War & Peace (Hardcover)

by Leo Tolstoy (Author), Constance Garnett (Translator) "WELL, PRINCE, Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family..." (more)
Key Phrases: Prince Andrey, Princess Marya, Prince Vassily (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
?There remains the greatest of all novelists?for what else can we call the author of War and Peace?? ?Virginia Woolf -- Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review
“There remains the greatest of all novelists—for what else can we call the author of War and Peace?” —Virginia Woolf --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Modern Library (April 12, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039460475X
• ISBN-13: 978-0394604756
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,236,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Garnett Translation is World Class, March 26, 2006

By	P. Costello "dreamyphil" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: War and Peace (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

Since everyone already knows that this is the greatest novel ever written, I thought I would just comment on the edition and translation. I strongly recommend the Modern Library version translated by Constance Garnett. Ms. Garnett has received flack because her translations are deemed (by some) to be "outdated" and "stuffy." Nonsense. First of all, there is a reason why after over 100 years Garnett's translations are still ubiquitous. It is because they are great translations, rendering Russian works of literature into English language classics in their own right. Second, the fact that a translation might be "outdated" is not a valid criticism. Would you "update" Jane Austen to make it more "readable" to a modern audience? Of course not. The fact is, Garnett's translations are the closest in time to the original Russian works, and therefore probably the most accurate to the tone of the originals. The Garnett translation of War and Peace simply jumped off the page and pulled me into this novel from the first page on. I could not put it down, and the 1400 pages just flew by. I spent hours comparing this translation to Maude, Dunnigan, and Edmonds, and they just didn't seem to have the force and emotion of the Garnett. There is a new translation now by someone named Anthony Briggs who claims to render the novel into more contemporary English. But my question is -- WHAT IS THE POINT?? Of course, you can't go wrong no matter which translation, because you can't mess up Tolstoy, but I just wanted to throw in a very strong recommendation for the Garnett.

Finally, the Modern Library paperback version is a great high quality paperback with clear white opaque pages and nice typesetting, unlike most of the other paperback versions out there.

89 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, It's Worth the Trouble, August 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: War and Peace (Modern Library) (Hardcover)

Although my blind urge to read the Great Classics has (thankfully) faded somewhat over the years in favor of reading whatever I damn please, I finally decided it was time to give War and Peace a try. After all, how can anyone who enjoys novels resist the lure of "the greatest novel of all time"? And Tolstoy himself was an unusually interesting man -- not a screwed-up genius but one who seemed to eventually figure it all out. It took me maybe a hundred pages to get into the rhythm of the book and figure out who all those characters with multisyllabic Russian names were. After that, it was totally engrossing and surprisingly easy reading. There's no point giving you a book report on what happens -- you're supposed to read it yourself -- but I do disagree with some of the other reviewers who didn't care for the sections describing Tolstoy's philosophy of history. I found those sections (a very small proportion of the book) fascinating, albeit a change of pace. This is part of what makes the book great. War and Peace is not just a story of what happens to a bunch of made-up people, but a major work of art expressing the wisdom of a great man.

56 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best reading edition in print, February 11, 2003

By	Brad Bigelow "Editor, www.neglectedbooks.com" (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: War and Peace (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

Yes, "War and Peace" is one of the great novels of all time, but it's also one you'll be spending a month or more with when you finally read it, and I enthusiastically recommend this edition when you do. The type is clear, the paper thin but still opaque, and the binding strong but flexible and resilient. I own two other editions, but bought this one just because I found it so readable.