War and Peace Newbies Read-Along Volume I, Part I: Welcome to the SP, bitch
Et bien, mes readers-along, si vous n’avez rien de mieux à faire, go to the master post for the read-along schedule and more.
Leading up to this read-along, I tweeted a joke about Andrei and Pierre being like Ryan and Seth of The OC – a brooding tough guy and an awkward man-child, brought together by circumstances and bromance. Like most offhand jokes I make on Twitter, I was not joking at all, I was deadly serious. Welcome to the S(aint) P(etersburg), bitch.
Before you “um, actually” me, I realize that to truly parallel Ryan and Seth, strong, silent Andrei would have to be the SP newbie, trying to understand the elite society into which he’s been elevated, when in fact bumbling Pierre is the fresh meat. So, the roles are a little mixed up. But hear me out. After I finished Part I, I rewatched the pilot episode of The OC and I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
Elites and Newpies: The society party
War and Peace opens at Anna Pavolva’s salon, and we’re immediately made aware of the contradictions and hypocrisies of the early 19th century Russian elite. The talk is of war with the French, but everyone speaks in French, for starters. Vassily Kuragin seems weary of it all. He talks “like a wound up clock, [saying] things that he did not even wish people to believe.” Still, he manages to get the ball rolling on a choice appointment for his son Ippolit and a match with a wealthy heiress for his son Anatole. The highlight of the evening is the arrival of Kuragin’s houseguest, Pierre, the “fat young man” newly arrived from Paris. Pierre exasperates Anna with his lack of manners and habit of saying what he thinks, but delights Andrei with his naivete. Pierre moons over the beautiful Hélène, thinking he doesn’t have a chance.
Ryan’s arrival in the OC is also characterized by a society party full of duplicity and hypocrisy. As Sandy Cohen’s houseguest, he’s the centre of attention at Newport’s annual charity fashion show, but finds he’s been introduced as a cousin from Boston, rather than a juvenile delinquent from Chino (ew!) Seth tries to warn Ryan about the “Newpies,” welcoming Ryan to “the dark side” as they arrive, then spends most of the party mooning over the beautiful Summer, thinking he doesn’t have a chance.
As the song goes: after the party, it’s the after party.
Pierre and Andrei leave the stuffy elite party to enjoy a late supper, and to indulge in some oppression Olympics, privileged males edition (Andrei likens his marriage to being “a prisoner in irons,” while Pierre laments being “sans nom, sans fortune.”) Pierre promises Andrei that he’ll go straight home after dinner, but ends up at Anatole’s for a boys’ night in consisting of drinking, gambling, and bear baiting. “Notorious gambler and duelist” Dolokhov takes a bet that involves him downing a bottle of rum while sitting precariously on a third-storey window ledge. Pierre hangs back, and starts boasting that he too will take the bet, once it’s all over and no one is interested anymore. That is so Pierre. The boys leave Anatole’s and have further adventures, that we only hear about in retrospect, but that get several of the participants banished from St. Petersburg for a time.
The party don’t start till Dolokhov walk out onto a window sill
Back in the OC, Summer invites Ryan (and Seth, by default) to an afterparty, and the boys find themselves in a similarly debauched scene. This time, Ryan welcomes Seth to the dark side, and Seth remarks, “cocaine. That’s awesome.” (The OC toned it down a LOT after the pilot episode.) Things go awry when Seth thinks that Ryan is interested in Summer, and vengefully lets everyone know he’s not the cousin from Boston, he’s actually a car thief from Chino. In other words, sans nom, sans fortune. Bear-baiting having gone out of style in the intervening two hundred years, these drunk young men are forced to take out their aggression on each other. Seth pisses off notorious meathead and puka shell aficiando Luke, and Ryan comes to the rescue, prompting this iconic scene:
This life is not for me: Escape from the SP/OC
Brooding Andrei leaves for war at the end of Part I. His friends and family have trouble understanding why he wants to go, and so quickly – he seems in a rush.
“Well, what makes you go to war?” asked Pierre.
“What makes me? I don’t know. I have to. Besides, I’m going…” He paused. “I’m going because this life I lead here, this life – is not for me!”
Of course, Andrei quickly becomes disillusioned once on the front, but that’s for another recap. We don’t see Andrei and Pierre together again in this part of the book, nor the next, but the struggle for belonging, to find a home, is established here. Don’t worry, we still have like 1,100 pages for more bromance.
Almost holding hands
Ryan feels similarly disillusioned with the decadence of the OC, not to mention a little sore due to his warm “welcome.” He decides to return to Chino, even if that means more abuse or going back to jail. He tries to play it cool, saying he has to “figure some stuff out,” but Seth pulls him in for a hug. Aww. The OC being a teen drama, plot twists ensure Ryan is back in Newport almost immediately, but his sense of not belonging in either place is established in this episode.
I may have skipped over a few plot lines in War and Peace Part I – Pierre’s father dies and he becomes Count Bezuhkov, we meet the Bolkonskys (Andrei’s sister and father) and the Rostovs (Natasha and Nikolai in particular,) Boris’ mother wheels and deals, everyone appears to be cousins… you know. The usual. We’ll get into all that later. Stay tuned for Part II, the first “war part,” which I did not skip over. Hope you all like earnest, whiny young men!
At least they look good in uniform
Reading in Bed 
I can’t comment really as I haven’t ever watched the OC you refer to…. However, I get the feeling War and Peace *is* a big old soap opera, albeit with epic events – in some ways Anna Karenina is too. In a Dickensian kind of way. Whatever – I’m loving it so far!
Yes, that’s what I was getting at – lots of action and drama. The big party/after party structure of both the show and Part I struck me, but also of these various men all feeling like they don’t belong, or they’re torn between two places… one of those themes that turns up again and again, in literature and in teen soap operas!
I haven’t seen the OC either. A bit before my time. But I am enjoying this “soap opera” also and read the first section in 3 days ! Onward into the second section !
Wow, that is impressive! The second section is a bit harder, I found, due to the military terminology and ranks. But it was also a little more interesting to me, because it’s not covered in much detail in the adaptation, so it was new to me. And just, so crazy, how war fare worked before it was just people bombing everyone…
I’ve never seen The OC either, but I have been thinking that Tolstoy was a very clever dramatist.
Yes, from how he introduces the major players in a way that doesn’t feel forced, so giving us a taste of the main characters in different settings, both to create a little drama, but also illuminate their characters…
I have not seen The OC, but I think I need to watch The OC. 😛
Just wanted to say that I love the style of your wrap-ups, it makes it so much easier to follow than just a dry ‘here’s what happened’. Plus gifs help – whilst looking for some for my own post, I was very saddened to not be able to find one of the bear scene, that’s clearly prime giffing opportunity, what are gif-makers doing all day?
I’m looking forward to Part II though I’m equally sure I’m gonna get so confused because of all the war – I can’t complain really, I mean the clue is quite literally in the title of the book.
You definitely do. Season I anyway. It kind of goes downhill after that.
How in the world have four straight commenters not watched the OC?!
I was a big fan … well, I was a big fan of the first two seasons, the last two are god awful … and this take of yours is actually too accurate to not be right. You should literally tweet this link to Josh Schwartz and see if he responds. I 100% believe he used W&P as his guideline for that pilot. No part of me disbelieves.
Thank you for puka shells, the early tip that Pierre/Andrei are Seth/Ryan (seriously, this legitimately helped me while reading), and bringing me back to Newport. I kinda want to go watch the show again…
Oh, and kudos for opening your post in French.
I might do a rewatch. Season 1 is classic, Season 2 and 3 are okay… the show should have ended when Marissa died.
It was the greatest. I wanted it to happen so badly. What a turd.
You have done great work here. The pilot of The OC is one of television’s greatest and wow, the parallels really cannot be denied.
What’s the deal with Andrei’s wife, the “little princess”? WHY is she described as having a little moustache and also, why is this the most charming thing about her?
I’ve tucked into the next section – the war thing doesn’t phase me at all. It’s so interesting! So far, no danger of going AK farming on it.
Yeah, I didn’t even go there… he seems to have a thing with upper lips??
Are you still reading? From your tweet I though you were throwing in the towel! I liked Part II, I need a little help with the military ranks and what not, but as per Emma’s post, I’m not going to worry about it too much.
hahahaha no I’m still reading! I just meant that reading is as far as I’m likely to go with it. Not that section. I like it!
I have never enjoyed reading about two things that I have never read or seen (with numerous GIFS) as I did this. I wish I was reading along. – Kirt
Welcome to the dark side. Whenever you do choose to read, this’ll all be here! That’s how i look at the podcasts where I havent’ read the book yet 🙂
Just finished the first section! Comparisons to the OC are very much helping me stick with it. I hope the war parts will be entertaining and not too confusing. I wonder if the rest of the book will keep the OC links or not
So sorry I never watched The OC either! (though it WAS a famous show in Brazil in its time).
I certainly agree with all that has been said about Tolstoy being a great dramatist, his ability of placing the characters under different settings (and even giving their different points of view about historical events by way of statements that sound very individual and truthful).
This all relates directly to events or characters of the storyline though, and something else has really dazzled me: the narrator. I am sooooo in love with the narrator!
As in the line you mentioned, “like a wound up clock, [saying] things that he did not even wish people to believe.”.
Or in “‘Well!’ he said, turning to his wife. And this ‘Well!’ sounded coldly ironic, as if he were saying,: ‘Now go through your performance.’” (btw, he says ‘go through your theatrical number’ in Portuguese, how does it sound to you?)
He illuminates so perfectly the characters actions and intentions! He’s brilliant so many times without being suffocating. I just won’t stop taking pictures of the parts I like most and sending to my wife saying “read this paragraph!”