Oft Overlooked Subject

No, the bag pipes are the worst instrument ever.
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I think an accordion can be incorporated into pop/rock music fairly nicely. The bagpipes, however, will ruin everything, including It's a Long Way To The Top by AC/DC.
hmmm, I disagree. I never thought I'd EVER hear anything I liked with bagpipes, but I always liked that song and thought it integrated well. Now, if Dream Theater, Megadeth or Ozzie drop some bagpipes in, I may protest a bit.
 
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Whose obvious insight on angst was inspired by the accordion.

Actually, in all seriousness, I think Tolstoy was the first writer of the modern era, in that he was uniquely able to get inside the characters’ heads in a realistic, relatable way - oddly, for his time, in a relatively non-judgmental way - and create characters of nuance and real three-dimensionality.

His language isn’t that typical Victorian-Alexander era fluff and wordiness. His descriptions are simple and direct, like Hemingway’s.

He was a great observer of the human condition. I love reading his work. I believe that he was a writer of true genius, and IMHO there haven’t been many giants of literature on his level. Shakespeare, certainly; Hemingway; etc. But most of what we read (this includes me, of course) is fluff in comparison.

We English speakers tend to ignore, or perhaps diminish, the great works of other recent cultures. But there have been many. I love Tolstoy, but also Mann, Hesse, Sartre, etc.
Note: Only on the PRS forum will you find guitar players discussing Tolstoy’s works! Are we unique, or what? ;)
 
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I tried to read War & Peace when I was 15.....big mistake. I’m on Chernow’s Washington bio currently.

If you read it now, as an adult, it would be a different story, i think.

IMHO you have to have lived a while to see the humor, irony, subtlety, amd insight into the human character that Tolstoy brought to his writing. Also...as a student of history, you’ll find it fascinating.

You’ll recognize the personality types of people you know. It’s just so good. Personally, I think War and Peace is a fast read, given its length.

A nice exposition on his works can be found here:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/the-10-best-books-by-leo-tolstoy-you-have-to-read/
 
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I tried to read War & Peace when I was 15.....big mistake. I’m on Chernow’s Washington bio currently.
Good odds I wouldn’t have finished it at 15 either. It just wasn’t the kind, or pace, of story I was interested in at the time.
I think Les is right and that now you might find very different things in the telling. I know that I’ve found writing that paints a picture rather than travels from point A to point B much more appealing as I (sort of) mature.
 
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