A Son's Journey Through "War and Peace" for His Mother's Pride
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Chapter 1: A Tribute to My Mother
My mom is truly an exceptional individual. While it may sound biased coming from her child, I can assert that her perception of me was often quite low, allowing me to speak with a degree of objectivity. During her youth, her teachers considered her a potential savant. My grandfather possessed an eidetic memory, and although my mother has never claimed the same, one of my sisters does share this trait.
To better understand my mother, let’s take a nostalgic trip back to the 1980s.
(cue Spandau Ballet and Bonnie Tyler!)
Welcome to the 1980s! This was a time filled with Members-Only Jackets, music videos on MTV, and the cultural phenomenon of "Miami Vice." The Punk movement had erupted from London and Berlin. Meanwhile, the Cold War was a defining backdrop, pitting the Soviet Union against Western democracies.
This tense standoff characterized international relations from 1945 until the early 1990s. However, the mid-1980s saw a thaw in this relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev's rise as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev's reforms, known as perestroika, along with his policy of glasnost, began to reshape the dynamics between the USSR and the West.
In response, the United States initiated its outreach. In a 1987 Washington Post article, journalist Jack Anderson discussed how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) played a role in fostering this new era of openness. Surprisingly, HUD isn’t a type of fish or the sound of a frisbee hitting a tree; it's actually a significant government agency.
President Ronald Reagan, in renewing the USA/USSR Agreement on Cooperation in Housing and Other Construction, encouraged the Secretary of HUD, Samuel Pierce, to leverage this opportunity for Western firms to engage with the Soviet Union. This marked the beginning of meaningful interactions between the private sector in the West and the USSR, fueled by capitalism.
Leading these initiatives was the remarkable Assistant Secretary, my mother, a petite but powerful figure from Brooklyn.
Section 1.1: Behind the Curtain
As a child, I was blissfully unaware of my mother’s significant contributions to international relations. My focus was on the lively gatherings she hosted for visiting delegations. These events were filled with jovial individuals bringing Georgian sparkling wine and excitedly heading to the local mall for blue jeans.
My mother frequently traveled for weeks at a time to Europe and the USSR, often accompanied by a stout, older man named Boris. To navigate her new role, my mother had taken it upon herself to learn Russian, a language she had never encountered before. Boris, originally from Moscow, was one of her instructors.
She also had another teacher, Natasha, but mentioning them both in one breath often led to a playful family reference, and so she typically refrained. My mother dedicated significant time to mastering Russian alongside her global responsibilities.
Section 1.2: A Literary Journey
In an earlier phase of her career, my mother taught English Literature, focusing primarily on Dickens while also exploring various global literary works. Naturally, her growing fascination with the Soviet Union led her to read Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace"—in Russian, no less.
She also tackled Dostoevsky but often found it to be a challenging read. Having attempted to read "Crime and Punishment" in English, I can confirm that "challenging" is an understatement. My mother adored "War and Peace" and has persistently encouraged her children to read it, though we’ve largely ignored her recommendation.
This doesn’t mean we lack culture; I, for one, have always enjoyed reading. My mother and I frequently exchange books, leading to enriching discussions. In late 2021, I decided to surprise her by finally reading "War and Peace." This would serve two purposes: allowing for a meaningful conversation and alleviating her disappointment about her children’s lack of engagement with the book.
For those unfamiliar with "War and Peace," it narrates the fictional events surrounding Napoleon's invasion of Russia in the early 1800s, published in the 1860s, and is often regarded as a literary masterpiece.
Chapter 2: Speed Reading "War and Peace"
I downloaded "War and Peace" onto my Kindle, only to discover that it was an immense tome—over a thousand pages long. It felt as if Tolstoy was chronicling the Napoleonic wars in real-time. Some sections were beautifully written, yet others felt like trudging through a harsh Russian winter with a diminutive red snow shovel.
I suspected Tolstoy might have been compensated by the word. I also held a suspicion that anyone who claimed to have enjoyed "War and Peace" had likely never read it. Unfortunately, my mother had read it multiple times—in Russian, no less.
This meant I couldn't simply skim a Wikipedia entry and bluff my way through. I had to read it in full. So, I signed up for a speed reading course.
While I won't endorse any specific program, I can confidently say that speeding through a thousand pages of a classic novel is a smart move. However, savoring certain books is essential to me. For instance, I would often pause while reading Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses" to prolong the experience. "War and Peace," however, didn’t fall into that category for me.
It was the literary equivalent of my mother’s lentil soup, which my family adored while I thought it reeked of broken dreams—yet I had to finish it.
With effective training, learning to speed read is achievable, though doing so with "War and Peace" felt like trying to ride a bike with square tires. It was clumsy, but I persevered and managed to finish the book in just over a month.
This accomplishment allowed me to finally engage in a rewarding discussion with my mother about the novel. It also sparked delightful memories from her about her role in easing the tensions of the Cold War.
As an amusing side note, she has stopped lamenting her children’s lack of engagement with "War and Peace" and has now started hinting that I should tackle Kafka.
The first video titled "The Speed Reading Scam" discusses the effectiveness and validity of speed reading techniques.
The second video, "Jim Kwik's Speed Reading Course Review," provides an overview of a popular speed reading course and evaluates its benefits.