Entwurf

In February 2020 I decided that it was time to read one of the pillars of the western literature: "War and Peace" (Leo Tolstoi). To make things even more challenging, I decided to pick a new german translation (Barbara Conrad) that is exceptionally long (around 2300 pages). Coincidently, the corona crisis exploded in the time comprised between March and May 2020, so I spent many long evenings by myself threading through imaginary early 19th century frosty Russian landscapes. What can I write about it? Well, it was the intelectual equivalent to a marathon. It took me almost four and a half months (I generally read a 200 pages novel in a couple of evenings, if it is in Portuguese, English or Norwegian) and I felt I had to take a couple of breaks in between. I could read up to 30-35 pages/hour, if concentrated, so you can imagine how long it takes to read 2300 pages at this pace. By the end, I was exhausted. The last 500 pages were slow. And I admit that I skipped the last