From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

Start date: March 1, 2024

Finish date: August 31, 2024

Discussion: LONG READS

Why we're reading this: March to August 2024 - Read-A-Long

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What Members Thought

Apr 05, 2020 Laurel Bradshaw rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 19th-century, nook, kindle, russia, ebooks-owned, translations, napoleonic-wars, chunky-monsters, color-rating-blue

Despite the length of this classic, it is surprisingly readable. The characters are just so marvelously described and developed. Yes, there's a lot of extra sometimes tedious exposition and interpolation of Tolstoy's philosophies, which kept me from giving it a purple or gold star. My sister asked me "What is it about?" and I struggled to give her a brief answer. But this summary from Penguin Random House is as good as any: "War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 Despite the length of this classic, it is surprisingly readable. The characters are just so marvelously described and developed. Yes, there's a lot of extra sometimes tedious exposition and interpolation of Tolstoy's philosophies, which kept me from giving it a purple or gold star. My sister asked me "What is it about?" and I struggled to give her a brief answer. But this summary from Penguin Random House is as good as any: "War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men. As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature." And even more briefly, I suppose I would say it is about the search for spirituality and meaning. People go through life, and things happen, and they make choices, and they change.

Reading update (April 2020): I've abandoned my Barnes and Noble Classics edition in favor of this Oxford World's Classics edition. Both translated by the Maudes, but this edition restores the French language passages (with translation) and the Russian forms of names. And I think this editor has made some changes with the dialects too. I'll have to compare some passages. I reset the date started to today - I wasn't so far that I couldn't start over. I also have the Pevear translation and I may or may not keep reading that one alongside. That makes a lot of extra reading! My problem with the Pevear is that on the Kobo version I bought long ago, there are two sets of footnotes and one of them is not highlighted, which means going back and forth in a convoluted manner and it's very annoying. I do like the translation though.

Reading update (January 2021): Reading the epilogues, I am particular struck by how current Tolstoy's comments are. I could draw multiple parallels between our political situation here in the U.S. following the election, the insurrection attempt, the divide between Trumpism and the truth. Not hard to replace Napoleon with Trump in his analysis.

Description of this edition: Published to coincide with the centenary of Tolstoy's death, here is an exciting new edition of one of the great literary works of world literature. Tolstoy's epic masterpiece captures with unprecedented immediacy the broad sweep of life during the Napoleonic wars and the brutal invasion of Russia. Balls and soir�es, the burning of Moscow, the intrigues of statesmen and generals, scenes of violent battles, the quiet moments of everyday life--all in a work whose extraordinary imaginative power has never been surpassed. The Maudes' translation of Tolstoy's epic masterpiece has long been considered the best English version, and now for the first time it has been revised to bring it fully into line with modern approaches to the text. French passages are restored, Anglicization of Russian names removed, and outmoded expressions updated. A new introduction by Amy Mandelker considers the novel's literary and historical context, the nature of the work, and Tolstoy's artistic and philosophical aims. New, expanded notes provide historical background and identifications, as well as insight into Russian life and society. ...more

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Jan 28, 2008 Kim rated it liked it

The author repeats himself often throughout this novel, but then, if you were writing a 1500 page novel, you probably would too.

There were three separate components interwoven throughout this book. The first is the story of the people of Russia. The loves and lives of the Rostovs and their acquaintances. I really enjoyed this part, especially when I got into the swing of things the way they were in early 19th century Russia.

The second part was a description of the Napoleon's invasion of Russia ...more

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Nov 16, 2007 Laurel Bradshaw marked it as dnf · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 19th-century, russia, purchased, kobo, translations, napoleonic-wars, chunky-monsters

There are things I like about this translation, but having purchased it long ago via Kobo I find that it is difficult to maneuver between the text and two sets of notes. One set is not hyperlinked, so it isn't at all an easy thing to flip back and forth.

I have purchased the Oxford World Classics edition on Kindle, which is the Maude translation, but it retains the French text, and the Russian forms of names, so I am finding that very readable. I thought about continuing simultaneously with the ...more

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Feb 13, 2019 CMG (Mac) rated it really liked it

I can’t believe I have FINALLY read this. I’m so proud !! Really good. Sometimes too wordy. I thought the battle scenes and lectures on history were a little tedious and repetitive. But also often thought provoking. For the second epilogue, I felt like I was captured in a professor’s soap box lecture. I would have skipped it but I didn’t want to miss any updates on the storyline. I’m interested to do some research-maybe if the author wrote it in the late 1800’s, it was mind blowing. And it could ...more

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