War and Peace (Modern Library Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Leo Tolstoy (Author), Constance Garnett (Translator), A.N. Wilson (Introduction) "WELL, PRINCE, Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family..." (more)
Key Phrases: most high excellency, adjutant galloped, factory lad, Princess Marya, Prince Vassily, Anna Pavlovna (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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?There remains the greatest of all novelists?for what else can we call the author of War and Peace?? ?Virginia Woolf


From the Trade Paperback edition. -- Review

Review
“There remains the greatest of all novelists—for what else can we call the author of War and Peace?”
—Virginia Woolf

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 1424 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345472403
• ISBN-13: 978-0345472403
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,918 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Garnett Translation, "The Woman's Touch!" (Modern Library ed.), May 20, 2008

By	Patrick W. Crabtree "The Old Grottomaster" (Lucasville, OH USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is broken down into two segments, a Descriptive Summary and an Evaluative Summary. If you're already very familiar with the story of "War and Peace," you may wish to skip directly to the latter facet of my review which is essentially the critique of the Constance Garnett 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.

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

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.


EVALUATIVE SUMMARY:

The Garnett translation has probably come under more fire than any of the others, purportedly for inaccuracies of what Tolstoy supposedly actually said. This is possibly true, but as I do not speak Russian, I can neither confirm nor deny this allegation. But I will point out that there are two types of translations -- the one is rigid and runs word for word correctly, and the second type focuses more upon manifesting the essence of a story... The Big Picture, so to speak. The Garnett translation falls into the latter category.

I can make one particular and certain observation regarding this volume: Garnett's handling of the more poetic and epic events in the novel is masterful. Even if her translation is not word-for-word correct, I'm sure that she was very plugged into the vision which Tolstoy was trying to convey. You'll see this actuality blossom in the following places, for instance: "Petya's dream"; the view of Moscow on the morning of Napoleon's approach; the "scrying" episode between Natasha and Sonya; The wolf hunt... and so on. I think it's "The Woman's Touch," coming through, which is a good thing.

Constance Garnett published her version of "War and Peace" in 1904, so this was one of the early ones. Other translations into English include:

Clara Bell (from a French version) 1885-86
W. H. Dole 1889
Leo Wiener 1904
Louise and Aylmer Maude (1922-3)
Princess Alexandra Kropotkin (1949)
Manuel Komroff (Abridged) (1956)
Rosemary Edmonds (1957, revised 1978)
Ann Dunnigan (1968)
Anthony Briggs (2005)
Andrew Bromfield (2007), (translation of an early draft, approx. 400 pages shorter than other English translations.)
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (October 16, 2007)

Wikipedia cites this information about Garnett [edited]:

"She was initially educated at Brighton and Hove High School. Afterwards she studied Latin and Greek at Newnham College, Cambridge on a government scholarship, where she also learned Russian (partly from émigré Russian friends such as Felix Volkonsky [Rubenstein]), and worked briefly as a school teacher.

In 1893, shortly after a visit to Moscow, Petersburg and Yasnaya Polyana where she met Leo Tolstoy, she was inspired to start translating Russian literature, which became her life's passion and resulted in English-language versions of dozens of volumes by Tolstoy, Gogol, Goncharov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Turgenev, Ostrovsky and Chekhov. The Russian anarchist Sergei Stepniakpartly assisted her, also in revision some of her early works.

By the late 1920s, Garnett was frail, white-haired, and half-blind. She retired from translating after the publication in 1934 of Three Plays by Turgenev. After her husband's death in 1937, she became quite reclusive. She developed a heart condition, with attendant breathlessness, and in her final period had to walk with crutches."

In summary, if you happen to end up with a Garnett translation for your first reading of "War and Peace," I would say that you have been lucky. Some English translations yield the French entries (2% of the book) as Tolstoy entered them, with the English translation of the French following in footnotes. Garnett translated the entire work, with a very few minor exceptions, as a direct read in English, so it's easy to read.

I have read the following translations to date: Maude (twice), Pevear/Volokhonsky, Briggs, and now Garnett. (The others will be read soon!) So I feel that I can say with some authority, highly recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing in many respects, March 21, 2007

By	JSBM "Author, 'Surviving the Second Great Dep... (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It has been said that Leo Tolstoy is one of the greatest writers of all time and that can certainly be seen in his epic masterpiece "War and Peace," but there are some things left to be desired in the work including a more uniform style with regard to fiction and history, and a more interesting plot.

I can't add too much to the praise Tolstoy has received about his skill, but I would like to mention that, not only was he a great writer, he was also an observant psychologist (albeit without the doctorates as far as I know). His descriptions of character and idiosyncrasies are masterful and reveal an immense amount of insight into the human character. Reading his work is truly a pleasure, though much of that can be attributed to the translator (Constance Garnett in this case).

I shouldn't harp on about the inadequacies of the book, but Tolstoy's personal reflections on the history when the novel takes place do not mesh well with the fiction and causes a somewhat disjointed read. Though Tolstoy's tearing up of Napoleon is humorous and important for the book, it could be inserted as a character's beliefs just as easily. Instead, it is written as an author's aside. Another negative is the slow plot, which may have been lively in the 19th century, but lacks in excitement today.

The author's free-will/fate philosophy in the last section of the book, however, is about as lively as can be and deserves repeated readings. It alone could stand as a masterpiece.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Only Read One Book in Your Life....., February 7, 2008

By	zorba (Bala Cynwyd, Pa USA) - See all my reviews

I heard a professor say that if you only read one book in your life, it ought to be "War and Peace." And I believe he's right. Reading a chapter or two a day, it took me months, but it was a most rewarding experience. To my surprise, the novel was not plodding and obtuse, like many classics. Instead, I found it enjoyable, endearing and informative. It tells the tale of several noble Russian families and how they intertwine during a restive period in Russian history. It also describes in great detail various battles and the personages involved, some fictional, some not. As a story, it had suspense, very well-defined characters, action and interesting plot turns. The book also contained essays by Tolstoy on the forces of history and other matters -- which I tended to skip over. But, now having completed this singular work, I feel enriched and satisfied. I'm no expert, but if someone tells me this is the greatest novel ever written, they won't get any argument from me.