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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
adventurous
challenging
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:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“What is War and Peace? It is not a novel, still less an epic poem, still less a historical chronicle. War and Peace is what the author wanted and was able to express, in the form in which it was expressed.” - absolute bars from Tolstoy
Maybe the most ambitious book I’ve read, the breadth of characters whom you get to know at an intimate level is difficult to keep up with at times, I don’t know how ole Leo was able to keep track of the connective tissue. This dude can write some prose. Well worth the, frankly, significant time it took to finish. Great translation with lots of helpful historical endnotes and a historical character index.
Maybe the most ambitious book I’ve read, the breadth of characters whom you get to know at an intimate level is difficult to keep up with at times, I don’t know how ole Leo was able to keep track of the connective tissue. This dude can write some prose. Well worth the, frankly, significant time it took to finish. Great translation with lots of helpful historical endnotes and a historical character index.
Without exaggeration, "War and Peace" is one of the greatest books ever written. Tolstoy reproduces life itself. A complete panorama of human experience, thoughts and feelings. It's said that you don't read "War and Peace", rather you live it. I completely agree. Breathtaking.
challenging
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:
No
The last book I bought with my Audible subscription years ago before I cancelled it. Brevity is the soul of wit or whatever so I'll keep this brief.
Wanted to read this because Great Comet is probably my favorite Broadway show of all time and this worked best for me when it focused on character dynamics. Couple of beats surprised me here. Natasha and Pierre's arcs are both wider and more convincing. They are idiot dirtbags at the beginning. Pierre particularly is pathetic for much of the book's first half. That said, their ultimate ends are far more satisfying, far more striking in their development.
On that note, was genuinely surprised how much time post-war Tolstoy covers. The arcs for Maria and Nikolai are a bit less satisfying than I'd expected given the recent TV adaptation, but it is nice to see the after effects of war long term for these characters.
Less successful were the long stretches in the last 5th or so where Tolstoy goes on and on about the way wars begin, how historical figures are remembered, general world political movements, etc. Often these felt like anti-Napoleon screeds that felt largely beside the point given he also has Napolean as a character in the novel and gets his points across just as easily that way. Overall, this is true across the board—the novel works best when he uses characters to make his overall points rather than yammering on and on complaining about the same things over and over but in different contexts.
Overall, happy to have finally gotten through this and I guess I'll end this by saying my hot take is actually that War and Peace is a actually 3.5/5 star book.
Wanted to read this because Great Comet is probably my favorite Broadway show of all time and this worked best for me when it focused on character dynamics. Couple of beats surprised me here. Natasha and Pierre's arcs are both wider and more convincing. They are idiot dirtbags at the beginning. Pierre particularly is pathetic for much of the book's first half. That said, their ultimate ends are far more satisfying, far more striking in their development.
On that note, was genuinely surprised how much time post-war Tolstoy covers. The arcs for Maria and Nikolai are a bit less satisfying than I'd expected given the recent TV adaptation, but it is nice to see the after effects of war long term for these characters.
Less successful were the long stretches in the last 5th or so where Tolstoy goes on and on about the way wars begin, how historical figures are remembered, general world political movements, etc. Often these felt like anti-Napoleon screeds that felt largely beside the point given he also has Napolean as a character in the novel and gets his points across just as easily that way. Overall, this is true across the board—the novel works best when he uses characters to make his overall points rather than yammering on and on complaining about the same things over and over but in different contexts.
Overall, happy to have finally gotten through this and I guess I'll end this by saying my hot take is actually that War and Peace is a actually 3.5/5 star book.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
What a novel. What a journey. It was like living in Napoleonic era Russia, with some truly incredible people. I really loved many of these characters. Prince Andrew, Nicholas, Princess Mary and Natasha were the ones I cared about most. I experienced so many emotions from joy to sadness and everything in between. Tolstoy added a fair bit of writing that I found quite humorous as well. I was equally engaged in the moments of war, which were absolutely harrowing, and the moments of peace, which were filled with love, kindness and enough drama of their own. Truly a sweeping novel in every sense. I’m going to be thinking about this book for a long time.
really enjoyed the 'peace' bits found the 'war' bits a bit hard to get through.
slow-paced
I appreciated the character-driven parts and all the satire. I struggled with the sexism, classism, and most of all with Tolstoy taking a break from the story to talk about why all historians don't understand history and why free will is a lie.