War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of War and Peace
Book Review: Nothing more to be said
Summary: 5 Stars
Nothing like it, nor will there ever be. It is a life changing experience.Book Review: Old Novel/New Translation
Summary: 5 Stars
This recent War and Peace translation from Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky reads smoothly and pleasurably. At more than 1,200 pages, Tolstoy's novel isn't exactly quick and easy reading but this version removes barriers that made previous English translations more of a chore to read.Book Review: Only imposing in length.
Summary: 5 Stars
I found my way to Tolstoy circumvently by way of other Russian authors. It seems all roads lead to the count one way or another when it comes to Russian literature.
Certainly in my youth the expression, "It isn't 'War and Peace'!" was a sarcastic and thoughtless epitaph when trying to get through a book or writing something. Well, this edition takes the academic intimidation off the novel and makes it a completely readable and (who'd of guessed?)enjoyable experience.
Make no mistake- it's long. The joke holds water in that regard but if it's any help even Tolstoy himself wrote it in sections and volumes published seperately.
Like any work of vision, this book teaches you how to read it. Some have argued about the extensive french in this edition (overstated in my opinion) but the author's have placed the direct translation at the bottom of the page. It isn't an elaborate endeavor to avert one's eyes downward to read it's equivalent. Tolstoy (and thus his translators) thought it important that the Russian's spoke french extensively to exemplify how prevalent that culture was saturated into the aristocracy before it was their deadly enemy.
Volokhonsky and Pevear, the translating team, retain the original poetic intention of Tolstoy's writing in various points to some readers disdain. I find it beautiful and correct.
Tolstoy made clear he wasn't writing a novel (of european invention)or trying to obey any form besides the very expression he felt apporpriate to convey his story and characters. It is essentially Russian and is simply to be taken or left for it's own worth.
Aside from the artistic and ambitious translation (an art unto itself), I found the book inspiring, despairing and beautiful. A history lesson, a contemplation of the divine and a love story.
If that doesn't appeal then don't place this brick on your lap for the weeks or months it takes to consume. But if you do, I doubt you'll regret the journey.
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: Psychological Insight
Summary: 5 Stars
I was awed by Tolstoy's ability to capture the inner psychological life of the characters and the psychological impact of events in War and Peace. One example is the withdrawal of Prince Andrei's interest in life when he is dying and the dismay of Natasha and Marya as they try to empathize with him. Prince Andrei is looking into another world and withdrawing his interest from this one, preventing that empathic connection. I am told by hospice workers that this is a common occurrence with the dying.
As a psychoanalyst, I also think the portrayal of Pierre Bezhukov in the early stages of the novel is a very accurate picture of a fragmentation prone personality, with his confusion and disorganization. His healthy transformation is worthy of a psychoanalytic treatise. Tolstoy's description of Pierre's character, his search for an idealizable mentor and his eventual transformation seem true to life for me.