War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
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Book Reviews of War and Peace
Book Review: A Great Nineteenth-Century Novel Still Enthralls
Summary: 5 Stars
I tried reading "War and Peace" decades ago as a shallow student, and gave up after a couple of hundred pages--but this much more readable translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky carried me along to the end, even through battle strategies and Tolstoy's long reflections on historical process (which are interesting in themselves, although they interrupt the narrative flow). He gives insights into the futility and the immediate terror and chaos of war that are still quite relevant. Only quibbbles are with the book itself--it seems that in the commendable effort to produce a reasonably priced book of this size, Knopf cut corners a bit--the dust jacket started falling apart as soon as I opened the book, there were some small typos, and most important, the endnotes were confusingly organized and cross-referenced. A few pages of maps and a historical time-line would have helped a lot in understanding the Russo-French war of 1812. That aside, a must read, and kudos to the translators.Book Review: Psychological Insight
Summary: 5 Stars
I was awed by Tolstoy's ability to capture the inner psychological life of the characters and the psychological impact of events in War and Peace. One example is the withdrawal of Prince Andrei's interest in life when he is dying and the dismay of Natasha and Marya as they try to empathize with him. Prince Andrei is looking into another world and withdrawing his interest from this one, preventing that empathic connection. I am told by hospice workers that this is a common occurrence with the dying.
As a psychoanalyst, I also think the portrayal of Pierre Bezhukov in the early stages of the novel is a very accurate picture of a fragmentation prone personality, with his confusion and disorganization. His healthy transformation is worthy of a psychoanalytic treatise. Tolstoy's description of Pierre's character, his search for an idealizable mentor and his eventual transformation seem true to life for me.
Book Review: Tip-Top Tolstoy !!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Pevear/Volonkhonsky translation of Tolstoy's "War & Peace" is "Tip-top" in my way of thinking. I, also, have tried to read other versions, but could hardly get started. They were paperbacks, nearly 5 inches thick, with tiny print. It was not condusive to a "one-eyed reader".
I just finished reading this book, yesterday. I even got to know a lot of the French language. That didn't distract me at all. The three main characters ( Pierre, Natasha & Andrei) were very realistically perceived. My favorite minor character is Platon Karataev,Pierre's fellow P.O.W. after the burning of Moscow.
Napoleon and Alexander I were drawn out , nicely. I thought that Tolstoys insertions about the battle strategies and other interesting tid-bits of Russian life actually clarified the narrative and helped immensely.
This book is very satisfiying and I recommend it to every serious reader.
Book Review: About the binding
Summary: 5 Stars
I won't address the contents of the book in this review; it is excellent and has been discussed at length by others. I want to make a brief note about the binding.
Several reviewers have complained that the US edition is too large and that the pages are glued rather than sewn, which makes the book somewhat unstable. While "War and Peace" is never going to be a pocketbook, I would like to point out that the British edition (ISBN-10: 0099512238, ISBN-13: 978-0099512233) is about 1/2 an inch thinner than the US edition, and it has a sewn binding (which is much more durable). The cover is cloth, and I happen to think that it looks nicer than the US edition.
Note that you cannot order the UK edition from Amazon.com at the time of this writing, so those who are interested will either have to pay the extra shipping to order from Amazon.co.uk or else look elsewhere.
Book Review: WAR, WHAT'S IT GOOD FOR....ABSOLUUUTELY NUTHIN'
Summary: 5 Stars
SEE TITLE OF REVIEW. IT'S ABOUT THIS WAR, SEE. FRENCH VS. RUSSIANS. SORT OF LIKE FRENCH VS. GERMANS 1870,1914 & 1940. UGLY. FRENCH LOSE AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME. TOO BAD WE WEREN'T WELL ORGANIZED ENOUGH IN THIS PERIOD OF TIME TO HELP THEM OUT, BUT THE RUSSIANS SELDOM NEEDED HELP THEN OR LATER. ENGLISH WERE SATISFIED TO HAVE THEM BOTH BLEED A BIT. LOTS OF CHARACTERS; DON'T BUY BOOK THAT DOESN'T HAVE A GLOSSARY OF CHARACTERS, UNLESS YOU'RE AN IDIOT SAVANT. GOOD SUMMER READING; TWO OR THREE SUMMERS SHOULD DO, MAYBE FOUR. ( GET THE MOVIE; AUDREY HEPBURN, MEL FERRER,MEL BROOKS, MEL TORME, YOU'LL LOVE
IT ). MAKE SURE YOU GET THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION; THE ORIGINAL RUSSIAN IS A LITTLE TURGID, SO SAID TURGENOV. PEOPLE WHO BUY THIS BOOK SHOULD THINK OF GULAG ARCHIPELAGO 1914, 1917 AND OTHERS BY ALEXANDER S. THEY'RE ALL ALMOST AS LONG AND DARN GOOD, TOO.