Customer Reviews

War & Peace - In Two Volumes Bound as One - Maude Translation

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This review of the Maude translation of "War and Peace" is broken down into two segments, a Descriptive Summary and an Evaluative Summary. If you're already very familiar with the story, you may wish to skip directly to the latter facet of my review which focuses more on this particular volume/translation.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY:

In 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Austria to expand his European empire. Russia, being an ally of Austria, stood with their brethren against the infamous Emperor. Napoleon prevailed and a treaty was ultimately signed at Tilsit. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, again in an effort to expand his empire. The end result of this tragic war was that Napoleon's army of about 600,000 soldiers was reduced to roughly 60,000 men as the defamed Emperor raced from Moscow (which he had taken), back across the frozen Russian tundra in his carriage (leaving his troops behind to fend for themselves) for Paris. That encapsulizes the military aspect of this work.

But the more intricate story involves both the activities and the peccadillos of, primarily, three Russian families of nobility: The Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Bezukovs. The continual thorn of "The Antichrist," Napoleon, really just provides the wallpaper for this story of romance, riches, desolation, love, jealousy, hatred, retribution, joy, naiivety, stupidity and so much more. Tolstoy has woven an incredibly intricate web that interconnects these noble families, the wars, and the common Russian people to a degree that would seem incomprehensible to achieve -- but Tolstoy perseveres with superb clarity and great insight to the human psyche. His characters are timeless and the reader who has any social experience whatever will immediately connect with them all.

In his Epilogue, Tolstoy yields us a shrewd dissertation on the behavior of large organizations, much of it by way of analogy. It's actually an oblique, often sarcastic, commentary on the lunacy of government activities and the madness of their wars.

"War and Peace" is a fictional, lengthy novel, based upon historical fact.

EVALUATIVE SUMMARY:

I wish I had read this book when I was 20 (I'm 54 now) because I might have understood the world much, much better at an earlier age. First, to address Tolstoy's story, this is quite possibly the finest piece (tome) of literature ever written -- to me, it IS. Most folks are put off by the length of the book but it is what it is. Having now read it four times, I wish it was even longer!

Having read other, (non-fiction), histories of these invasions, (e.g. Caulaincourt), I can say authoritatively that Tolstoy's version is spot on the money. Essentially, most of his "fiction" in this brilliant work arises simply from having changed many of the actual names of the principals. But if you wish to know what actually happened in regard to Napoleon's invasion of Russia, you would be quite remiss in not reading this phenomenal work.

Of the BIG FOUR of all Russian literature, written by Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, respectively, ("War and Peace"; "Anna Karenina"; "The Brothers Karamazov", and; "Crime and Punishment"), WAR AND PEACE clearly stands well above its competitors as the absolute King. One is taken on a literary sojourn from the pinnacle of the highest aristocratic mountain down to the lowest serf poverty-stricken valley and back again. The humor herein (Yes! Humor!) has prevailed well beyond the period, which is a key positive feature of the Maude traslation, in which it was written.

The Maude translation is sort of the stalwart version of "War and Peace". Louise and Aylmer Maude lived in Russia for a time and are the only translators who actually consulted with Tolstoy himself as they worked on this huge project. Their final work was first published in 1923 and is probably, to date, the most-read of all the available translations. The work is scholarly, the language is fairly modern, and it is supplemented with a translator's introduction as well as with nice maps of the relevant regions under discussion.

The Maude translation also maintains the French entries as they were originally yielded by Tolstoy, which makes up about 2 percent of the entire work. These entries are translated into English via footnotes at the bottom of the page. There are also endnotes to render relevant details of particular individuals or places.

If you are a casual reader and want to read "War and Peace" for the first time, I would recommend that you acquire either the Brigg's translation (2005) or the Dunnigan translation (1968), both of which are "straight reads" rendered in English and absent footnotes. (Dunnigan has just a little French but it's only for occasional phrases like "Mon cher," etc.). Garnett (1904) is also a straight read but she has been criticised for the quality of her translation of the Russian and her English is a bit Edwardian.

My edition of the Maude translation is from the Oxford University Press, (maroon hardcover with an orange dust jacket), listed as "three volumes in one". It's pretty small in overall size, (about the bulk of two average paperback books), and the fonts are consequently diminutive and the pages are of a very thin stock. The numbering of the pages also re-starts with each "volume," about 1750 pages in all. One general critique of the Maude translation is that the names of the pricipals are somewhat Anglicized, (e.g., "Princess Mary" instead of "Princess Marya"), but some may see this as a positive caveat.

To finalize, if you're about to read "War and Peace" for a second time, or you wish to read it for some academic or scholarly purpose, then the Maude translation is certainly a fine choice. My highest recommendation for appropriate readers!