I remain in some kind of page 712 of War and Peace purgatory. The fact that I used to sit down twice a week and read 50 pages of that thing at a time is utterly mind-boggling, but that really summarizes the nature of Michigan in January vs. May. I cannot even remember what it was like to have snow and ice on the ground, but I know it must have occurred, and presumably I dealt with it by reading this enormous, ridiculous book.

The really great thing about this whole experience is that when I finally got around to picking it up again, it was as if no time had passed. I am so deeply embedded in this world that all the characters and situations immediately came back to me, and it was very easy to dive back in. That is essential with a novel of this size, because ordinarily reading it would take so long that the average reader would forget the beginning before they made it to the end. I had a similar experience when reading Moby Dick; it took months and there were some extended breaks in there, but whenever I picked it back up, it was as if no time had passed.

I promise I won't post anything about War and Peace again until I have actually read more of it and have something new to say.