War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
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Book Reviews of War and Peace
Book Review: Luminous & lyrical, this translation makes Tolstoy come alive
Summary: 5 Stars
War & Peace is one of my favorite novels. I've read it four times before, all in the Garnett translation and always loved it. But I'm blown away by this translation. When I first saw it, I skimmed some of the introduction and became obsessed with getting and reading it. Reading two pages was enough to get me hooked.
The writing is so lyrical, so beautiful, that I can't wait to get to the next part. And that's really saying something when you know the book so well.
If you love War & Peace, get this translation, you'll see the book with new eyes. If you've never read it before, read it in this translation, you'll see immediately why people love it.
Book Review: War and Peace - finally
Summary: 5 Stars
Finally, a translation of War and Peace that is readable and is true to the beauty of Tolstoy's narrative. This husband and wife team of translators, one a native Russian speaker, one English, have produced the definitive translation of this tome. It is also a beautiful volume visually - I love holding it (though, by nature of the novel's length, it is heavy), I love the physical aspect of reading it.
Now that the solution to the perfect translation of War and Peace has been solved, maybe humanity can get on to a solution to the problems of war and peace in this world...until then, I think I will reread this volume of War and Peace again and again...
Book Review: great book
Summary: 5 Stars
Well done with a few problems. I understand that aristocratic Russians of this time period spoke French and the servants could not and the `target audience' of Tolstoy at the time could. This however is the 21st century with a new translation; the French should have been very limited to the first few pages only. It is most distracting to be reading then hit the French phrase, find the right translation, then find your place back on the page and continue with the story. I do love the historical footnotes at the end of the book and feel that they would make better footnotes then the French translations.Book Review: French Bits
Summary: 3 Stars
The decision to keep the french bits french with the english translations as footnotes is understandable but makes the book hard reading for those of us who can't read french. Reading the conversations feels like wading through treacle, with a constant need to go back and forth from text to footnotes.
It made for an awkward reading experience; it might have made more sense to have made the french text footnotes instead, with the associated english text identifiable through some change in font or colour.
Book Review: War and Peace
Summary: 5 Stars
Pevear and Volokhonsky's translation of War and Peace is masterful. The end notes (historical information) and footnotes (English translation of the French and German that appear in the text) make the reading of this once formidable work enjoyable -- and completely understandable. After much discussion about whether or not we could do it, my bookclub is reading it -- and it is being enjoyed by those who've encouraged me to get started. They were right. Can't wait to begin Volume II.
Barbara Shackelton