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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
2.0/5
I feel as though I owe this book a written review after reading it for 8 months. I will keep it brief for Tolstoy.
There are not many classics that I have rated this poorly. For 1350 pages, you’d expect some substance of worth. You will not find much in War and Peace. All of the meaningful aspects of War and Peace can be found in better and more interesting works.
Tolstoy’s writing is strangely empty of interest, feeling, and development. But perhaps it was just me. There isn’t much distinction in the actions of each character and I found myself wondering at the decisions a character made in connection to their person. The interesting characters of the book actually felt stifled by Tolstoy himself, pushing his own views onto them and tarnishing their stories. Natasha Rostov comes to mind.
Tolstoy also spends a significant portion of this book complaining about the methods of historians and their views on Napoleon’s actions. It is not only redundant but often times comes across as Tolstoy being biased himself. He also loves to use lazy excuses to describe something repeatedly like “a feeling only a pregnant woman can understand” and precedes not to explain anything. These sentences continue to become more niche and nonsensical.
Tolstoy also loves to rush development of a character in one page but provides 20 for a rant on historians.
There isn’t much I can say about this book that is positive. It just isn’t worth the time, in my opinion. There are some nice quotes and moments for characters.
There are also better books.
I feel as though I owe this book a written review after reading it for 8 months. I will keep it brief for Tolstoy.
There are not many classics that I have rated this poorly. For 1350 pages, you’d expect some substance of worth. You will not find much in War and Peace. All of the meaningful aspects of War and Peace can be found in better and more interesting works.
Tolstoy’s writing is strangely empty of interest, feeling, and development. But perhaps it was just me. There isn’t much distinction in the actions of each character and I found myself wondering at the decisions a character made in connection to their person. The interesting characters of the book actually felt stifled by Tolstoy himself, pushing his own views onto them and tarnishing their stories. Natasha Rostov comes to mind.
Tolstoy also spends a significant portion of this book complaining about the methods of historians and their views on Napoleon’s actions. It is not only redundant but often times comes across as Tolstoy being biased himself. He also loves to use lazy excuses to describe something repeatedly like “a feeling only a pregnant woman can understand” and precedes not to explain anything. These sentences continue to become more niche and nonsensical.
Tolstoy also loves to rush development of a character in one page but provides 20 for a rant on historians.
There isn’t much I can say about this book that is positive. It just isn’t worth the time, in my opinion. There are some nice quotes and moments for characters.
There are also better books.
“Pierre was right when he said that one must believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy, and I now believe in it. Let the dead bury the dead, but while I'm alive, I must live and be happy.”
Updated Review:
If ever Aliens were to come down to earth and a pose a question, 'What is Humanity?'. I would tell them to read War and Peace.
From the birth of a child, to father losing his only son in war fighting for his country,
From one lover betraying their trust, to another sacrificing their love for the happiness of their partner,
One army led by a greedy man killing millions of citizens in his invasion of foreign land,
to another simple folk upholding their moral values even in toughest of conditions and finding peace in spirituality.
First Loves, Friendships, Marriages, Funerals, Men fighting for Glory, Men dying for Honour, Society people living for status, others finding happiness in sacrifice.
I don't think there is a single human experience that is not covered in this book, if lighting can be caught in a bottle, then 'Life' can be captured in a book, i.e, War and Peace.
Ticking off one thing from my Bucket List.
Updated Review:
If ever Aliens were to come down to earth and a pose a question, 'What is Humanity?'. I would tell them to read War and Peace.
From the birth of a child, to father losing his only son in war fighting for his country,
From one lover betraying their trust, to another sacrificing their love for the happiness of their partner,
One army led by a greedy man killing millions of citizens in his invasion of foreign land,
to another simple folk upholding their moral values even in toughest of conditions and finding peace in spirituality.
First Loves, Friendships, Marriages, Funerals, Men fighting for Glory, Men dying for Honour, Society people living for status, others finding happiness in sacrifice.
I don't think there is a single human experience that is not covered in this book, if lighting can be caught in a bottle, then 'Life' can be captured in a book, i.e, War and Peace.
Ticking off one thing from my Bucket List.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s no Anna Karenina and the second epilogue is beyond self-indulgent, but beautiful work nevertheless.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I LOVE IT!!!
10/10 stars. There were multiple points in the story where I was like, “I GET WHY THIS IS A CLASSIC!”
However, I did LISTEN to it, and decided to do so without listening to a sample. The reader was not very skilled at reading audiobooks. I would not recommend committing to that UNLESS you find someone whose pacing and voice(s) you like.
So glad I was able to enjoy this!
10/10 stars. There were multiple points in the story where I was like, “I GET WHY THIS IS A CLASSIC!”
However, I did LISTEN to it, and decided to do so without listening to a sample. The reader was not very skilled at reading audiobooks. I would not recommend committing to that UNLESS you find someone whose pacing and voice(s) you like.
So glad I was able to enjoy this!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Writer is disgruntled with historians - the book. Given what Tolstoy had to work with and the ideas of his time, I think he had a good grasp of human nature. His characters are very real and very flawed. He has a tendency to go into pages about his disagreement with historians over the war of 1812 so be prepared for interjections of philosophy and historical rants. Ultimately, I know he was making a point but the Epilogue seemed completely unnecessary. The second part of the epilogue is really what is dragging my rating down. At one point I was demoting this to a 3.5 but, with some thought, I think a 4 is fair.
After spending 1,350 pages in early 19th century Russia, I feel pretty certain I prefer peace.