Tim Pigott-Smith Reads War and Peace in flight paths

Dec 25, 2010 Petra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you're going to read this book, I highly recommend this translation by Anthony Briggs (War and Peace). Even the French has been translated into English, so reading is a breeze. I don't feel that I missed the "feeling" or "nuance" of any part of the story by reading this version.

Tolstoy weaves a wonderful, rich story and he does this well; although, at times, I felt that his way of stating the character's thoughts and feelings in a rather non-emotional, matter-of-fact way seemed to distance t If you're going to read this book, I highly recommend this translation by Anthony Briggs (War and Peace). Even the French has been translated into English, so reading is a breeze. I don't feel that I missed the "feeling" or "nuance" of any part of the story by reading this version.

Tolstoy weaves a wonderful, rich story and he does this well; although, at times, I felt that his way of stating the character's thoughts and feelings in a rather non-emotional, matter-of-fact way seemed to distance the reader from the character. I always felt that I knew what the character was feeling and going through and how they were thinking, though. I would have liked more detail in the emotional impact of it all….but that may just be “me” and not the book.

I have to say, Tolstoy’s view of the Napoleonic war was interesting and very down-to-earth. Had he only stated things once, this would have been a fascinating, 5-star book. However, he keeps beating the Reader over the head with history. He feels the need to repeat himself; once, twice, sometimes three times, through the war sections. Don't let Tolstoy spoil this book for you. It's a good read. Stick it out.

Read all the Society sections of the book. They're awesome.

The plot line follows a few families from about 1805 to 1820; a sort of pre-, during and post-war situation. There's intrigue, war, love, greed, manipulation. It follows especially the younger generation who are most impacted by the war.

The Character list in this book is huge. Tolstoy feels the need to list everyone (and I do mean "everyone") involved in the War, even if they get only the most minor of mentions in the book. I'm not even sure if the entire character list actually played a cameo appearance in the book or whether some (many?) were just mentioned in his War Diatribes. Therefore, do not let the Character list daunt you. Read this book anyways. Don't let Tolstoy stop you with intimidation methods.

Now, about that Epilogue……. My God, what was that man thinking? ...more

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Jan 24, 2008 Oriana marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I guess I really ought to read this one of these days....

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Jan 02, 2011 Ellen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 1001-books, russian

Everybody: read this book. I was intimidated and waited way too long only to discover how much fun the book is. There's a reason it's a classic & it's not just college courses!
Ellie NYC ...more

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May 12, 2011 Max Ostrovsky rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, philosophy, classics, historical, russian, translated-foreign-language, favorites

Books don't intimidate me. The length of a book, its thickness, its thinness of pages, its size of font, its complexity have never phased me.
But "War and Peace" scared me. For years, it sat on my shelf, mocking me with its prestige, with the many book lists it's on, with its accolades, with its "classic-ness," and its polysyllabic character names.

I never stopped to think about this irrational fear. I've read Russian literature before and even enjoyed much of what I've read. Chekhov is a genius Books don't intimidate me. The length of a book, its thickness, its thinness of pages, its size of font, its complexity have never phased me.
But "War and Peace" scared me. For years, it sat on my shelf, mocking me with its prestige, with the many book lists it's on, with its accolades, with its "classic-ness," and its polysyllabic character names.

I never stopped to think about this irrational fear. I've read Russian literature before and even enjoyed much of what I've read. Chekhov is a genius of the short story. One of my favorite books of all time is "The Master and Margarita." Dostoevsky is thought engaging. So what was my reluctance for "War and Peace" based on?

Maybe its treatment of the Napoleonic wars, and I have little interest in reading military histories. Yet, I have no problem reading about wars in space and future histories.

I think, when it comes down to it, I was actually afraid of the length, the thickness, the thinness, the font size, its complexity, and one of my biggest peeves of Russian literature, keeping up with an plethora of characters with polysyllabic names sometimes containing the rare vowel. My own last name has nine letters, but only two vowels so I get sick enough with my students butchering my name.

So, ultimately, this book surprised me. This was my first book of Tolstoy and didn't know what to expect. And I don't know how much to attribute to the translation or to the author, but the writing was absolutely poetic. That surprised me the most. The writing was engaging and exciting and through that, I developed a fondness for the characters and their situations. I cared about how they changed in the rough dozen or so years presented in the book. I watched them grow from boys and girls into men and women. That in itself, I felt was a magical evolution.

The issues that this book deals with are not restricted to war and peace, but everything in between. Hypocrisy was dealt with. Fate was dealt with. Honor. Value of Genius vs. Opportunity. Rights of the underclass. Woman's rights. Group theory. Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Socialism.

I find myself listing things as they come to mind, but over the course of 1500 pages, this list can go on and on. Needless to reiterate, but I was engaged and interested the whole time. Russian novels are not known to be beach page turners, but this one was definitely a page turner.

My only complaint, and not even a big enough complaint to warrant less than five stars, was that Tolstoy can be didactic at times. Most of these instances are interspersed throughout the book dealing with Napoleon being a genius or just a man at the right time in history - basically chance. These didactic interludes are extensive, yet what makes them tolerable are his use of analogy to fully explain his philosophies regarding fate's purpose. The only instance where this became tedious was at the end. Tolstoy devotes roughly the last fifty pages of the novel to his theories. No more characters. No more story. Just plain classroom time. They were still well written, but I think by this point, with the story over, it was frustrating for me to be so close to the end, but needing to make it through some of the most dense writing of those 1500 pages.

Read it. It's wonderful. It's beautiful. And it's worth the time you'll devote to making it through this opus. ...more

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