My god, what a slog! The story itself meanders over a pretty vast timespan and cast of characters. The worst part is all of Tolstoy's long-winded philosophical discursions peppered throughout (especially at the end). Much like Moby Dick, if the author had stuck to the narrative instead of trying to show off, it'd be a much easier read. I get that he's trying to illustrate that people are influenced by their circumstances, but letting the story alone prove his point would have been sufficient.

The story itself is pretty entertaining. It can be tricky to keep all of the characters separate, but you figure out who's who pretty quickly by their mannerisms and speech patterns. I did like the way the characters developed between the two periods of war.

Having struggled through the bloviating, I can assure any prospective readers that the non-narrative chapters and passages can be skipped without detracting from the story. You'll finish the thing much faster, too.