Often called the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is at once an epic of the Napoleonic Wars, a philosophical study, and a celebration of the Russian spirit. Tolstoy’s genius is seen clearly in the multitude of fully realized and equally memorable characters that populate this massive chronicle. Out of this complex narrative emerges a profound examination of the individual’s place in the historical process, one that makes it clear why Thomas Mann praised Tolstoy for his Homeric powers and placed War and Peace in the same category as the Iliad: “To read him . . . is to find one’s way home . . . to everything within us that is fundamental and sane.”
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy [Annotated]
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
British scholar Briggs unveils his lucid new translation of Tolstoy's masterpiece-the first in almost 40 years-to a slightly anxious audience, from first-timers who, balking at the amount of time required by this massive yet startlingly intricate work, want to ensure they are reading the best translation available, to purists who worry that clunky modern prose will replace the cadences of earlier translations. But these concerns melt away after the first 100 pages of this volume. Briggs's descriptions are crisper and the dialogue is sharper, with fewer "shall's," "shan't's" and "I say!'s" than the Garnett, Maude, or Edmonds translations, leaving readers free to enjoy the rich and complex plot, vivid characters and profound insights into war and the nature of power. There are some awkward spots: Briggs claims his earthy rendering of soldierly banter is more realistic than earlier, genteel translators', but it reads distractingly stagy: "Give 'im a right thumpin', we did." It's also a shame to have lost Tolstoy's use of French, not only in the mouths of his characters, but also in the essays, as when he plays with Napoleon's famous "sublime to the ridiculous" quote. Briggs will face competition next year when Pevear and Volokhonsky release their new translation, but for now, this is the most readable translation on the market.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Thanks to British narrator Frederick Davidson's performance, it is safe to say that there will not be a better recording of Tolstoy's masterpiece for some time. The heart of this drama is the metamorphosis of five familiesAsome peasant, some aristocraticAamid the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Each individual is immersed in experiences and conversations elucidating Tolstoy's themes of self-sacrifice and self-indulgence, anguish and ecstasy, diplomacy and deception, and religion and perdition. The complexities of character and plot are sometimes enigmatic, and names are often exhausting to recollect, but the genius of this book is everlasting. The impressive dialog sparkles with humor and wit, and the vivid scenes of battle are riveting. An entire universe is created by one of the foremost thinkers of the 19th century, and Davidson's exquisite narration heightens the perfection of this novel, regarded as one of the greatest in literature. Highly recommended for all collections.ABarbara Mann, Adelphi Univ., Garden City, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
392 of 399 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Ever since I was a teen (I'm 51) I tried reading War and Peace. The furthest I ever got was something like Page 80. Six summers ago, I thought, what the heck, give it another shot. After Page 100 or so, the book picked up steam, and I was absolutely awed as I've seldom been by all the great books I've read in my life. That's what I want to share with potential readers of this great book. Stick with it. It's like a trickling stream that grows and grows from many tributaries into a grand wide raging river. It's got everything in it, as if it were written by God. Tolstoy saw everything. There are so many, many unforgettable scenes in it. My favorite two are the costume party at the country estate (pure magic!) and the great wolf-hunting scene in which the wolf actually takes on a personality under the all-knowing skill of Tolstoy's great pen. In just a line or two, Tolstoy could actually get inside the "soul" of even an animal! I can only imagine how great this book is in the original Russian. After War and Peace, I devoured Anna Karenina, which is in many ways an even greater book. I'd recommend people read War and Peace with Cliff's Notes, as I did, because you get a sense of the historical background and it helps you from getting the hundreds of characters mixed up. War and Peace is more than a novel. It's an Everest of creation. Please stick with it!
290 of 303 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I first tried to read War and Peace in High School. A teacher, who had carried the book all through the Pacific campaign in WWII recommended it as a book that had changed his life. I tried three times and couldn't get past a few hundred pages because of the numerous characters - each with multiple names. The fourth time I stuck with it and was rewarded with a reading experience that has seldom been equaled. Since that time I have reread the book every two or three years, so I must have been through it 15 or more times, and each time I find things I haven't noticed before.
This is such a grand book in terms of number of characters in all levels of Russian society, historical scope, period detail, philosophical implications, romance, drama, tragedy, action etc, etc, etc. There is just no way to enumerate all that is appealing about Tolstoy's masterpiece. The main characters are as humanly complex and interesting as real people. I feel that I know them like friends. The plot(s) are involving and get more tight and interconnected as the book progresses, so that there is a great satisfaction as various threads come together, and never with the jarring coincidences that propel a typical Dickins novel.
If I had to pick only one novel that I would ever be able to read again, it would have to be War and Peace. There is so much of interest going on in this book that it would be hard to wear it out in a lifetime.
240 of 255 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Over the 4-week period it took me to read "War and Peace", I was asked several times by friends and co-workers who saw me with the book why it was so long. At first, I really didn't have a good answer although I felt I knew why. Having finished it, I would tell them that its length is due to its being a very thorough novel covering almost every aspect of life in general. This could be said about several books obviously, but in "War and Peace", Tolstoy covers human life more thoroughly than, although maybe not as well as, any other book I've encountered.
"War and Peace" lets us follow along in the daily lives of several land-owning class characters from early 19th Century Russia. The Bolkonsky and Rostov families comprise most of these figures, but their friends and acquaintances take up nearly as much of the focus of Tolstoy's classic novel. These characters cover a wide range of personalities from the devoutly religious Maria Bolkonsky and her close and conflicted friend Natasha Rostov to the independent Pierre Bezuhov and his miserable wife Helene Kuragin. Tolstoy is able to go in and out of his creations' lives with simplicity and without exaggeration, whether its in relating the most common moments of their daily lives or the climaxes of their earthly existences. The range of emotions, feelings, and actions that Tolstoy is able to relate is easily done through his genius in setting the story in the midst of Russia's War of 1812 (the history of which he knew very well), one of the worst in its long history. It's through such a life-shattering event that people can be seen everywhere from their best to their very worst, and Tolstoy, through a compelling story line and the novel's famous length, displays the entire spectrum.
I still love Dostoevsky's writing more, mostly because of the difference in the conclusions his characters come to in their cathartic moments, but "War and Peace" gave me a much greater respect for Tolstoy than I had previously held (having read Anna Karenina, among others). I definitely recommend taking the time to read this classic.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
One issue with the Norton Critical Edition
The novel is fantastic, the problem is this edition. I put up with it for 3/4's of the novel, but now I have to post this. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Chris Cole
People haven't changed much
The most interesting part of the tome was the second epilogue. Although this is a novel, the second epilogue gave a very factual look at what causes war and why it continues to... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Didymus
One of the most engaging and classic novels of all time
I've read War and Peace several times now (over years), though I can't comment on the kindle edition. Read more
Published 14 days ago by J. I. Bowman
A Truly Great Book and a Truly Astounding Narrator in Neville Jason
This review is of the Audio book version of War an Peace, narrated by Neville Jason, here: War & Peace 1. The audible. Read more
Published 18 days ago by A Central Illinoisian in Chicago
Not by Constance Garnett
Despite what it says on description, this translation is not by Constance Garnett. I checked against my hard copy at home. It's a terrible read. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Belinda
Holy Smokes!!
Wow, that (save the final 10% (yes, I read it on my Kindle)) was one hell of a book. Tolstoy uses magnificently developed characters to create synecdoche for the sweeping... Read more
Published 20 days ago by D. D. Burlin
An incredible novel
This novel is obviously a classic, and deservedly so. At over a thousand pages, it took me a long time to read it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more
Published 22 days ago by Dustin A. Demille
Stunning Observation
I first read this book when I was about 16 and thought it was OK. A precocious child, at the time I preferred Dostoyevsky. Read more
Published 24 days ago by conjunction
Best. Book. Ever. Seriously.
It is always a pleasure to force oneself to read a "classic" and discover that it is a classic because it is masterfully written, impossible to put down, and deals with the most... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jeremy Garber
Not the Briggs translation
This is a review of the Kindle edition, not the novel itself. The Amazon page indicates it is the newer Briggs translation. Actually it is the Maude translation from 1920. Read more
Published 1 month ago by John M. Robinson
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
WELL, PRINCE, Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
most high excellency, adjutant galloped, factory lad, eldest princess, old prince, little countess, old countess, head steward, bast shoes, lofty sky Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Princess Marya, Prince Vassily, Anna Pavlovna, Princess Marys, Anna Mihalovna, Mademoiselle Bourienne, Marya Dmitryevna, Bleak Hills, Count Rastoptchin, Prince Bagration, Emperor Alexander, Prince Audrey, Countess Marya, Prince Ippolit, Marys Dmitryevna, Count Bezuhov, Countess Bezuhov, Mavra Kuzminishna, Osip Alexyevitch, Nikolay Rostov, Prince Nikolay Andreitch, Countess Rostov, Barclay de Tolly, Madame Peronsky, Mihail Ivanitch New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
WELL, PRINCE, Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
most high excellency, adjutant galloped, factory lad, eldest princess, old prince, little countess, old countess, head steward, bast shoes, lofty sky Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Princess Marya, Prince Vassily, Anna Pavlovna, Princess Marys, Anna Mihalovna, Mademoiselle Bourienne, Marya Dmitryevna, Bleak Hills, Count Rastoptchin, Prince Bagration, Emperor Alexander, Prince Audrey, Countess Marya, Prince Ippolit, Marys Dmitryevna, Count Bezuhov, Countess Bezuhov, Mavra Kuzminishna, Osip Alexyevitch, Nikolay Rostov, Prince Nikolay Andreitch, Countess Rostov, Barclay de Tolly, Madame Peronsky, Mihail Ivanitch New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
100
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- Culture and Customs of Russia (Culture and Customs of Europe) by Sydney Schultze on 5 pages
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