Not All Bad

       I received an e-mail from a friend tonight, asking if I am enjoying "War and Peace" at all.

       Until today, my answer might have been "No". Sure, I have been occasionally interested in it. Some parts have moved faster than others. But I would not have called any of it enjoyment.

       But this morning, I read a paragraph that has remained in my mind all day. Indeed, it has followed me everywhere I've gone, making me smile and putting me at peace.

       This is the paragraph, from page 421:

       "Prince Andrei got up and went to open the window. As soon as he opened the shutters, moonlight, as if it had been watching at the window a long time, waiting for that, burst into the room. He opened the window. The night was fresh and stilly bright. Just under his window was a row of trimmed trees, black on one side and silvery bright on the other. Under the trees was some juicy, wet, curly growth, with touches of silver on its leaves and stems. Further beyond the black trees was some roof glistening with dew, to the right a big, curly tree with a bright white trunk and branches, and  above it a nearly full moon against the light, nearly starless sky. Prince Andrei leaned his elbows on the windowsill and fixed his eyes upon this sky."

       This paragraph, alone, makes me feel that my time has not been wasted.  I don't know where it came from. The writing is so different from that in the rest of the book that I can't help but wonder if Count Tolstoy was recalling a particularly splendid night he himself had experienced. 

       The writing (or perhaps the translation), admittedly, is not perfect. I am sure it could be better.  Still, Tolstoy's description of the moonlight waiting to burst in the room, and the trees -- silver and white in the moonlight -- are words I may never forget.  

       In the coming days, I'll be considering what makes a novel "great". For today at least, it seems possible that these words alone may suffice.