University Of Iowa Puts On “War and Peace” Reading
100 members of the Iowa City community are bringing the 600 characters of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy to life.
University students and staff, actors and other members of the community took turns reading the novel about the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. It’s being done to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.
“It’s amazing how much the book comes alive with every single reader, and it is delightful to see to what extent certain passages that the reader is reading actually complement their ideas or moods,” University of Iowa professor Barker said. “The most bizarre thing about a public reading is that you can never anticipate the passage you’re going to read. It’s amazing to what extent every single reader makes such a terrific effort to make that passage very personal.”
Christina Patramanis has been interested in Russian literature for some time, but is glad to have a reason to re-read the literary classic.
“It’s nice to read it again, especially as a community, because really the books are about community and about how socially and politically the world has been created, so it’s good for me to keep in touch with that,” she said.
