Collage 295

On this page, Prince Andrei confesses his love of Natasha to Pierre, who strongly encourages him to marry -- in spite of his own miserable marriage with beautiful Helene. Prince Andrei faces a few barriers -- is he too old for her, does she love him, but the most difficult will be convincing his father of the match. His father gives him many reasons why this is a poor idea, and asks that Andrei go to Germany to "take a cure" for a year. I don't recall that he had health problems. "The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann, published in 1924, is all about the aristocracy going to mountain-side clinics for TB treatment. I read that a few years ago.

I used a bit of text from a children's reader here: "Jane went back to her room and opened her window." Natasha is opening the window of her heart. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 597-598 of original text
collage, acrylic paint, ink
made 11/19/10
page 4740476 of Pevear/Volokhonsky translation