The novel "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy devoted seven years of intense and persistent work. September 5, 1863 A.E. Bers, father of Sofia Andreevna, wife of L.N. Tolstoy, sent from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana a letter with the following remark: “Yesterday we talked a lot about 1812 on the occasion of your intention to write a novel relating to this era.” It is this letter that researchers consider “the first accurate evidence” dating the beginning of L.N.’s work. Tolstoy's "War and Peace". In October of the same year, Tolstoy wrote to his relative: “I have never felt my mental and even all moral forces so free and so capable of work. And I have this work. This work is a novel from the time of the 1810s and 20s, which has occupied me completely since the fall... I am now a writer with all the strength of my soul, and I write and think as I have never written or thought before.” The manuscripts of “War and Peace” testify to how one of the world’s largest works was created: over 5,200 finely written sheets have been preserved in the writer’s archive. From them you can trace the entire history of the creation of the novel.

Initially, Tolstoy conceived a novel about a Decembrist who returned after 30 years of Siberian exile. The novel began in 1856, shortly before the abolition of serfdom. But then the writer revised his plan and moved on to 1825 - the era of the Decembrist uprising. But soon the writer abandoned this beginning and decided to show the youth of his hero, which coincided with the formidable and glorious times Patriotic War 1812. But Tolstoy did not stop there either, and since the war of 1812 was inextricably linked with 1805, he began his entire work from that time. Having moved the beginning of the action of his novel half a century into the depths of history, Tolstoy decided to take not one, but many heroes through the most important events for Russia.

Tolstoy called his plan - to capture in artistic form the half-century history of the country - “Three Times”. The first time is the beginning of the century, its first decade and a half, the time of youth of the first Decembrists who went through the Patriotic War of 1812. The second time is the 20s with their main event - the uprising of December 14, 1825. The third time - the 50s, the end of the Crimean War, which was unsuccessful for the Russian army, sudden death Nicholas I, the amnesty of the Decembrists, their return from exile and the time of waiting for changes in the life of Russia. At different stages of work, the author presented his work as a broad epic canvas. Creating his “semi-fictional” and “fictional” heroes, Tolstoy, as he himself said, wrote history of the people, was looking for ways to artistically comprehend the “character of the Russian people.”

However, in the process of working on the work, the writer narrowed the scope of his initial plan and focused on the first period, touching only on the beginning of the second period in the epilogue of the novel. But even in this form, the concept of the work remained global in scope and required the writer to exert all his strength. At the beginning of his work, Tolstoy realized that the usual framework of the novel and historical story would not be able to accommodate all the richness of the content he had planned, and began to persistently look for a new one. art form, he wanted to create literary work completely unusual type. And he succeeded. "War and Peace", according to L.N. Tolstoy - not a novel, not a poem, not historical chronicle, this is an epic novel, new genre prose, which after Tolstoy became widespread in Russian and world literature.

During the first year of work, Tolstoy worked hard on the beginning of the novel. The author still could not choose a title for the work: he abandoned the first option for the title of the novel - “Three Times”, since in this case the narrative was supposed to begin with the Patriotic War of 1812. Another option - "One thousand eight hundred and five" - ​​also did not meet the author's intention. In 1866, a new title for the novel appeared: “All’s Well That Ends Well,” answering happy ending works. However, this option did not reflect the scale of the action in any way, and was also rejected by the author. According to Tolstoy himself, many times he started and gave up writing his book, losing and gaining hope of expressing in it everything that he wanted to express. Fifteen versions of the beginning of the novel have been preserved in the writer’s archive. The concept of the work was based on Tolstoy’s deep interest in history, philosophical and socio-political issues. The work was created in an atmosphere of boiling passions around the main issue of that era - the role of the people in the history of the country, about their destinies. While working on the novel, Tolstoy sought to find the answer to these questions. Contrary to the writer's hopes for imminent birth his literary brainchild, the first chapters of the novel began to appear in print only in 1867. And for the next two years, work on it continued. They were not yet entitled “War and Peace”; moreover, they were subsequently subjected to cruel editing by the author.

In order to truthfully describe the events of the Patriotic War of 1812, the writer studied a huge amount of materials: books, historical documents, memoirs, letters. “When I write history,” Tolstoy pointed out in the article “A few words about the book “War and Peace,” “I like to be faithful to reality down to the smallest detail.” While working on the work, he collected a whole library of books about the events of 1812. In in the books of Russian and foreign historians he did not find any true description events, no fair assessment historical figures. Some of them uncontrollably praised Alexander I, considering him the conqueror of Napoleon, others exalted Napoleon, considering him invincible.

Having rejected all the works of historians who depicted the war of 1812 as a war of two emperors, Tolstoy set himself the goal of truthfully covering the events great era and showed the liberation war waged by the Russian people against foreign invaders. From the books of Russian and foreign historians, Tolstoy borrowed only genuine historical documents: orders, instructions, dispositions, battle plans, letters, etc. He included in the text of the novel letters from Alexander I and Napoleon, which the Russian and French emperors exchanged before the start of the War of 1812 ; the disposition of the Battle of Austerlitz, as well as the disposition of the Battle of Borodino, compiled by Napoleon. The chapters of the work also include letters from Kutuzov, which serve as confirmation of the characteristics given to the field marshal by the author.

When creating the novel, Tolstoy used the memoirs of his contemporaries and participants in the Patriotic War of 1812. The writer borrowed materials for scenes depicting Moscow, and included in the work partisan important information about the actions of Russian troops during their campaigns abroad. Tolstoy discovered a lot of valuable information about the Russians being captured by the French and a description of Moscow life at that time. While working on the work, Tolstoy also used materials from newspapers and magazines from the era of the Patriotic War of 1812. He spent a lot of time in the manuscript department of the Rumyantsev Museum and in the archives of the palace department, where he carefully studied unpublished documents (orders and instructions, reports and reports, Masonic manuscripts and letters historical figures). In letters not intended for publication, the writer found precious details depicting the life and characters of his contemporaries in 1812. Decembrist artistic uprising

Tolstoy stayed in Borodino for two days. Having traveled around the battlefield, he wrote to his wife: “I am very pleased, very pleased with my trip... If only God grants health and peace, and I will write this Battle of Borodino, which has never happened before." Between the manuscripts of "War and Peace" there was preserved a piece of paper with notes made by Tolstoy at the time when he was on the Borodino field. "The distance is visible for 25 miles," he wrote down, sketching the horizon line and noting where the villages of Borodino, Gorki, Psarevo, Semenovskoye, Tatarinovo are located. On this sheet he noted the movement of the sun during the battle. While working on the work, these. short notes Tolstoy developed unique pictures of the Borodino battle, full of movement, colors and sounds.

Finally, at the end of 1867, the final title of the work, “War and Peace,” appeared. In the manuscript, the word "peace" was written with the letter "i". " Dictionary Great Russian language" V. I. Dalya broadly explains the word "mir": "Mir is the universe; one of the lands of the universe; our land, globe, light; all people, the whole world, the human race; community, society of peasants; gathering." Without a doubt, this was precisely the symbolic understanding of this word that Tolstoy had. Throughout the seven years of intense work that the writing of War and Peace required, the writer was not left by elation and creative combustion, and that is why the work has not lost its meaning to this day. More than a century has passed since the first part of the novel appeared in print, and War and Peace is invariably read by people of all ages - from young men to old people. During the years of work on the epic novel, Tolstoy stated that “the artist’s goal is not to undeniably resolve the issue, but to make people love life in its countless, never-exhaustible manifestations.” Then he admitted: “If they told me that what I write would be read by today’s children in twenty years and would cry and laugh over it and love life, I would devote my whole life and all my strength to it.” Many such works were created by Tolstoy. “War and Peace,” dedicated to one of the bloodiest wars of the 19th century, but affirming the idea of ​​the triumph of life over death, occupies an honorable place among them.

"War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy - not just classic novel, but the real one heroic epic, literary value which is incomparable to any other work. The writer himself considered it a poem where privacy of a person is inseparable from the history of an entire country.

It took Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy seven years to perfect his novel. Back in 1863, the writer more than once discussed plans to create a large-scale literary canvas with his father-in-law A.E. Bersom. In September of the same year, the father of Tolstoy’s wife sent a letter from Moscow, where he mentioned the writer’s idea. Historians consider this date to be the official beginning of work on the epic. A month later, Tolstoy writes to his relative that all his time and attention is occupied by new novel, which he thinks about like never before.

History of creation

The writer's original idea was to create a work about the Decembrists, who spent 30 years in exile and returned home. The starting point described in the novel was supposed to be 1856. But then Tolstoy changed his plans, deciding to depict everything from the beginning of the Decembrist uprising of 1825. And this was not destined to come true: the writer’s third idea was the desire to describe the hero’s young years, which coincided with large-scale historical events: the War of 1812. The final version was the period from 1805. The circle of heroes was also expanded: the events in the novel cover the history of many individuals who went through all the hardships of different historical periods in the life of the country.

The title of the novel had several variations. “Workers” was the name “Three Times”: the youth of the Decembrists during the Patriotic War of 1812; The Decembrist uprising of 1825 and the 50s of the 19th century, when several events occurred at once important events in the history of Russia - the Crimean War, the passing of Nicholas I, the return of the amnestied Decembrists from Siberia. In the final version, the writer decided to focus on the first stage, since writing a novel, even on such a scale, required a lot of effort and time. So, instead of an ordinary work, a whole epic was born, which has no analogues in world literature.

Tolstoy devoted the entire autumn and early winter of 1856 to writing the beginning of War and Peace. Already at this time, he tried more than once to quit his job, because in his opinion it was impossible to convey the entire plan on paper. Historians say that in the writer’s archive there were fifteen versions of the beginning of the epic. In the process of work, Lev Nikolaevich tried to find answers for himself to questions about the role of man in history. He had to study many chronicles, documents, materials describing the events of 1812. The confusion in the writer’s head was caused by the fact that all information sources gave different assessments of both Napoleon and Alexander I. Then Tolstoy decided to move away from the subjective statements of strangers and display in the novel his own assessment of events, based on true facts. He borrowed from various sources documentary materials, notes from contemporaries, newspaper and magazine articles, letters from generals, archival documents of the Rumyantsev Museum.

(Prince Rostov and Akhrosimova Marya Dmitrievna)

Considering it necessary to visit the scene of events, Tolstoy spent two days in Borodino. It was important for him to personally tour the place where large-scale and tragic events. He even personally made sketches of the sun on the field during different periods days.

The trip gave the writer the opportunity to experience the spirit of history in a new way; became a kind of inspiration for further work. For seven years, the work proceeded with elation and “burning”. The manuscripts consisted of more than 5,200 sheets. Therefore, War and Peace is easy to read even after a century and a half.

Analysis of the novel

Description

(Napoleon is thoughtful before the battle)

The novel “War and Peace” touches on a sixteen-year period in Russian history. The starting date is 1805, the final date is 1821. The work contains more than 500 characters. It's like real existing people, and fictitious by the writer to make the description colorful.

(Kutuzov, before the Battle of Borodino, considers a plan)

The novel intertwines two main storylines: historical events in Russia and the personal lives of heroes. Real historical figures are mentioned in the description of the Austerlitz, Shengraben, Borodino battles; capture of Smolensk and surrender of Moscow. More than 20 chapters are devoted specifically to the Battle of Borodino, as the main decisive event of 1812.

(The illustration shows an episode of Natasha Rostova's Ball from their film "War and Peace" 1967.)

In opposition to “wartime,” the writer describes the personal world of people and everything that surrounds them. Heroes fall in love, quarrel, make peace, hate, suffer... Through the confrontation between different characters, Tolstoy shows the difference in the moral principles of individuals. The writer is trying to tell that various events can change one’s worldview. One complete picture of the work consists of three hundred thirty-three chapters of 4 volumes and another twenty-eight chapters located in the epilogue.

First volume

The events of 1805 are described. The “peaceful” part touches on life in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The writer introduces the reader to the society of the main characters. The “military” part is the Battle of Austerlitz and Shengraben. Tolstoy concludes the first volume with a description of how military defeats affected the peaceful lives of the characters.

Second volume

(Natasha Rostova's first ball)

This is a completely “peaceful” part of the novel, which affected the lives of the heroes in the period 1806-1811: the birth of Andrei Bolkonsky’s love for Natasha Rostova; Freemasonry of Pierre Bezukhov, Karagin's kidnapping of Natasha Rostova, Bolkonsky's refusal to marry Natasha. The volume concludes with a description of a formidable omen: the appearance of a comet, which is a symbol of great upheaval.

Third volume

(The illustration shows an episode of Borodinsky's battle in the film "War and Peace" 1967.)

In this part of the epic, the writer turns to wartime: Napoleon's invasion, the surrender of Moscow, the Battle of Borodino. On the battlefield the main male characters novel: Bolkonsky, Kuragin, Bezukhov, Dolokhov... The end of the volume is the capture of Pierre Bezukhov, who staged an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Napoleon.

Volume four

(After the battle, the wounded arrive in Moscow)

The “military” part is a description of the victory over Napoleon and the shameful retreat of the French army. The writer also touches on the period of partisan warfare after 1812. All this is intertwined with the “peaceful” destinies of the heroes: Andrei Bolkonsky and Helen pass away; love arises between Nikolai and Marya; think about living together Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov. And the main character of the volume is the Russian soldier Platon Karataev, through whose words Tolstoy tries to convey all the wisdom of the common people.

Epilogue

This part is devoted to describing the changes in the lives of the heroes seven years after 1812. Natasha Rostova is married to Pierre Bezukhov; Nikolai and Marya found their happiness; Bolkonsky’s son Nikolenka has matured. In the epilogue, the author reflects on the role of individuals in the history of an entire country, and tries to show the historical relationships between events and human destinies.

The main characters of the novel

More than 500 characters are mentioned in the novel. The author tried to describe the most important of them as accurately as possible, endowing them with special features not only of character, but also of appearance:

Andrei Bolkonsky is a prince, the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky. Constantly searching for the meaning of life. Tolstoy describes him as handsome, reserved and with “dry” features. He has strong will. Dies as a result of a wound received at Borodino.

Marya Bolkonskaya - princess, sister of Andrei Bolkonsky. Inconspicuous appearance and radiant eyes; piety and concern for relatives. In the novel, she marries Nikolai Rostov.

Natasha Rostova is the daughter of Count Rostov. In the first volume of the novel she is only 12 years old. Tolstoy describes her as not quite a girl beautiful appearance(black eyes, big mouth), but at the same time “alive”. Her inner beauty attracts men. Even Andrei Bolkonsky is ready to fight for your hand and heart. At the end of the novel she marries Pierre Bezukhov.

Sonya

Sonya is the niece of Count Rostov. In contrast to her cousin Natasha, she is beautiful in appearance, but much poorer mentally.

Pierre Bezukhov is the son of Count Kirill Bezukhov. An awkward, massive figure, kind and at the same time strong character. He can be stern, or he can become a child. He is interested in Freemasonry. Tries to change the lives of peasants and influence large-scale events. Initially married to Helen Kuragina. At the end of the novel he takes Natasha Rostova as his wife.

Helen Kuragina is the daughter of Prince Kuragin. Beauty, prominent socialite. She married Pierre Bezukhov. Changeable, cold. Died as a result of an abortion.

Nikolai Rostov is the son of Count Rostov and Natasha's brother. Successor of the family and defender of the Fatherland. He took part in military campaigns. He married Marya Bolkonskaya.

Fyodor Dolokhov is an officer, a participant in the partisan movement, as well as a big reveler and lover of ladies.

Countess of Rostov

Countess Rostov - parents of Nikolai, Natasha, Vera, Petya. Revered married couple, an example to follow.

Nikolai Bolkonsky is a prince, the father of Marya and Andrei. In Catherine's time, a significant personality.

The author pays much attention to the description of Kutuzov and Napoleon. The commander appears before us as smart, unfeigned, kind and philosophical. Napoleon is described as a small, fat man with an unpleasantly fake smile. At the same time, it is somewhat mysterious and theatrical.

Analysis and conclusion

In the novel “War and Peace” the writer tries to convey to the reader “ popular thought" Its essence is that everyone positive hero has its own connection with the nation.

Tolstoy moved away from the principle of telling a novel in the first person. The assessment of characters and events occurs through monologues and author's digressions. At the same time, the writer leaves the right to the reader to evaluate what is happening. A striking example The scene of the Battle of Borodino, shown both from the side, can serve as a similar example. historical facts, and the subjective opinion of the hero of the novel Pierre Bezukhov. The writer does not forget about the bright historical figure - General Kutuzov.

The main idea of ​​the novel lies not only in the disclosure of historical events, but also in the opportunity to understand that one must love, believe and live under any circumstances.

"War and Peace" is a great work. What is the history of the creation of the epic novel? L. N. Tolstoy himself more than once wondered why life happens this way and not otherwise... Indeed, why, for what and how did it happen? creative process creation greatest work of all times and peoples? After all, it took seven to write it. many years…

The history of the creation of the novel “War and Peace”: the first evidence of the beginning of work

In September 1863, a letter from Sofia Andreevna Tolstoy’s father, A.E., arrived in Yasnaya Polyana. Bersa. He writes that the day before he and Lev Nikolaevich had a long conversation about people's war against Napoleon and about that era in general - the count intends to begin writing a novel dedicated to those great and memorable events in the history of Russia. The mention of this letter is not accidental, since it is considered the “first accurate evidence” of the beginning of the work of the great Russian writer on the novel “War and Peace.” This is confirmed by another document, dated a month later the same year: Lev Nikolaevich writes to a relative about his new idea. He has already started working on an epic novel about the events of the beginning of the century and up to the 50s. How much moral strength and energy he needs to carry out his plans, he says, and how much he already possesses, he is already writing and thinking about everything in a way that he “has never written or thought about before.”

First idea

The history of the creation of Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” indicates that the writer’s original intention was to create a book about the difficult fate of the Decembrist, who returned in 1865 (the time of the abolition of serfdom) to his native land after many years of exile in Siberia. However, Lev Nikolayevich soon revised his idea and turned to the historical events of 1825 - the time. As a result, this idea was discarded: the youth of the protagonist passed against the backdrop of the Patriotic War of 1912, a formidable and glorious time for the entire Russian people, which, in turn, was another link in the unbroken chain of events of 1805. Tolstoy decided to start telling the story from the very beginning - the beginning of the 19th century - and revived the half-century history of the Russian state with the help of not just one main character, but many vivid images.

The history of the creation of the novel “War and Peace” or “Three Times”

We continue... Undoubtedly, a vivid idea of ​​the writer’s work on the novel is given by its creation story (“War and Peace”). So, the time and place of action of the novel are determined. The author conducts the main characters- Decembrists, through three historically significant periods of time, hence original title works "Three Pores".

The first part covers the period from the beginning of the 19th century until 1812, when the youth of the heroes coincided with the war between Russia and Napoleonic France. The second is the 20s, not without including the most important thing - the Decembrist uprising in 1825. And finally, the third and final part - the 50s - the time of the return of those who rebelled from exile under the amnesty granted by the emperor against the backdrop of such tragic pages Russian history, like the inglorious defeat and death of Nicholas I.

Well, the novel, in its concept and scope, promised to be global and required a different artistic form, and it was found. According to Lev Nikolaevich himself, “War and Peace” is not a historical chronicle, and not a poem, and not even just a novel, but a new genre in fiction - an epic novel, where the fate of many people and an entire nation is associated with grandiose historical events .

Torment

Work on the work was very difficult. The history of creation (“War and Peace”) says that many times Lev Nikolaevich took his first steps and immediately gave up writing. The writer’s archive contains fifteen versions of the first chapters of the work. What was stopping you? What haunted the Russian genius? The desire to fully express your thoughts, your religious and philosophical ideas, research, your vision of history, to give your assessment of those socio-political processes, the enormous role not of emperors, not of leaders, but of the entire people in the history of the country. This required a colossal effort of all mental strength. More than once he lost and regained hope of fulfilling his plans to the end. Hence the idea of ​​the novel and the title early editions: “Three Pores”, “All’s well that ends well”, “1805”. Apparently they changed more than once.

Patriotic War of 1812

Thus, the author’s long creative tossing ended with a narrowing of the time frame - Tolstoy focused all his attention on 1812, the Russian war against the “Great Army” French Emperor Napoleon, and only in the epilogue touched on the topic of the origin of the Decembrist movement.

The smells and sounds of war... To convey them required study huge amount material. This and fiction of that time, and historical documents, memoirs and letters from contemporaries of those events, battle plans, orders and instructions from military commanders... He spared neither time nor effort. From the very beginning, he rejected all those historical chronicles that sought to depict the war as a battlefield of two emperors, extolling first one and then the other. The writer did not belittle their merits and their significance, but put the people and their spirit at the forefront.

As you can see, the work has incredible interesting story creation. "War and Peace" boasts another interesting fact. Between the manuscripts, another small, but nevertheless important document has been preserved - a sheet of paper with notes from the writer himself, made during his stay on it. On it, he captured the horizon line, indicating exactly where which villages were located. The line of movement of the sun during the battle itself is also visible here. All these, one might say, are bare sketches, outlines of what was later destined, under the pen of a genius, to turn into a real picture depicting the great full of movement, life, extraordinary colors and sounds. Incomprehensible and amazing, isn't it?

Chance and genius

L. Tolstoy, on the pages of his novel, talked a lot about the laws of history. His conclusions are applicable to life; they contain much that concerns the great work, in particular the history of its creation. War and Peace went through many stages to become a true masterpiece.

Science says that chance and genius are to blame for everything: chance suggested with the help artistic means to capture half a century of Russian history, and the genius - Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy - took advantage of it. But from here new questions arise about what this case is, what genius is. On the one hand, these are just words designed to explain what is actually inexplicable, and on the other hand, it is impossible to deny some of their suitability and usefulness, according to at least, they denote “a certain degree of understanding of things.”

Where and how the idea itself and the history of the creation of the novel “War and Peace” came from is impossible to fully know, there are only bare facts, so we say “chance”. Further - more: we read the novel and cannot imagine that power, that human or, rather, superhuman spirit, which was able to clothe the deepest philosophical thoughts and ideas into an amazing form - that’s why we say “genius”.

The longer the series of “incidents” flashes before us, the more the facets of the author’s genius shine, the closer, it seems, we are to revealing the secrets of L. Tolstoy’s genius and some incomprehensible truth contained in the work. But this is an illusion. What to do? Lev Nikolaevich believed in the only possible understanding of the world order - renunciation of knowledge of the ultimate goal. If we admit that the ultimate goal of creating a novel is inaccessible to us, we renounce all the reasons, visible and invisible, that prompted the writer to take up writing a work, we will comprehend or, at least, admire and enjoy to the full its infinite depth, designed to serve common goals, not always accessible to human understanding. As the writer himself said while working on the novel, the artist’s ultimate goal is not an undeniable resolution of issues, but to lead and push the reader to love life in all its countless manifestations, so that he cries and laughs along with the main characters.

1. The history of the creation of the novel:

Created by the author over seven years (1863-1869);
the concept of the novel changed several times, as evidenced by the names of the early editions: “Three Times”, “All’s Well, Ends Well”, “1805”;
Initially, the plot was supposed to be based on the life story of the main character (Decembrist), who in 1856, together with his family, returns from exile;
to explain the reason for the hero’s stay in Siberia, the author is forced to turn to the history of 1825;
the hero's youth dates back to 1812, from where Tolstoy intends to begin the novel in a new way;
In order to talk about the victories of the Russian army in the war of 1812, Tolstoy considers it necessary to talk about the tragic pages of history that date back to 1805. “I was ashamed to write about our triumph without describing our failures and our shame.”

Thus, Tolstoy changed the concept of the novel several times and acquired final version: “So, having returned from 1856 to 1805, from now on I intend to take not one, but many heroines and heroes through the historical events of 1805, 1807, 1812, 1825, 1856.” L. N. Tolstoy

Turning to the events of the Patriotic War between Russia and Napoleon in 1812, the writer, contrary to official data, showed that the true hero and defender of the Motherland was not the Tsar and his predecessors, but the Russian people. “I tried to write the history of the people,”- noted the author. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy considered Lermontov’s poem “Borodino”, glorifying the heroism of Russian soldiers, to be the “grain” of his novel.

On its topic “War and Peace” - historical novel . It conveys the very “smell and sound” of a distant era. Without violating historical truth, the author connects the past with the exciting issues of the present.
Four volumes cover the events of 1805-1814. The epilogue takes the reader to the 20s, when secret societies future Decembrists.

In the novel there are more 500 actors. Many of them are traced over the course of a decade, appearing in military settings and peaceful domestic circles.

First two volumes talk about the wars with Napoleon, which were fought outside Russia on Austrian lands. The central episodes here are Shengrabensky and Battle of Austerlitz. (1805 – 1807)

In the third and fourth volumes talks about Napoleon's invasion of Moscow and the expulsion of the French from Russia. Of particular importance here is the famous Battle of Borodino (1812) - the “knot”, the culmination of the entire novel, according to Tolstoy, “The Russians fought for their land, this increased their strength tenfold and determined our moral victory.”

Showing the decisive role of the people in historical events national significance, Tolstoy created special genre novel, a realistic epic grandiose in its scope of life and the scale of its storytelling.

2. Features of the genre.

“This is not a novel, much less a historical chronicle, “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.”
L.N. Tolstoy.

In our time, historians and literary scholars have called “War and Peace” as an epic novel.

Epic novel - large, monumental form epic literature, reflecting the process in its universality, “panoramic” depiction of events and human destinies.

Characteristics:
a work of large volume;
multi-heroic character;
abundance of storylines.

3. The meaning of the novel's title.

History of the creation of the novel.ppt

History of the creation of the novel.ppt

Man, according to Tolstoy, is the world itself. L.N. In the novel, Tolstoy is more interested in the inner world of the characters close to him. Describing them inner life, the author uses his favorite technique “Dialectics of the Soul”. Image inner world of a person is combined with the image of another world, of which its heroes are a part. In the novel we see a whole palette of worlds. This understanding of the world is associated with the image of a ball. The world-ball appears as a closed sphere. It has its own laws, which are not binding in other worlds. One world is often hostile to another.

The idea of ​​peace is one of the main ones in the novel. From the world individual person to universal unity with people, to unity with nature, with the Universe. And only such a person is truly happy

The idea to create epic work arose long before Leo Tolstoy wrote its first lines. Having started work on the next story in 1956, the author began to form the image of the main character. The courageous gray-haired man returns to Russia; he once had to flee abroad as a member of the Decembrist uprising of 1825. What was this old man like in his youth, what did he have to endure? - the writer asked himself a question. I had to involuntarily plunge into the events of 1812; the history of the creation of the novel “War and Peace” began to develop.

Why did the writer shorten the work?

Tolstoy's bibliographers have 5,200 sheets of the author's rough works, far exceeding the volume of the published four volumes. Lev Nikolaevich planned to talk about the fate of his people for half a century, with early XIX centuries to its middle. The author included in the content turbulent events, associated with the Decembrist Uprising, with the life of Tsar Nicholas I.

Tolstoy called the epic “Three Times,” dividing it initially into three parts. It was decided to squeeze in the events of the Patriotic War of 1812 into the first part. The second part, according to the primary plan, was main theme novel. Here the heroes of the Decembrists were displayed, their selfless idea to overthrow serfdom And difficult fate exiled to hard labor.

The author tentatively called the last part “The Third Time.” The content includes the events of the Crimean War at the final stage, the accession of Alexander II to the throne and the return of the surviving Decembrists from exile. In the third part, the writer was going to focus on the experiences and aspirations of the advanced strata of society. Good changes were expected from the new emperor.

As soon as Tolstoy began working on the beginning of the story, he realized that he had stumbled upon a deep philosophical layer of questions related to the essence of the people and its heroic manifestations at critical, fateful moments. Lev Nikolaevich wanted to reveal in detail the nature of the unity and patriotism of the ordinary masses of people.

The author told his friends in letters that he was experiencing the strain of all his creative powers. The work he did did not fit into the usual format of books published by his contemporaries. The storytelling style was different from works of art of that time.

How the work progressed

Critics know 15 options for the beginning of the novel. Tolstoy in many letters says that he had lost hope of expressing his opinion about the people, and then that he had found the strength to resume writing an epic novel. The author had to study available historical materials about the Battle of Borodino and the Partisan movement for months.

The writer studied biographical data to the smallest detail historical figures Kutuzov, Alexander I and Napoleon. He himself wrote in the article that he likes to recreate the smallest details of actual situations depicted in the documents found. Over the years of work on the novel, the Tolstoy family formed a full-fledged library of books dedicated to the period of the Patriotic War of 1812.

The idea of ​​the novel was the liberation movement of the Russian people. Therefore, the author did not use orders, letters, documents and books telling about the war as a battle between two emperors. The author used memoirs with an objective assessment of the events of those times. These were the recordings of Zhikharev, Petrovsky, Ermolov. Tolstoy worked with newspapers and magazines published in 1812.

Description of the Battle of Borodino

Tolstoy wanted to depict the Borodino field in detail, with knowledge of every hillock mentioned by the generals in reports and reports. The writer personally went to the historical site and spent a lot of time there to immerse himself in the atmosphere of the battle. Then he wrote a letter to his wife, where he spoke about the inspiration that captured his imagination. In the letter, the author promised to create such a large-scale description of the battle that no one had ever created before.

Among the writer's manuscripts, bibliographers found technical notes that he scribbled while on the Borodino field. Tolstoy pointed out that the horizon can be seen 25 miles away. At the bottom of the note is a drawing of the horizon. On the same sheet, dots are drawn indicating the located villages that the author mentioned in the plot of the novel.

All day long Tolstoy watched exactly how the sun moved around the plain. At what time do the sun's rays play on the hills, how does the shadow fall? As it rises morning dawn, from where the evening glow appears.

For 6 long years, Leo Tolstoy worked on the creation of his brainchild, until 1869. The plot was redrawn and changed many times. The author rewrote the entire novel 8 times, working with pen and ink. The writer reworked some episodes more than 20 times.