War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
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Book Reviews of War and Peace
Book Review: Wonderful Discovery!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read all the reviews I see how disparate the reviews are and how passionate they are about War and Peace. Let me start by saying I tried to read W&P as a teen and could not get throught it so I have no basis for comparison but I find this edition extremely readable. I found the long French footnotes a distraction at times but I found myself being able to translate many of the shorter passages for myself as the book progressed. I have to say I'm in love with this book and with Tolstoy. His writting is subtle, amusing, horrifying, beautifully descriptive and places me firmily in anouther time and place. I tried not to read it too fast so as to not miss the many joys of the writting but at the same time wanting to read on to find out what happens next. Also I learned a lot about he Napoleonic Wars which I knew less about than I do now. To others who have not read W&P before as I, I heartily recommend reading this version.Do not let the 1200 pages discourage you, it will be done before you want it to be. There is a reason W&P has passed the test of time and people are still translating and reading it. It's a MASTERPIECE OF EPIC STORYTELLING!Book Review: Engaging rendition
Summary: 5 Stars
I have tried to read different translations of War and Peace, including Garnett's and Edmonds'. One thing that has always annoyed me - especially with Garnett's translation - is the tendency to use Western or Roman Catholic terms whenever something related to Christianity is involved (Edmonds does not make this mistake). Instead of using the language of Orthodoxy, we often get "holy images," attended Mass," the Virgin Mary," etc, instead of "icon," "attended Liturgy," or "the Theotokos." While invisible to most readers, to Orthodox ears it is grating. The Pevears get this right by avoiding Western terminology in speaking about things religious. And, as other reviewers have noted, it is nice to see the French broken out. As far as the quality of the language, it doesn't seem any less awkward than other translations I have read. Garnett may have turned a phrase with a bit more flare but at the expense of making Tolstoy sound like Tolstoy and more like a Victorian. I agree, too, that this version would have been nice had it been published as a three volume set. You can't really tote it around to read at work or on the bus.Book Review: Perhaps the best novel ever written
Summary: 5 Stars
War and Peace, particularly this translation, is perhaps the best novel ever written. The historical sweep, punctuated by details of everyday life in the early 19th century Russia, is commanding. If there is one drawback to the novel, it is Tolstoy's increasingly repetitious philosophical musings about historical theory toward the end of the book.
Anyone who wants to be a writer needs to study this book. Tolstoy masterfully sets up the dynamics of Russia and Europe, the Russian class system, and the changing attitudes that finally led to the 1917 revolution, in the characters of several families, in particular the Rostovs, Pierre Bezhukov, and the Bolkonskys. Tolstoy steers us through the rising and falling fortunes of these people with the Napoleonic Wars as a backdrop. His descriptions of military camp life can be touching, humorous, and disturbing, all at once. And his description of the Battle of Borodino is achingly realistic, and perhaps one of the best anti-war passages ever written without being polemical or political.
Do yourself a favor and read this translation.
Book Review: A Translation Worth Waiting For
Summary: 5 Stars
I've waited a long time for such a good translation. Twice previously I had tried to read "War and Peace," but I thought the book sounded awfully Victorian, as if it were being translated by a 19th century English novelist. The emphasis seemed to be on romance and elegance. This brilliant translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky captures the Russian essence better than any I have read before. I can almost feel Tolstoy thinking. The characters sound more real, vividly memorable. Leaving the French passages in was a terrific move because the French was in the original. For those who know little French, the footnotes capture the meaning for you precisely. The sweep and scope of events, the mingling of nationalities, the foibles of individual characters are alive on the page. And the language is wonderful, and seems to capture the cadences that Tolstoy put into his original (although I'm not literate in Russian and can't say for sure). What I do know is that I'm getting a lot of literary pleasure from each page. I haven't finished it yet, but am relishing the hundreds of pages left to me.Book Review: A Great Nineteenth-Century Novel Still Enthralls
Summary: 5 Stars
I tried reading "War and Peace" decades ago as a shallow student, and gave up after a couple of hundred pages--but this much more readable translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky carried me along to the end, even through battle strategies and Tolstoy's long reflections on historical process (which are interesting in themselves, although they interrupt the narrative flow). He gives insights into the futility and the immediate terror and chaos of war that are still quite relevant. Only quibbbles are with the book itself--it seems that in the commendable effort to produce a reasonably priced book of this size, Knopf cut corners a bit--the dust jacket started falling apart as soon as I opened the book, there were some small typos, and most important, the endnotes were confusingly organized and cross-referenced. A few pages of maps and a historical time-line would have helped a lot in understanding the Russo-French war of 1812. That aside, a must read, and kudos to the translators.