War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
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Book Reviews of War and Peace
Book Review: READY FOR OPRAH!
Summary: 5 Stars
I deliberately held off reading another War and Peace until my favorite Russian translators, Pevear and Volokhonsky, got to it, and the result is worth waiting for. Theirs is a delicate, elegant rendering of Tolstoy, one that makes his strengths and weaknesses perfectly clear for evaluation. My only disagreement is about the many French passages. P&V leave them in the original, with translations below as footnotes. Especially in the opening part, where you want to get going as smoothly as possible, the constant use of French creates a lot of unwelcome speed bumps. In my view, an English translation is meant to render everything in English. Tolstoy had reason to believe his readers were French-speaking gentry, but that's not tenable anymore. My one complaint aside, I certainly endorse this as the best, indeed the only, translation of War and Peace you need.
As for the merits of Tolstoy, I am ambivalent. Of the 19th century Russian greats, Tolstoy writes best--but to least effect. He always stands between the reader and the characters, a snobbish Olympian puppet-master. Thanks to his minute, remote ethnography, I never care about any of his characters, and quite a few remain inconsequential cartoons. I would apply "fine" rather than "great" to this work: it always held my attention, though at times barely, but it just never took off. For me, Chekhov is the real Russian great, especially in his short novels and stories, and how he did it remains in great part a mystery. Somehow, Chekhov's characters communicate to us directly from inside themselves; in his world even trivia seem momentous. And Chekhov achieves his effects with great concision. Tolstoy: vast works about small pampered people; Chekhov: miniatures about nobodies that open to a universe of feeling and desire.
Book Review: Improving On A Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
It's hard to find anything original to say about "War and Peace." This classic of 19th century Russian literaure, written by one of the greatest novelists of the last 500 years, has been exhaustively reviewed, studied, dissected, and interpreted in film, drama, opera, and dance (I think). What I can say as a literary gourmand (someone who will read everything from the back of the shampoo bottle to "Valley Of The Dolls" to "Ulysses") and a professional specialist in the Russian language is this: WoP is a damn fine historical novel, worth a try for anyone who's every enjoyed a long historical novel. And this War and Peace, the latest translation of this monumental work from Russian into English, is the most readable and accurate version of the several I have read. Not only do they provide immediate translations of all the French and German conversations and letters in the book so you don't have to wonder what in tarnation is going on, they are true to the marvelous humor and simplicity of the original Russian language. The translation team of Pevear and Volkhonsky has successfully tackled several classics of Russian literature, making books like Demons newly accessible to English-speaking readers. This book is worth the money and the potential hernia.Book Review: Forget its size and just start reading...
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished reading this amazing (and amazingly long) book and I am left in awe by the presence of such a great writer. This is my first encounter with Tolstoy but it definitely won't be my last. To tell the truth I would never have picked up this book on my own because it has this aura of intimadation about it and its sheer length can be utterly daunting; in fact I almost dropped the class because I was hoping we were going to read Anna Karenina, but that would have been a fatal mistake!
War and Peace is a book unlike any other I've read (and I've read in the hundreds)... it has amazing scope and originality and a psycological precision that truly stupifies. Tolstoy is in absolute control over his prose; at times he teases and misleads the reader (this killed me at first) and at other times he tickled my funny bone just right. He occassionally bends down to catch that humorous side of human nature that can only be seen from a certain angle and I respect him for that; it's not all artists who can manage to do this. I remember I had barely reached the first 100 pages when I began to recognize just what kind of writer I was dealing with and all I could do was submit my will and bow down to this towering giant of world literature...
I will never forget the experience of reading this book. And finishing feels pretty damn good too! Now on with writing my paper on it!!!
Book Review: The drums of war, then as now, beat out the same sad tune.
Summary: 5 Stars
When French forces led by Napoleon spread across Europe and threatened Russian safety and independence, Russia declared war against France. The novel revolves around a group of Russian protagonists (Pierre, Andrew, Natasha, Mary, Nicholas and General Kutuzov) during time of French occupation of Moscow, decisive battle of Borodino, French withdrawal from Russia, and the return to a life of normalcy.
Tolstoy's characters, like those of Dostoevsky are intricate complex; both Andrew and Pierre had qualities similar to Tolstoy himself (the death of Andrew's wife during child birth just like Tolstoy's mother, Pierre's alienation from society and his odd unattractive looks). Still, Tolstoy artistically made the two characters distinguished and different, Tolstoy went to great fascinating lengths to very clearly detail Andrew's inability to open up for others and his dislike of being touched by others .
Tolstoy's personal religious leap of faith is reflected in this story, which is told against the historical backdrop of spiritual Russia defeating rational France, when the people of both nations were suffering because of the actions of their governments; it is a universal tale.
Great exploration of human irrationality and motives, a story of every person's anguish in the face of loss, death, and search for meaning in life.
Book Review: A sweeping, unforgettable epic
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first time to read Tolstoy and this book is staggering in its breadth, skill and insight. Tolstoy wears many hats in this book--historian, theologian, psychologist, philosopher, military strategist, political scientist, ethicist--and he wears them all exceedingly well. The sheer scope of this novel (if indeed one can call it merely a novel) is remarkable. The battle scenes are stark and real, stripping off the tidy veneer that history puts on such events; not graphic or gruesome, just showing the human side of soldiers in the face of danger and death. The affairs of the Bolkonskys and Rostovs provide profound insights into good and evil, life and death, and those universal things that comprise human nature. Tolstoy's satirical comments on Napolean and the genius historians ascribe to him are well-founded and thought-provoking.
When all is said and done, however, it is the spiritual journey of Pierre Bezukhov that is the highlight of the book for me. You see clearly in this characater the expression of Tolstoy's own sirituality and the parallels are magnificent. This is a wonderful story about life, history, family and what it means to be human. While incredibly dense, this book is worth the time and effort. Highly recommended.