All people like to encounter things that didn’t have the general society stamp on them, “... Natasha was just that, with her astonishment, joy, and timidity, and even her mistakes in French,” (Tolstoy 461) notes Prince Andrei, one of the three narrators of War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy’s first book. Leo Tolstoy is a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. Throughout the story, Prince Andrei begins to fall in love with this young girl, however, this may lead to a conflict of which they can never recover. “As soon as Natasha saw him, she was seized by the same feeling as in the theatre,” she confesses of Anatole, another man who admires her, ”of vain pleasure at being liked by him, and of fear because of the absence of moral barriers between them.” (Tolstoy 572).

This is a dilemma encountered by both Natasha Rostov in War and Peace and Sophie Foster in Keeper of the Lost Cities, two novels about young girls who can’t decide between two men, but they can only choose one. Both start by going through the typical life of a teenager through the eyes of a smart, intelligent teenage girl and they both revolve around incredibly complicated teenage love stories. War and Peace switches back and forth between war sections and peace sections. But the parts that are meant to be “peace sections” are almost as if they, too, are war. Except not mortal war, the kind of war one has with oneself. Natasha proves this, saying, “‘I’m lost!’ she said to herself. ‘How could I have allowed it?’ she thought. For a long time she sat, covering her flushed face with her hands, trying to give herself a clear accounting of what happened to her, and she couldn’t understand neither what happened nor what she felt.” (Tolstoy 566) However, there is more to War and Peace than just a tangled love story. War and Peace is split into three separate stories and narrators that all intertwine with each other's lives: Natasha, Prince Andrei, and Pierre. This checks off one of the requirements on Louise Cowan’s- list of qualities that make up a classic. About the classic, she says,” It is appreciated in various times and places as it portrays the human drama.” War and Peace perfectly shows the story from many different perspectives: females and males, Russians and French, old and young. Keeper of the Lost Cities also has many different main characters, and they, too, all fit together and influence each other’s lives. Though so far have both been extremely similar, halfway through the book is where the two books start to differ.

Sophie Foster, the protagonist of Shannon Messenger’s first novel, is a crazy-smart prodigy, who’s been able to read minds since she fell and hit her head when she was five. Growing up as a telepath has made Sophie constantly anxious and uneasy, afraid that someone might figure out her secret, just as Natasha needs to hide her love for Anatole. Then one day a boy a little older than her, Fitz Vacker, calls her out, claiming to also be a telepath. He then reveals to her why she’s so smart and been able to skip five grades and still be at the top of her class. It’s because she isn’t a human, as she has been raised her whole life to believe, but an elf. And though Sophie wants to reject everything Fitz is saying to her, she just can’t. She had never fit in and she certainly wasn’t to be able to after knowing she was an elf. So she lets Fitz take her to the world she should be living in, with all its glamorous buildings made out of crystal and clear skies. And even though she was still sad to have left her human family, she begins to feel more and more like she belongs here. She never believed it could happen, but things begin to change.

The harsh actuality is always near, however, in Natasha Rostov, the main character of War and Peace, who narrates her story in a sweet, caring, innocent tone similar to Sophie’s. Natasha has been battling with herself, unsure of whom she would have to turn down: Anatole or Prince Andrei? She struggles to make this decision and hide it from everyone else when she meets Pierre. He is always there for her and he even goes as far to say, ”If I were not I, but the handsomest, brightest, and best man in the world, and I was free, I would go on my knees this minute and ask for your hand and your love.” (Tolstoy 599) Natasha comes to rely on Pierre. These moments in the book are supposed to be the “peace moments”, but really, there is always a war going on. Whether it be a mortal battle or a psychological battle, there is always a fight. And this still applies to the present day. Humans are constantly at war with themselves. One thing that makes a classic a classic is that” It stands the test of time.” (Louise Cowan) It’s amazing that Leo Tolstoy could see so far into the future. And that is why this novel should be regarded as a classic. He knew that this was one thing that would always stay the same in people. There are always people to help, though. And Pierre did an amazing job for Natasha.

However, his support is still not enough to help her make the daunting decision that still appears before her. Natasha then makes a decision that changes the entire course of the book. She decides to elope with Anatole. As LifeHack explains for why people are so hard on themselves, “We don’t ask others for help even when we need them.” But before they can carry their plan out, Sonya -one of Natasha’s closest friends- discovers her secret and immediately reports her to her mother, who locks Natasha in her room to keep her from leaving. This is another reason War and Peace should be considered a classic. “It portrays life as complex and depicts negative and positive aspects of human nature and the trying of values and character.” (Louise Cowan) It must have been terrible for her mother and Sonya to do that for her even though they knew it was the right thing, especially when they saw the effects. Tolstoy explains her condition,” Natasha did not leave her room that morning. With compressed, cracked lips and a dry, fixed gaze, she sat by the window… and hurriedly turned around when anyone came into the room.” (Tolstoy 588-589) She realizes that now she is truly alone, for she had written a refusal letter to Prince Andrei a week before. During this time, Natasha battles with herself, wondering what she could have done so that it hadn’t come to this. Perhaps this is the greatest war one can have, for one can go over it again and again and never win or find a solution. Just as LifeHack.org said, if she had simply asked for help, everything could have ended up much better. But, because she doesn’t, thankfully throughout this hard time, Pierre regularly visits Natasha to reassure her that everything will be alright, and she finally begins to recover from the terrible ordeal.

Several will argue that a book so ambitious and long may not be a good fit for teenage readers, with its 1,225 pages. Young adults will most likely enjoy this novel, but it’s best for older adults. Most teenagers will find this book too complicated and bland to get going, which is true. But these kinds of books can change the way people look at themselves and the world. The largest reason this novel should be deemed a classic is because ”It affects the readers’ understanding of self.” (Louise Cowan) This novel truly shows that people are constantly at war. With others and themselves. It motivates people to simply live with themselves and value who they and others are and to love everything. These qualities are all planted in Natasha, who grows up as a beautiful, sweet girl who believes that the world is truly beautiful and everyone should appreciate it and the life it sustains. Natasha loves everything and everyone, and it is expressed in her words,”’No, just look, what a moon! …Ah, how lovely! Come here. Darling, dear heart, come here. Well, you see? I’d like to sit on my heels, like this, take myself by the knees, and fly away!” (Tolstoy 422) People need to see such raw human emotion, need to feel like they are enough, especially in the society we have today. People need to love.

WAR AND PEACE

By Leo Tolstoy

1,225 pp. Razorbill. $16.97. (Young adult; ages 14 and up)