Reviews - War and Peace Vol. II

4.28k reviews for:

Tolstoy really should have written two books (called War and Peace [no I'm sorry not that]) rather than try to cram a bunch of rambling about historical theory into a novel. The story and progression of the characters was, overall, very, very good. The ideas put forth about love and death (arguably other things as well, but they sort of fold into those two) are quite compelling, and the way in which they're presented drives the story well but also feels accurate to real life (e.g. individuals having beliefs shaken by certain events or building up ideas around a person/place/movement/etc). The Russia flair of people crying and yelling a lot and having difficult, manifold names is very much there, which for me is fine, but it definitely colors the way the story is told in a significant way. Beyond the conceptual stuff, though, I did enjoy the story here, and, despite misgivings about some of the War parts, I did think having both War and Peace present drove along both the ideas and the plot very well. Unfortunately, despite feeling very positively about much of this book, Tolstoy's digressions into his thoughts on the war and its players and history generally hugely detracted from it. Besides breaking up the pacing (aggressively) and trampling on the end of story with the second (sigh) epilogue, these rants were repetitive, biased, and unconvincing. Added to the already significant length of the main bulk of the book, they made it much harder to motivate myself to actually get through it and turned a 4-5 star book into a 3.

frankied1's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

diana7011's review against another edition

5.0

This was an amazing story by Tolstoy, well written and Epic. The author writes a passionate story that also incorporates Russian history in the early nineteenth century. Every character has their own distinct personality and they leave the reader with an impression of them. If one were to ask about Tolstoy, the man, you would only need to read this masterpiece as there is so much of his own thoughts incorporated into this work. Definitely a long read but not difficult, highly enjoyable and enlightening.

gumgoose's review against another edition

5.0

Incredible story. Really good blend of story telling on a personal level and also in a more historic and broader scale. The jumps in time and between character are really well done which i thought at first might be a hurdle. The sheer amount of people and characters that are encountered trough out the story are not at all overwhelming and helps make the world feel alive and believable.
Very informative very insightful. Often after finishing a chapter I would find myself reflecting on how a character acted and regardless of if i agreed with them always understood their point of view.

Great read, Easy recommend.

sylviaisme's review against another edition

4.75

challenging informative reflective

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

hannahg1's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

bibliotequeish's review against another edition

4.0

I made a spreadsheet.
A spreadsheet to keep the characters in order, because their names either sound the same ... or are the same
( Maria Dmitryevna Akhrosimova vs. Maria Nikolayevna Bolkonkaya. )

This book follows 5 upper crust Russian families and chronicles the impact the French invasion has on their lives.
The book will drift away from the Napoleonic war, but in time will drift back... adding to the books 1200+ pages.

The lives of the five families intertwine, Some at war and some in love.

Growing up 13 year Natasha Rostovs is in love with Boris Drubetskoy, still quite young Natasha moves onto much older Prince Andrei Bolkonskys. When Prince Andrei goes to war (and interacts with Boris) Natasha falls for Russian bad boy Anatole Kuragins. The main voice in this story is that of Pierre Bezukhovs who dances in and our of everyone’s life. (I did reference my spreadsheet for this review)

If you can keep it straight, and if you have some time, this is one of the most rewarding books you can read, yes it’s ~~a little~~ long winded, yes sometimes Tolstoy goes on and on about Napoleon and seemingly forgets completely about the actual characters of the book… but ... it's War and Peace