Reading this book was like a rollercoaster ride: A lot of ups and downs. I was constantly torn between enthusiasm and boredom. (Yes, that is possible). It was impressive that Tolstoy managed to introduce so many characters and to tell their story without gaps and in detail. The dialogues were interesting, lively and realistic. You were interested in the fate of the characters, interested in what the upcoming war might do to them. At this point Tolstoy's weakness is shown: He often changed historical facts in favor of Russia. The battles and the course of them are often incomplete and indicated with many errors. His lengthy analysis of the human character, the history and the war itself have been soporific, and were often unnecessary. He should have stayed with his strength and just let the characters speak for themselves. But he didn't and continued his boring tale of history and war. Another problem I had with the book were the women. While the men in this book were all different and had interesting stories, Tolstoi must've thought there are only three types of women because in this book they're all the same: whiny, bitchy, gossipy and/or good mothers. While men thought deeply about live's problems women only wondered about marriage and children because obviously women are this limited in their intelligence! Ugh! The first part of the book is characterized by an interesting writing style and clever dialogues. In the second part of the book he gives it up completely, it turns into a soap opera. ***Spoiler***: This book taught me that there can be too much drama. After a while, so many people had died, that one didn't care anymore. Toward the end, one misses the sympathy for the characters because everything goes too dramatic. (Tolstoy also married the characters wrong but that's probably just an opinion.) ***Spoiler end*** "War and Society" as Tolstoi suggested himself would've been a way better title. His writing strength lies within the characters and not his description of War. Too long and too dramatic to be a book that I can like.