Anne Benedetti,

I’m glad to see you’re still reading along and commenting. It’s always nice to hear from you. I agree totally with your thoughts on Nikolai Rostov. He’s not especially likeable during these portions of the novel largely for the reasons you list.

Also: I’m embarrassed to admit that I still haven’t read David Copperfield so I can’t comment on Mrs. Micawber. I hope to correct this problem shortly. Maybe I’ll read some Dickens later this year.