Your War & Peace readalong was a serendipity, a prompt and discipline to push me back into permanent reading, a state I'd long lost due to a lot of things, and one missed because of its support of my mental health (also part of the "lot of things"). It (and Wolf Hall) have done the job, at least the job of having me constantly reading again. So, gratitude, even and far greater than the ostensible. To be honest, War & Peace was never on my list, I didn't choose it, but your introductions in how it worked out over a year, the simple chapter-a-day methodology with accompanying chat and newsletters, I knew would work out even if the book bored me. Discipline and public shame are strong incentives (the shame would be purely self-generated😁).
[fwiw, I was named after a character actor who also had our surname, and who my parents told me was in Gentle Ben - it turns out he wasn't but was a character actor who generally played nasty underworld types and a baddie in two Bond movies. Also I think in a Star Trek Next Generation episode? Our family history is filled with casual lies and coverups over the silliest things, while the vilest things are tallied like a championship sport. "All happy families are alike..." and so on, as someone once said]
Thanks for sharing Marc. Knowing that this readalong came at just the right time for just the right reasons is very fulfilling. It is the clearest sign to me that this is worth doing.
My personal life's reading goal - though ill-defined and disorganized in practice - has been to read "the classics." So War & Peace was always on my mental list. I attempted to read it a while back, but the huge cast of characters in the first couple chapters put me off. So when I stumbled upon your guidance, it was perfect, and perfect timing to set a goal for the year.
The somewhat similar slow read of Dracula (via Dracula Daily), which I did in 2023, also set me up to feel like this was a format I would enjoy.
Perfect timing at the end of 2023/ beginning of 2024 to make a commitment to read the giant tome, W&P, which I'd always found intimidating. Your slow read, requiring only one chapter per day, made the long read doable. Now here I am, more than halfway through W&P, enjoying it daily and looking forward to each chapter ;-) And the group chat - with interesting links, discussions and sense of community - is an unexpected bonus. Thank you, Simon, for all you've done and continue to do to make this happen.
The timing of this read-along was serendipitous for me as well. I like long books, I'd done Dracula Daily a few years ago, so I knew I was up to it, and I love Russian literature. But I'm also in the last leg of finishing up a doctorate. But a few pages a day! That pace worked for me, I could commit to just that much. And it turns out to be such a little pleasure I can take every day just for me, usually over my morning tea. A daily practice of joy for its own end.
Your War & Peace readalong was a serendipity, a prompt and discipline to push me back into permanent reading, a state I'd long lost due to a lot of things, and one missed because of its support of my mental health (also part of the "lot of things"). It (and Wolf Hall) have done the job, at least the job of having me constantly reading again. So, gratitude, even and far greater than the ostensible. To be honest, War & Peace was never on my list, I didn't choose it, but your introductions in how it worked out over a year, the simple chapter-a-day methodology with accompanying chat and newsletters, I knew would work out even if the book bored me. Discipline and public shame are strong incentives (the shame would be purely self-generated😁).
[fwiw, I was named after a character actor who also had our surname, and who my parents told me was in Gentle Ben - it turns out he wasn't but was a character actor who generally played nasty underworld types and a baddie in two Bond movies. Also I think in a Star Trek Next Generation episode? Our family history is filled with casual lies and coverups over the silliest things, while the vilest things are tallied like a championship sport. "All happy families are alike..." and so on, as someone once said]
Thanks for sharing Marc. Knowing that this readalong came at just the right time for just the right reasons is very fulfilling. It is the clearest sign to me that this is worth doing.
Simon, thanks for sharing that Mark Twain story.
My personal life's reading goal - though ill-defined and disorganized in practice - has been to read "the classics." So War & Peace was always on my mental list. I attempted to read it a while back, but the huge cast of characters in the first couple chapters put me off. So when I stumbled upon your guidance, it was perfect, and perfect timing to set a goal for the year.
The somewhat similar slow read of Dracula (via Dracula Daily), which I did in 2023, also set me up to feel like this was a format I would enjoy.
Perfect timing at the end of 2023/ beginning of 2024 to make a commitment to read the giant tome, W&P, which I'd always found intimidating. Your slow read, requiring only one chapter per day, made the long read doable. Now here I am, more than halfway through W&P, enjoying it daily and looking forward to each chapter ;-) And the group chat - with interesting links, discussions and sense of community - is an unexpected bonus. Thank you, Simon, for all you've done and continue to do to make this happen.
Here! Here!
The timing of this read-along was serendipitous for me as well. I like long books, I'd done Dracula Daily a few years ago, so I knew I was up to it, and I love Russian literature. But I'm also in the last leg of finishing up a doctorate. But a few pages a day! That pace worked for me, I could commit to just that much. And it turns out to be such a little pleasure I can take every day just for me, usually over my morning tea. A daily practice of joy for its own end.