War and Peace (and fashion?)

Today marks the inaugural day of my February Book Project. Actually, given the length and significance of this book, it's more like my February and March Book Project. You've probably guessed from the title of this post that I'll be reading War and Peace over the next few weeks. This is my little treat for having completed all of my MA and PhD applications. I've been looking forward to reading it for some time, so there seems like no better time than the present to begin one of the greatest books ever written.

There are a few reasons why I have been looking forward to this book so much. I'll start with the most important first. My family is of Russian and Polish descent, and we are extremely (extremely) proud of this heritage. My sister and I are only second-generation American on our paternal grandfather's side. Our Polish and Russian ancestry runs deep. My great-grandfather was a cossack in the Russo-Japan War of 1904. Once upon a time, my father had a fantastic photo of him wearing the traditional cossack uniform. Dad is still hoping to track down this photo. My great-grandfather has another claim to fame of sorts, but the story is so scandalous that you'll have to message me for the details. Growing up, my dad said that they only spoke of this story in hushed whispers. Like most immigrant families in 1950s Cleveland, my dad grew up with someone they referred to as a "D.P." What is a "D.P," you ask? My dad said that a D.P. was a "displaced person" from the Old Country who came over to the U.S. usually by himself. As such, this person took shelter with another immigrant family. My dad said that almost every family in his neighborhood had a D.P. from Russia, Poland, Hungary, etc. I think history like this is fascinating. Preserving Russian and Polish culture is immensely important to us. My dad and uncle support ethnic restaurants, we read Polish and Russian literature, and we try to keep these stories alive.

My sister and I made our first visit to Poland in the winter of 2006. That's me in the below photo in the middle of the Old Town Square.

The dead of winter really isn't the best time to visit Poland (it was freeeeezing!), but we were committed to experiencing part of our heritage. We flew from London Luton (not my favorite of London's airports, to say the least) to Warsaw on Wizz Air. Laura and I were the only Americans aboard the plane, and when we landed everyone clapped. We were a bit more organized for this trip than we usually are. We had hotel reservations in Warsaw and Krakow (we usually land somewhere and "free style" it), followed by plans in Berlin. Poland was pretty magical, though. We visited the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Wawel in Krakow, which probably made for my all-time favorite travel memory. The food was also delicious. I usually eat pierogies two to three times a week, so to be able to eat them in my Motherland was a real treat. My sister had the biggest pot of goulash, wheeled over on a cart, that I have ever seen while we were in Krakow. The favorable exchange rate made all of these little delicacies possible. We had such an enchanted time in Poland that Laura and I joked we'd be the first of our family to actually return to the Old Country. We came (to the U.S.), we saw....we returned. Next up, we're hoping to spend some time in Russia, ideally taking the Trans-Siberian Rail from Moscow to Beijing.

Aside from the obvious cultural and ethnic connections to a writer like Tolstoy, I'm looking forward to tackling another challenging book. War and Peace is also somewhat relevant in the fashion community. When I met with an editor from Teen Vogue back in 2009, she said that she was currently making her way through War and Peace, as were other editors. And, Lauren Santo Domingo said that War and Peace was her favorite book and that she had read it 13 (13?!) times in an issue of Vogue. Because the book is also one of the greatest sources of life across all socioeconomic backgrounds in Russia, I'm hoping to zone in on some elements of material culture in the book. If I can write about my findings in a way that won't bore you to tears, I may write about them in another blog post.

And, now, with all of that being said, it's time to begin reading!

(** Both photos were taken by me during my trip to Poland in 2006. This was before I had a digital camera, so I scanned these photos from the originals. The top photo was also taken in the Old Town Square of Warsaw. One side of this Square actually shares my surname.**)