Long ago (the story goes), when English map-makers reached the edges of known territory they wrote “here be dragons.” When I met these three guys down by the Sumida River last weekend I asked them what they were doing there…

One strongly implied it was none of my business:

One just belched:

This one didn’t seem to know:

On Saturday I got to the end of War and Peace.

If you need confirmation from me, take it: its reputation as one of the best books ever written is well deserved. As well as the empathic and imaginative genius of its author, and the boldness with which he stated its theme and stuck to it, I was particularly astonished by how easy Tolstoy made this book to read. It’s a page-turner – and there isn’t a chapter in it that’s longer than five. You’re sucked in before you know it and the only reason to pause is if your eyes or arms get tired.

I’m serious: War and Peace is fast. As long as you don’t include all the years of telling myself I’d get around to it, the time it took me to read was negligible. If you’re putting it off too, stop. War and Peace is one of the greatest reading experiences of my entire life. I would recommend it to everybody.