War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of War and Peace
Book Review: A sweeping, unforgettable epic
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first time to read Tolstoy and this book is staggering in its breadth, skill and insight. Tolstoy wears many hats in this book--historian, theologian, psychologist, philosopher, military strategist, political scientist, ethicist--and he wears them all exceedingly well. The sheer scope of this novel (if indeed one can call it merely a novel) is remarkable. The battle scenes are stark and real, stripping off the tidy veneer that history puts on such events; not graphic or gruesome, just showing the human side of soldiers in the face of danger and death. The affairs of the Bolkonskys and Rostovs provide profound insights into good and evil, life and death, and those universal things that comprise human nature. Tolstoy's satirical comments on Napolean and the genius historians ascribe to him are well-founded and thought-provoking.
When all is said and done, however, it is the spiritual journey of Pierre Bezukhov that is the highlight of the book for me. You see clearly in this characater the expression of Tolstoy's own sirituality and the parallels are magnificent. This is a wonderful story about life, history, family and what it means to be human. While incredibly dense, this book is worth the time and effort. Highly recommended.
Book Review: AWKWARDLY ACCURATE
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading the first volume of W & P in Anthony Briggs' appalling British adaptation (Cockney slang, foreign accents etc.), I waited impatiently to read the rest in the Pevears' version.
I have to say, I'm more than a bit disappointed. Although everywhere one can feel their respect for and devotion to Tolstoy, the actual results in English range from the awkward to the downright ungrammatical. On more than a few occasions I was forced to consult other translations just to understand the actual meaning of a sentence. It would seem that they made an attempt to imitate the sentence structure of the Russian. This crosses the line from the scholarly to the pedantic. Thirteen hundred pages of such writing makes for a tough read indeed. It's nearly impossible to get a rhythm going.
There IS one invaluable and unique element of the Pevears' translation: the French is left in the main body of the text and translated on the bottom of the page. This is not only proper (it is a translation of a RUSSIAN novel), but also highly illuminating. Not only do we know when and why a character slips into French, we also get the actual nature of their use of the language (usually pretentious). A real revelation.
Book Review: About the binding
Summary: 5 Stars
I won't address the contents of the book in this review; it is excellent and has been discussed at length by others. I want to make a brief note about the binding.
Several reviewers have complained that the US edition is too large and that the pages are glued rather than sewn, which makes the book somewhat unstable. While "War and Peace" is never going to be a pocketbook, I would like to point out that the British edition (ISBN-10: 0099512238, ISBN-13: 978-0099512233) is about 1/2 an inch thinner than the US edition, and it has a sewn binding (which is much more durable). The cover is cloth, and I happen to think that it looks nicer than the US edition.
Note that you cannot order the UK edition from Amazon.com at the time of this writing, so those who are interested will either have to pay the extra shipping to order from Amazon.co.uk or else look elsewhere.
Book Review: After all the superlatives, more than anything War & Peace stands as a great story
Summary: 5 Stars
Most articles on Tolstoy's mammoth War & Peace ooze superlatives, whether in regards to its length, its genius, or the trouble people have getting through its 1200 plus pages. Yet for all of that, I found it above all to be a really great story, not just epic in scope, but full of exciting human characters and entertaining dialogue. While I cannot speak to the debates that now rage on the various translations of War & Peace, I can say that having twice picked up the book before, this third translation proved for me to be the charm. Not only do Peaver and Volokhonsky bring a poetic rhythm to much of the prose, they also capture what I can only imagine was Tolstoy's dry humor and powerful sense of irony.
While not a work to be taken likely, I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
Book Review: An Epic in Prose or a Great Novel? It Is of Epic Proportions
Summary: 5 Stars
Count Lev Nikolaevich (1828-1910), more widely known abroad as Leo Tolstoy, is recognized as one the greatest novelist in the modern era. War and Peace is a superb piece of literature that most serious readers should read at least once. Many read it a few times. The fictional story is never dull. The non-fiction parts seem a bit strange and the reader can skip those parts. Once the reader gets past the first few pages, the reading is relatively simple and compelling. There are not too many characters, and it contains excellent prose that one might associate with Tolstoy's writing. It is only the length that discourages the reader.
This was a seven day read, including two days of intensive reading covering about 300 pages per day. That is about the same as a complete regular novel such as "Saturday" which is 300 pages. It is not for the faint of heart.
War and Peace is a bit of an odd novel being so long. Tolstoy goes beyond a simple novel as Anna Karenina or The Cossacks. He tells a historical tale plus he injects approximately 100 pages of his own non-fiction comments about society and war. Tolstoy's non-fiction comments ruin the book to a degree. Instead of the best novel ever written, Tolstoy's political ideas - which the reader can skip - tend to tarnish the book as a piece of literature. One feels that he should have been able to integrate his ideas into the actions of the characters rather than giving the reader long lectures on history and politics in the middle and at the end of a wonderful story (as Dostoevsky integrates his ideas on religion and morality into the dialogue). Otherwise, it is probably one of the best novels ever written.
I like Pevear and Volokhonsky's work and have bought and read three of their other works. All the translations, such as Oxford (Maude) and Modern Library Classics (Garnett), are good and very similar in overall quality. For example, turn to the beginning at the start of section 11. The present book uses Roman numerals while Maude uses simple numbers. What other differences are there? The present book says two people "cherish" their friendship while Maude says they "value" their friendship. Not much different. Going on, the two turn to talk to each other in Maude while in the present book one speaker pulls up their chair. One would have to know Russian and consult the original text to know if the "chair" is more accurate. So, overall one gets the same general feeling about the story and novel by reading any of the translations. But, the present book seems to give the reader more details.
Great read: 5 stars if you have the fortitude.