumstances, but after removing his glasses and kissing Helene, he remembers: I love you. Said weakly and, of course, in French.

Six weeks later, they are married.

BOOK TWO

Book Two, Part One

8 Mar: Chapter 2

Anna Mikhailovna tells us that Pierre is “quite broken by his misfortune” because “dare-devil” Dolokhov has “compromised” Hélène.

9 Mar: Chapter 3

Pierre is at Bagrataion’s dinner at the English Club. He is, of course, sitting opposite Dolokhov. His wife has told him to grow his hair and lose his spectacles, and here he looks sad and dull.

10 Mar: Chapter 4

Pierre is tormented by an anonymous letter and suspicions that Katiche has placed in his mind. He considers Dolokhov a bully, and Pierre is afraid of him. Rostov tells Dolokhov that Pierre is a fool and when Dolokhov makes a toast to beautiful women and their lovers, Pierre challenges him.

The next morning, he turns up with Nesvitsky. He hasn’t slept, and he ignores Nesvitsky’s attempt to stop the duel. Pierre takes the pistol, having never handled one in his life before.

11 Mar: Chapter 5

Pierre stays in to the deep snow and fires. Dolokhov is wounded. Pierre runs towards him, and Dolokhov tells him to return to the barrier. Pierre does not cover himself, but the bullet misses. “Folly!” he says, wandering off into the woods.

12 Mar: Chapter 6

“Pierre was one of those people who, in spite of an appearance of what is called weak character, do not seek a confidant in their troubles. He digested his sufferings alone.”

After the duel, Pierre goes to his father’s room. He broods, and a storm of feelings keeps him awake. He sees that pride and self-deception have undone him and that Helene is a “depraved woman.” He resolves to leave for Petersburg. The next morning, Helene calls him a fool for believing the rumours. He threatens her, breaks a marble table, and shouts, “Out!” She flees the room. He gives her control of all his estates and leaves for Petersburg.

Book Two, Part Two

23 Mar: Chapter 1

After leaving his wife in Moscow, Pierre set out to Petersburg. He is delayed at a post-station, where he finds himself asking life’s big questions: What do we live for? What is life, and what is death? Another man joins him: an ancient traveller with bright eyes who fixes him with a steady and severe gaze.

24 Mar: Chapter 2

The stranger is Bazdeev, a freemason. Pierre tells him they are very different and will not understand one another. But Pierre hates his life and wants answers. The more Bazdeev speaks the greater is Pierre’s “sense of comfort, regeneration, and return to life.” On parting, Bazdeev tells him to seek out Count Willarski in Petersburg.

25 Mar: Chapter 3

Pierre is initiated into the Brotherhood of Freemasons. In the arcane and bizarre ceremony he says he desires “regeneration” and is especially taken by the aim of improving mankind. Of the seven virtues, he conveniently forgets discretion. And although he told Bazdeev that he hates his life, he loves it too much to embrace the seventh virtue: The love of death. And as with most cults, the proceedings include a generous donation of all his valuables. Finally, his greatest passion? Women, apparently.

26 Mar: Chapter 4

Pierre’s initiation rituals are completed, in which he sees the lesser light and receives a drawer full of symbolic gloves. He is aware of his own shame, the Grand Master's embarrassment, and moments of awkwardness in the room. But he pushes aside all doubts: “He could not stop halfway.” And he went home “as if he had returned from a long journey … completely changed.” But perhaps his long journey has only begun.

27 Mar: Chapter 5

News of his duel has reached the emperor's ears, and Pierre decides to leave Petersburg to visit his estates. But Vasili stands in his way, playfully trying to patch up any misunderstanding between Pierre and Hélène. Pierre realises how hard it is for him to say what is not expected. But with whispering fury, he tells Vasili to go. Are you ill? says Vasili Kuragin. No, not ill. Pierre’s just finding his voice.

28 Mar: Chapter 6

His duel with Dolokhov has been hushed up, but his separation from Helene is the talk of society. “No w he alone was blamed for what had happened, he was said to be insanely jealous, and subject like his father to fits of bloodthirsty rage.”

1 Apr: Chapter 10

Pierre resolves to reform his estates: free the serfs, end corporal punishment and build schools and hospitals. A cunning chief steward says, “Yes, count”, and makes sure none of this happens. In Kiev, Pierre continues his old way of life in new surroundings, consoled by the knowledge that he is helping mankind. His serfs appear happy and thankful, but in reality, his stewards are duping him, and the world continues as it did before.

2 Apr: Chapter 11

Pierre visits Andrei on his estate. Both men are much changed. After an awkward start, they begin to argue about the nature of good and evil. Pierre believes he ruined his life by living for himself and found happiness in living for others. Andrei lives for himself and his family. He also wants to free the serfs, but only because he has seen how unlimited power turns good men into monsters.

3 Apr: Chapter 12

Two old friends set out to Bald Hills. Pierre can see Andrei is unhappy but is reticent to begin talking about his beliefs – fearing they will be shot down. But when he does speak, Andrei listens and does not laugh at him. They cross a river at sunset. Pierre has faith in the world, but Andrei will only be convinced by “life and death”, his grief and remorse. “If only it were so!” he says. On the other bank: outwardly he is unchanged. Inwardly, he has begun a new life.

4 Apr: Chapter 13

When Andrei and Pierre arrive at Bald Halls, Marya is receiving two pilgrims whom Andrei disparagingly calls “God’s folk.” In contrast to his sensitivity towards Pierre’s beliefs, Andrei treats Marya and these pilgrims cruelly. And Pierre behaves no better: one man’s religion is another’s superstition. But in the end, both men are penitent, and Marya, as is her way, forgives them.

5 Apr: Chapter 14

Chastened, Pierre listens attentively to the pilgrims and treats them with renewed kindness. Marya tells Pierre she is worried about Andrei. His wound has re-opened and he is suffering spiritually. During his stay, everyone takes a shine to Pierre. “A fine fellow” who “talks rubbish” says the old prince. Pierre realises the strength of his friendship with Andrei, conveyed in the happiness he brings to the household at Bald Hills.

Book Two, Part Three

19 Apr: Chapter 7

These past two years, Pierre has taken a leading role in the Petersburg freemasons. But he doubts the motivations of many of his brothers, and goes abroad to seek guidance from other lodges. He returns in the summer of 1809 with a proposal for the masons to become active in politics, working towards a universal government. The Grand Master reproves him for a "love of strife” and his proposal is rejected.

20 Apr: Chapter 8

Pierre sinks into depression. He is under pressure to return to his wife, but feels unable to make that step. He goes to see Bazdeev who is living poorly and suffering a great deal. Bazdeev tells him to focus on the improvement of the self. Pierre begins a diary and moves back in with his wife.

21 Apr: Chapter 9

Hélène’s salon has become the epicentre of Francophile intellectual life in Petersberg, much to the consternation of her husband. Pierre is regarded as a harmless, absent-minded crank whom no one takes seriously. Boris becomes an intimate friend of the household. Hélène calls him her pageboy and treats him like a child. Pierre believes his wife has given up “affairs of the heart” but feels a “strange antipathy” towards Boris.

22 Apr: Chapter 10

Pierre keeps a diary, documenting the strivings of a lonely and tormented soul. He admits Boris into the Brotherhood while harbouring murderous urges towards him. His dreams are a maze of fantasy and longing: he is attacked by dogs of passion and lies down with a young Bazdeev. He draws the Song of Songs as a maiden and feels he is doing wrong.

27 Apr: Chapter 15

Pierre is at the New Years’ Eve ball but behaves as though “he were passing through a crowd at a fair.” He had promised to introduce partners to Natasha, but stops to talk to Andrei. Peronskaya calls him the “universal Freemason” and a “buffoon.”

28 Apr: Chapter 16

Pierre approaches an “animated and bright” Andrei and introduces him to Natasha.

29 Apr: Chapter 17

Pierre is in a gloomy mood. For the first time, he feels humiliated by Hélène. Natasha wishes to help him, but she cannot understand why anyone can be unhappy tonight.

2 May: Chapter 20

Hélène considers it beneath her to accept an invite to the Bergs’ housewarming, but Pierre bumbles along, arriving uncharacteristically early and upsetting the careful symmetry of the Bergs’ tidy study.

3 May: Chapter 21

Pierre notices the effect Andrei and Natasha are having on each other, and feels both pain and joy to see it. Vera decides her party requires “subtle allusions to the tender passions”, so she asks Andrei what he thinks of Natasha. When an embarrassed Andrei has escaped, he tells Pierre they must talk. Berg decides the party is lacking “a dispute about something important and clever”, so he draws together Pierre and the general.

4 May: Chapter 22

Pierre rouses himself from his dark thoughts to tell Andrei to “marry, marry, marry.” He sees a new man in Andrei, a lover of light. Andrei resolves to marry Natasha, with or without his father’s permission.

6 May: Chapter 24

Andrei tells Natasha to confide in Pierre, who "is a most absent-minded and absurd fellow" but with a "heart of gold."

Book Two, Part Four

22 May: Chapter 1

Following Natasha and Andrei’s engagement, Pierre descends into a deeper depression. His dissipated life leads him to Moscow, where he sinks into society, ‘warm and dirty as in an old dressing-gown.’ There, he is the heart, soul and money bags of every party. But inside, he is tormented by the senselessness of life and everyone’s avoidance of the dreadful ‘it’ awaiting us all.

24 May: Chapter 3

On St Nicholas’s Day, Pierre is one of the select guests invited to old Bolkonsky’s name-day dinner.

25 May: Chapter 4

After dinner, Pierre tells Marya that Boris is in Moscow with the intention of marrying a rich heiress — Marya or Julie Karagina. Marya begins to confide in Pierre about her father and her torments but stops and asks instead about Natasha. Pierre decides to speak the truth, even though it is not what Marya wants to hear.

30 May: Chapter 9

Pierre appears at the opera. ‘His face looked sad, and he had grown still stouter since Natasha last saw him.’ When he sees Natasha, he becomes animated and comes hastily to talk to her. He does not talk to his wife.

Book Two, Part Five

9 June: Chapter 19

Marya Dmitrievna requests to see Pierre and tells him the situation in confidence. Pierre struggles to understand but agrees to get Anatole to leave Moscow to prevent a duel with Andrei, Nikolai or the count. The count still knows nothing. Pierre tells Natasha that Anatole is already married. Unable to speak, she makes a sign for everyone to leave her alone.

10 June: Chapter 20

Pierre goes in search of Anatole. Rumours of Natasha's abduction have already reached the English Club. Pierre finds Anatole at home with his wife. He loses his temper and orders Anatole to leave Moscow. When Anatole threatens a duel, Pierre swallows his pride and takes back his words. Next day, Anatole leaves the city.

11 June: Chapter 21

Pierre visits Andrei when he arrives in Moscow, finding him unnaturally animated about war and politics. Andrei asks his friend to return Natasha’s items and tell her she is ‘perfectly free.’ He adds that he knows she should be forgiven, but he cannot forgive her. Pierre observes the contempt the Bolkonskys have for the Rostovs.

12 June: Chapter 22

Pierre goes to the Rostovs, and Natasha asks to see him. She says she knows it is all over but wants Andrei to forgive her. Pierre’s judgement of Natasha melts away, and feeling sorry for her, he tells her he is her friend, and she has her whole life ahead of her. ‘If I were not myself,’ he says, he would ask for her love. After they part, Pierre rides home under a starry sky and a great comet that portends the end of the world. For Pierre, it is a sign of a new life about to begin.

BOOK THREE

Book Three, Part One

Chapter 17

Natasha is ill, grieving, and heartbroken. All joy is gone, and she only finds comfort in the companionship of her brother Petya and with Pierre. But she is convinced Bezukhov only acts out of universal kindness and pity toward her sad state.

Chapter 19

Pierre is in love, and everything else seems of no importance. Everything except the coming catastrophe and his own role in destiny. Seduced by numerology, he manipulates his name to suggest he will stop Napoleon. But in typical fashion, he decides to do nothing. That Sunday, he takes to the Rostovs the emperor’s appeal to the people and the latest news of Nikolai and Andrei.

Chapter 20

Pierre at the Rostovs. Natasha is singing again and wants to know whether Pierre approves. Petya plans to join the Hussars secretly and wants his namesake’s opinion. He, Pierre, is confused about his feelings for Natasha and leaves early, resolving not to come to the Rostovs again.

Chapter 22

Pierre attends a gathering of nobles and merchants at the Sloboda Palace. Count Bezukhov has renewed thoughts of revolution and reform and tries to insert his ideas into the conversation. But his intervention leads to a shouting match and displays of patriotism, drowning out Pierre’s modest proposal to ask the emperor about the numbers and position of the army.

Chapter 23

The emperor thanks the nobility, and Pierre feels ashamed of his earlier intervention. He pledges a thousand men to the army.

Book Three, Part Two

Chapter 17

The gossip in Moscow: will fat Count Bezukhov lead his regiment into battle? What are his feelings for Natasha? Julie is brutally unkind to Pierre and to Marya.

Chapter 18

Pierre reads the news and sees from the governor’s bombast that Moscow will fall. He plays patience to decide his fate, but doesn’t decide how. His cousin Catiche leaves for Petersburg. Everyone was left, except the Rostovs. In the street, he witnesses the flogging of a French cook and resolves to leave for the army. The next day, he goes to Mozhaisk.

Chapter 20

Pierre leaves Mozhaisk for the battlefield. There is sunshine and church bells, and the wounded file past. The cavalry head to the front, singing merrily and winking at the wounded. Pierre is told to report to Kutuzo and is amazed by how the men wonder at his hat.

Chapter 21

At eleven o’clock, Pierre arrives at the Russian line. He can make no sense of it, so he asks an officer who explains the position. A church procession arrives with the Smolensk Mother of God. Pierre is absorbed by the sight of the crowd gazing at the icon. Kutuzov comes to kneel and kiss the icon. He rises to his feet with difficulty.

Chapter 22

Pierre is recognised by Boris, who offers to lodge him. Boris belongs to Count Bennigsen’s party, where everyone is expected Kutuzov’s imminent failure. Dolokhov turns up with a daring plan. An absent-minded Kutuzov offers Pierre his quarters, and Dolokhov asks for Bezukhov’s forgiveness.

Chapter 23

Pierre accompanies Bennigsen, passing points that Tolstoy tells us will be of great significance to the battle and to Pierre at a later stage. He eavesdrops on the generals discussing the army’s positions but is unable to follow any of it.

Chapter 24

Andrei is irritated to discover Pierre, who has come to see the battle because it interests him.

Chapter 25

Pierre asks Andrei and the other officers about the war. Andrei launches into an argument against military leadership while in favour of the spirit of the individual soldier. When the two friends are alone, Andrei says that war is not a game but the most horrible thing in life. They say farewell and Pierre returns to Gorky.

Chapter 30

On the morning of the battle of Borodino, Pierre overslept. His groom wakes him, and he goes outside. He is dazzled by the beauty of the battlefield, especially the puffs of white smoke from the cannonades. He sees the warmth in everyone’s faces and believes he understands it after his talk with Andrei. Kutuzov sends a general to the river, and Pierre decides to follow, his spectacles almost slipping off as he goes.

Chapter 31

Pierre descends the hill to the river but becomes disorientated amongst an advancing regiment. He meets an adjutant who takes him to Raevsky’s Dedoubt, a fortified position at the centre of the battle. There, he tries to keep out of the way and is gradually accepted as ‘our gentleman’ by the artillerymen. Fighting intensifies, and the guns run out of ammunition. Pierre volunteers to fetch fresh charges, but before he reaches the wagons, an explosion throws him to the ground.

Chapter 32

Pierre returns to the battery to discover it has been overrun by the French. A man in a blue uniform attacks him, and for a moment, they seize one another and are united in terror. A cannonball frees them; Pierre runs back down the hill into a Russian counterattack. The French flee, and he sees all his ‘family’ are gone or dead. ‘Now they will stop it,’ he thinks. But they don’t, and the roar of the cannon continues with even greater desperation.

Book Three, Part Three

Chapter 8

Pierre had fled the battle of Borodino and found himself on the road to Mozhaisk. Although the fighting is over, he still feels under fire and longs for his own bed. A group of soldiers offer him food, and he introduces himself by his Russian name. He walks with them to Mozhaisk, where his groom finds him. The inn is full, so Pierre sleeps in his carriage.

Chapter 9

Pierre sleeps. He dreams he is still in the battle and wakes thinking of the bravery of the men on the battery. He falls asleep again and dreams he is at a solemn meeting of the Lodge. Familiar men sing and shout, but above them, he can hear his dead benefactor. Bazdeev is telling him to harness his thoughts together. His groom wakes him, and they ride to Moscow with a wounded general. The general tells Pierre of the deaths of Anatole and Andrei Bolkonsky.

Chapter 10

When Pierre arrives in Moscow, he is summoned by Count Rastopchin. The city’s governor-general claims in his latest broadsheets that Kutuzov will defend Moscow to the last drop of blood, even though everyone in charge knows the city will fall. Pierre learns that his wife plans to go abroad and listens to a convoluted story about Vereschagain, a tradesman who has confessed to translating Napoleon’s proclamation.

Chapter 11

Rastopchin explains why he has summoned Pierre. He advises him to leave Moscow immediately and break off all communication with the Masons, who he believes have betrayed Russia. Pierre returns home to find Hélène’s letter. His head full of all the recent events, he falls asleep. The following day, he dodges the crowd of people waiting for him and slips out the back door. In the days to come, his household will not know where he has gone.

Chapter 17

Natasha spots Pierre in disguise as the Rostovs leave Moscow. He says there is to be a battle tomorrow and that he doesn’t know himself. He says goodbye.

Chapter 18

Many requests were made of Pierre the day he left his house for good. The only one he considered of any importance was to go to Bazdeev’s house to take care of his benefactor’s books. There, he finds Bazadeev’s mentally ill brother and his servant Gerasim. He spends a long time with the books before asking Gerasim to procure him peasant clothes and a pistol.

Chapter 27

Pierre had fled to his benefactor’s house to escape the turmoil. He finds peace and calm in the study, and he resolves to assassinate Napoleon. This takes hold of him like a madness. His thoughts are interrupted by Makar Alexeevich, who grabs his pistol. He also has a ‘heroic fantasy in his head.’ At that moment, there is knocking on the front door.

Chapter 28

Two Frenchmen enter the house. The officer interrogates Gerasim while Pierre hides, not wanting to reveal his identity. But when Makar Alexeevich raises the pistol at the officer, Pierre saves the Frenchman’s life. Captain Ramballe calls Pierre a Frenchman and agrees to pardon Makar Alexeevich. He orders up some mutton and plenty of wine.

Chapter 29

Pierre and Ramballe eat and drink, then drink some more. Ramballe is an amiable stranger who tells stories of his romantic conquests. He is irresistible, and he knows it. Pierre is drawn in and forgets his ‘concentrated gloom’: he knows he will not kill Napoleon. As Ramballe talks of his kind of love, something different becomes clear in his mind: that he has only loved one woman and that she can never be his. He tells this stranger his whole story, and then they go out into the street. Pierre sees the comet and the first of the fires that will destroy Moscow.

Chapter 33

Pierre wakes up late and hungover. He resolves to continue with his plan to prove to himself that he would not abandon his intentions. He takes his dagger into the burning city. He finds a family with their belonging on the street. They have lost their daughter, and Pierre volunteers to find her. He encounters French looters who show him where the child is among the burning buildings. She screams and tries to bite him; he is repulsed but takes her and looks for a way out.

Chapter 34

When Pierre returns to where the family were, they have gone. He gives the girl to a peasant woman and goes to the aid of an Armenian family being accosted by marauders. The French overpower him and discover his dagger. He is arrested as a suspected arsonist and taken with five other suspects to a guardhouse on the Zubov Rampart.

BOOK FOUR

Book 4, Part 1

Chapter 9

Pierre is initially treated with some respect by his guards, but soon becomes merely No. 17 – a big, thoughtful Russian who speaks good French. He is interrogated on suspicion of incendiarism and they are only interested in answers that flow towards conviction. On the fourth day, the fire causes the prisoners to be moved to the Crimean bridge, where they await the decision of a mysterious ‘marshal.’

Chapter 10

Pierre is brought before the iron marshal, Davout. For the first time, Pierre discloses something of his identity and some attempt at proof. A shared glance between Pierre and Davout appears to save his life, but an adjutant interrupts Davout’s thoughts, apparently setting Pierre on the road to execution. Pierre asks himself: ‘Who was it that had really sentenced him to death?’ ‘A system – concurrence of circumstances.’

Chapter 11

Pierre and the other prisoners are taken to a place of execution where a pit has been dug. They are shot in pairs and Pierre is the sixth in line. The fifth man, a factory lad in a loose cloak, is taken without Pierre, who does not realise he has been saved. He watches the execution and the boy’s body being buried. A young sharpshooter appears stricken with terror with what he has done. Pierre and the other prisoners are led back to their prison.

Chapter 12

Pierre is pardoned and joins the prisoners of war. After the executions, he feels the universe is meaningless. But he meets the peasant Platon Karataev, who offers him potatoes with salt. ‘Pierre thought he had never eaten anything that tasted better.’ Platon is sad to learn that Pierre has no one, and he tells Pierre how he became a soldier. He prays to the saints of horses and falls asleep. Pierre remains awake, with something stirring in his soul.

Chapter 13

In this chapter, we are given a portrait of Platon Karataev, the little falcon. As round as a potato and just as earthy, his head is full of folk-saying that he uses only in their meaningful context. He never thinks before he speaks and loves and lives ‘affectionately with everything life’ brings him in contact with. Pierre spends four weeks in this shed with 28 other men, but his overriding memory of this time is of Platon Karataev.

Book 4, Part 2

Chapter 11

During the French occupation of Moscow, Pierre lived in his shed with Karataev and the other prisoners. He has grown a beard and lost his shoes. The army will soon leave the city, and the soldiers have given boot leather and linen to the prisoners to make shoes and shirts. Platon gives a Frenchman a shirt he has sewn, and the chastened soldier lets him keep the scraps to make foot wrappings.

Chapter 12

In those four weeks, Pierre found the tranquillity he had long sought. The restriction of his freedom clarified his needs and made his past concerns appear ridiculous, trivial and amusing. In his previous life, his strength and simplicity had been harmful to him. But among the prisoners and guards, he found himself respected and liked.

Chapter 13

The French leave Moscow with their prisoners of war. Pierre tries to get help for the sick man Sokolov, but he realises the mysterious force that makes men kill each other has once again taken hold of the French. Pierre is put with the officer-prisoners, and they march through the ruins and out of the city, past a dead man smeared with soot.

Chapter 14

They leave Moscow. The prisoners marvel at the evacuating army, weighed down by loot. They are given their first rations of horse-flesh and are told they will be shot if they lag behind. Pierre attempts to talk to the common soldier-prisoners but is stopped. Down beside a cart, he laughs at the absurdity of his position and the futility of trying to capture something as infinite as a soul.

Book 4, Part 3

Chapter 11

Pierre is rescued by a guerilla detachment led by Dolokhov and Denisov.

Chapter 12

We wind back the clock to before Pierre’s rescue. Of the 330 prisoners in the convoy, fewer than 100 remain. Pierre is reunited with Platon and the grey-blue dog. Karataev falls ill and Pierre keeps his distance, although he does not know why. Bezukhov discovers he can endure any discomfort. He ignores the state of his feet and the inevitable fate of Platon, keeps walking and stays happy.

Chapter 13

Pierre walks, counting his steps, thinking of the tale Platon told the previous day. It was the story of a rich merchant who had been wrongly punished for a murder he did not commit. Pierre is moved less by the story and more by the manner in which Platon tells it.

Chapter 14

A marshal rides past in a carriage. Pierre thinks he sees a concealed look of sympathy on the general’s face. He sees Platon, leaning against a birch tree. The man seems to want to talk to Pierre, but Pierre walks away. Behind him, Platon is shot and killed. The blue-grey dog howls and Pierre notices on the soldiers’ faces the same expression he had seen at the execution.

Chapter 15

They stop at the village of Shamshevo. Pierre dreams of a liquid, vibrating globe: each drop representing a life trying to expand to reflect God, merging, submerging and re-emerging on the surface. Awake, he stops himself thinking of Platon by returning to his memories and imagination. The next day, they are rescued.

Book 4, Part 4

Chapter 12

The day of his rescue, Pierre learns of the deaths of Petya, Andrei and his wife Hélène. He falls ill and takes three months to recover. During his convalescence, he re-discovers his external freedom and abandons his search for the meaning of life. He regards the ever-changing, eternally great, unfathomable and infinite life around him.

Chapter 13

Pierre remains as absent-minded and kind-hearted as before. But he is no longer unhappy, he is less anxious and a better listener. His cousin Catiche comes to like him. The freemason Willarksi sees a man mired in apathy and egotism. Pierre’s finances are as chaotic as ever and in January he resolves to go to Moscow, settle his wife’s debts and rebuild the Bezukhov townhouse.