War and Peace Week 44: Petya and Pierre and Love of Life

This week brought us what I thought to be the most jarring, memorable death in the entire novel. It struck me, and stuck with me, the first time I read War and Peace, and it continues to feel impactful now. 

Petya Rostov, just 15 years old, has followed in Nikolay’s footsteps and gone off to war. If you’ll remember, Nikolay was injured years earlier and …