Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: WAR AND PEACE by Tolstoy
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2025 15:15:25 -0500
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 71
Message-ID: <vnlvct$8qcf$2@dont-email.me>
References: <20250130a@crcomp.net>
 <16948009-2cbf-4434-f79e-48ba2611b56c@example.net>
 <cnispjpn6afe5l9c7srrp4csplo8qirld2@4ax.com> <20250201b@crcomp.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2025 21:15:26 +0100 (CET)
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="d7f3cf237e9828cdcb1c738e49b9f8ae";
	logging-data="289167"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+8KHFzf9hkWxpiJ1SQjbCQcTjk0i4JbkA="
User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird
Cancel-Lock: sha1:pCYQFQDTbiom0jYKXtME838L1ew=
In-Reply-To: <20250201b@crcomp.net>
Content-Language: en-US
Bytes: 4541

On 2/1/2025 12:32 PM, Don wrote:
> Paul S Person wrote:
>> D wrote:
>>> Don wrote:
>>>
>>>> It's not really Science Fiction, but it's been mentioned lately.
>>>>
>>>> The parts pertaining to peaceful romance appeal to me much more than
>>>> the warfare. Ironically, Tolstoy's tome helps me cope with armed
>>>
>>> Too long and boring for me. I prefer Dostoyesky any day of the week. Crime and
>>> punishment is excellent! Borther Karamazov also good. The idiot I found so-so.
>>
>> I enjoy Bondarchuck's /War and Peace/ every time I see it. I just wish
>> it were complete. The novel was not memorable.
>>
>> /The Idiot/ was interesting, but ultimately pointless. If an actual
>> idiot had been involved, that might have helped.
>>
>> I've experienced /Crime and Punishment/ both in novel and Classics
>> Illustrated form. Somewhere, probably in a class, I was fed the
>> factoid that the protagonist turns himself in because the detective
>> wears him down. Imagine my surprise when I last read it to realize the
>> true reason.
>>
>> /The Brothers Karamazov/ was read as part of the collection called The
>> Great Books of the Western World. I didn't much like it. Perhaps if he
>> had finished the projected follow-ups it would have made more sense.
>> The /only/ character I had any concern about (any empathy with) was a
>> small boy who dies. None of the brothers was worth reading about,
>> IMHO.
>>
>> I also read other Dostoyevsky novels, notably /The Devils/ which, like
>> /The Secret Agent/ (which Hitchcock filmed under the title /Saboteur/,
>> having used /The Secret Agent/ for a completely different spy story
>> earlier), is about The Revolution. One thing I noticed in a few of
>> them were references to Jesuits trying to convert Orthodox believers
>> to Roman Catholicism. This makes me wonder if the famous
>> "anti-Christian" essay in /The Brothers Karamazov/ is not actually an
>> "anti-Roman-Catholicism" essay, since it is clearly about a Roman
>> Catholic institution. But I have no idea if this is the case or not.
> 
> It's a shame you can't call to mind the Catholic intrigues in WAR AND
> PEACE by Tolstoy. It sort of foreshadows the creation of the Catholic
> Intelligence Agency (CIA) a century and change later.
>      Tolstoy also talks about Freemasonry for a few chapters. Here's
> his impression:
> 
>      Finally, to the fourth category also a great many [Freemason]
>      Brothers belonged, particularly those who had lately joined.
>      These according to Pierre’s observations were men who had no
>      belief in anything, nor desire for anything, but joined the
>      Freemasons merely to associate with the wealthy young Brothers
>      who were influential through their connections or rank, and
>      of whom there were very many in the lodge.
> 
> As an aside, after being banned, Freemasonry is reportedly making a
> comeback in Syria.

The PDF that's been floating around is regarded by actual Freemasons
with a great deal of suspicion. It does not have any information
establishing the legitimacy of the group that published it.
It may well be a honeytrap to make Masons in Syria reveal themselves.

There's an existing District Grand Lodge of Syria-Lebanon (in exile)
in New York, with continuity back to the pre-Ba'athist days. That
would be the proper body to re-institute Masonry in Syria.

pt