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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
This one takes awhile to read. I could have lived without Tolstoy's philosophizing about war, Napoleon, history, Napoleon, Russia, and Napoleon. The second epilogue in particular was a major snooze fest. Once I got all the characters straight in my head, I enjoyed the rest of the book. If you have the time to devote to it, it's worth a read.
TOOK ME OVER A YEAR TO FINISH THIS BUT I DID! THAT'S RIGHT! I DID. AND IT WAS FANTASTIC (i did NOT have to look up what was going on on Sparknotes every 2 pages)
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, is a monumental literary achievement that consumed me completely. It offers an intricate tapestry of Russian life during the Napoleonic era. Through a cast of unforgettable characters, Tolstoy explores the profound interplay between personal destinies and the sweeping forces of history. The novel delves deep into themes of war, peace, love, and the search for meaning, challenging the reader to ponder the essence of human existence, as well as the philosophical and religious balance between free will and predestination. War and peace is not just a book; it's a journey and is now one of my new benchmarks with which all other novels will be measured.
I did like this, but it got a bit boring and was very slow and long. The plot is split into three branches: characters, a history lesson on Napoleon and the War of 1812, and Tolstoy’s philosophy. I enjoyed the plot, but characters seem to have an epiphany or radically shift their views every other featured chapter. After awhile it became hard to view these pivots in thought with anything but a shrug. Happy I read it, but not sure I’ll pick it up again. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had a better knowledge on 1812/Napoleon.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A very very fine book, unfortunately marred by the Epilogue. Read in a week during rehearsals for The 39 Steps, with motivation from L-G D.
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
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:
Complicated
I did not read War and Peace. I lived it.
There is little more to say about War and Peace than that it is a masterpiece of literature and a triumph of human achievement. In this monumental tome, Tolstoy tells the stories of five aristocratic families in Imperial Russia. The book opens in 1805 at the dawn of war between Russia and France and progresses through Napoleon's disastrous invasion of 1812, creating a snapshot of Russian society at times of both war and (you guessed it) peace.
War and Peace is a long book. With roughly 1200 pages, this epic serves as the Everest for many avid readers. But while the slog may be time consuming, the view from the summit is worth every chapter. A common justification for the desire to steer clear of War and Peace is the idea that it is a difficult and confusing maze of characters written in archaic and incomprehensible language. While the concern about characters is certainly valid (there are over 500 of them, so get your family tree printouts ready), this edition with the translation by Anthony Briggs is surprisingly accessible. At the cost of some faithfulness to the original Russian, Briggs has made War and Peace a breeze to read through while still maintaining the meaning and depth of the original.
What strikes me most about War and Peace is how applicable it still feels to our modern world. Although Tolstoy concerns himself with the aristocratic circles of Imperial Russia, his exhaustive detail into the characters hints at something within them (and within us) which is timeless and immutable. Although the conditions faced by those who populate the book are likely foreign to a modern reader, we still grow to know and love them as if they are old friends which we have known for a lifetime. In this manner, Tolstoy has created a powerful and beautiful impression of the human condition.
Those with an interest in history and philosophy will find a particular affinity with this book. The narrative is frequently interspaced with Tolstoy's essays as the omniscient narrator giving his thoughts on the nature of history. He devotes much of his attention to dismantling the "great man" theory of history popularized in the nineteenth century by Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle through his portrayal of Napoleon; perhaps the most iconic and emblematic "great man" in western historiography. Napoleon is not depicted in his usual manner as a god-like manifestation of historical power, but instead as a man with desires, fears and deficiencies. In place of this "great man" theory, Tolstoy argues for a perspective of history which is guided by forces outside of human control; a collective "historical will" which is shaped by the actions of all members of society and to which even Napoleon is a subject. This theory is illustrated and evidenced in the narrative of the book itself, as the story is progressed through the characters' individual pursuit of self-interest while remaining mostly oblivious to the fact that they are contributing to something larger than themselves.
War and Peace has a bit of a reputation for being boring and snobbish, or something to be read solely for the sake of conquering the most iconically difficult book in existence, and I'll admit I started my journey with a similar motivation. However, I quickly realized that there was a reason that Tolstoy's masterpiece has stuck around in literary circles despite its famed inaccessibility. It is long, yes, but this is the result of an overabundance of detail which allows the reader to intimately experience the book as if they themselves inhabit it. This is why it feels reductive to say I simply "read" War and Peace, as consuming it made me feel as though I was living a second life which was separate from yet inexorably connected to my own. I lived War and Peace, and I loved every moment of it.
There is little more to say about War and Peace than that it is a masterpiece of literature and a triumph of human achievement. In this monumental tome, Tolstoy tells the stories of five aristocratic families in Imperial Russia. The book opens in 1805 at the dawn of war between Russia and France and progresses through Napoleon's disastrous invasion of 1812, creating a snapshot of Russian society at times of both war and (you guessed it) peace.
War and Peace is a long book. With roughly 1200 pages, this epic serves as the Everest for many avid readers. But while the slog may be time consuming, the view from the summit is worth every chapter. A common justification for the desire to steer clear of War and Peace is the idea that it is a difficult and confusing maze of characters written in archaic and incomprehensible language. While the concern about characters is certainly valid (there are over 500 of them, so get your family tree printouts ready), this edition with the translation by Anthony Briggs is surprisingly accessible. At the cost of some faithfulness to the original Russian, Briggs has made War and Peace a breeze to read through while still maintaining the meaning and depth of the original.
What strikes me most about War and Peace is how applicable it still feels to our modern world. Although Tolstoy concerns himself with the aristocratic circles of Imperial Russia, his exhaustive detail into the characters hints at something within them (and within us) which is timeless and immutable. Although the conditions faced by those who populate the book are likely foreign to a modern reader, we still grow to know and love them as if they are old friends which we have known for a lifetime. In this manner, Tolstoy has created a powerful and beautiful impression of the human condition.
Those with an interest in history and philosophy will find a particular affinity with this book. The narrative is frequently interspaced with Tolstoy's essays as the omniscient narrator giving his thoughts on the nature of history. He devotes much of his attention to dismantling the "great man" theory of history popularized in the nineteenth century by Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle through his portrayal of Napoleon; perhaps the most iconic and emblematic "great man" in western historiography. Napoleon is not depicted in his usual manner as a god-like manifestation of historical power, but instead as a man with desires, fears and deficiencies. In place of this "great man" theory, Tolstoy argues for a perspective of history which is guided by forces outside of human control; a collective "historical will" which is shaped by the actions of all members of society and to which even Napoleon is a subject. This theory is illustrated and evidenced in the narrative of the book itself, as the story is progressed through the characters' individual pursuit of self-interest while remaining mostly oblivious to the fact that they are contributing to something larger than themselves.
War and Peace has a bit of a reputation for being boring and snobbish, or something to be read solely for the sake of conquering the most iconically difficult book in existence, and I'll admit I started my journey with a similar motivation. However, I quickly realized that there was a reason that Tolstoy's masterpiece has stuck around in literary circles despite its famed inaccessibility. It is long, yes, but this is the result of an overabundance of detail which allows the reader to intimately experience the book as if they themselves inhabit it. This is why it feels reductive to say I simply "read" War and Peace, as consuming it made me feel as though I was living a second life which was separate from yet inexorably connected to my own. I lived War and Peace, and I loved every moment of it.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
informative
lighthearted
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Was it worth reading this really really long book? Hmmmm. I'm going to try not to write an essay here.
Short answer: yes. I learned a lot about Napoleon and how the history of wars differs from how it really happened. I recently read that some of France hoped Napoleon would be like George Washington, so it was interesting to see how different he was. I really like reading books where I learn things or see events from a different point of view, and since I'm not a Russian living early in the 1800s (in fact, I never have been), I enjoyed seeing that point of view.
But... I like Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilyich much better. For the plot, character, relationships, and psychology, those other two books are at least as good as War and Peace and are much shorter.
Oh, and the second half of the epilogue of War and Peace I should have skipped. Once Tolstoy got done with the story of the characters and started a rant about historical theory, I would have been better off closing the book and being done.
It is a bit of a slog to get through so many pages and words, but the story is complicated (which reflects Tolstoy's view that the war stories and histories are usually great simplifications of what really happened). The descriptions of what is going on in the world (War and more) that come along really do add flavor to the story. A lot of authorial thoughts, which do add to the story but can be distracting if you prefer your novels without the author intruding.
Short answer: yes. I learned a lot about Napoleon and how the history of wars differs from how it really happened. I recently read that some of France hoped Napoleon would be like George Washington, so it was interesting to see how different he was. I really like reading books where I learn things or see events from a different point of view, and since I'm not a Russian living early in the 1800s (in fact, I never have been), I enjoyed seeing that point of view.
But... I like Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilyich much better. For the plot, character, relationships, and psychology, those other two books are at least as good as War and Peace and are much shorter.
Oh, and the second half of the epilogue of War and Peace I should have skipped. Once Tolstoy got done with the story of the characters and started a rant about historical theory, I would have been better off closing the book and being done.
It is a bit of a slog to get through so many pages and words, but the story is complicated (which reflects Tolstoy's view that the war stories and histories are usually great simplifications of what really happened). The descriptions of what is going on in the world (War and more) that come along really do add flavor to the story. A lot of authorial thoughts, which do add to the story but can be distracting if you prefer your novels without the author intruding.