War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

[CaptainCanada]

Well, it took the better part of a month, but today I officially joined the group of people who have actually read the entirety of Tolstoy's famously long novel (I was reading the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, which, in the paperback edition runs to 1224 pages of text). It was long, and some of the more historical parts were a bit of a slog (not to speak of when he talks about theories of history itself, and I say that as an historian; though he takes a surprisingly modern view of how historical actors/forces work), but I enjoyed it. Poor Sonya.

Who else has read this? (or tried to read it?)

 

[Daedalus12]

I've read it twice.. First time when I was in 7th grade. The second time when I was a senior in HS. It took me about ~90 days the first time through. It was during summer vacation. I spent most of my nights reading that book while looking up all the words and concepts that I didn't understand. The second time through only took me about 50 hours or so. It's a book that I enjoyed reading immensely. I have also watched Sergei Bondarchuk's epic adaptation and enjoyed that as well.

 

[cardinal biggles]

I've been meaning to purchase and read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation since it came out, but there's around 300 books ahead of it on my "must read" list.

Congratulations on your achievement... maybe you can now hunt up the other five people who've done it, too and form a club.

 

[DevilEyes]

I read it as a pre-teen, believe it or not. Yeah, I was that kind of kid. But I remember I really found the historical parts dull - entire chapters of long historical debate - and it's not because I didn't understand it, I did, but he just kept going on and on and repeating himself... Only an enormous strength of will (I'm not going to skip anything! No! I'm not!) got me through.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I have not read the entire book...made an attempt during junior high and got through a third of it and never returned. It's a book that I do eventually want to get around reading.

 

[The Borg Queen]

What's it about? Are there pictures?

 

[Bloodwhiner]

I made it a third of the way. I enjoyed it but grew frustrated trying to keep the names straight.

I will say it was better than Don Quixote.

 

[Holdfast]

Who else has read this? (or tried to read it?)

Like most, probably, I've dipped in and out of it at times, but never had the inclination/patience to read through it all. A friend of mine insists I should read it all at some point, and I probably will... but not right now...

 

[cardinal biggles]

I made it a third of the way. I enjoyed it but grew frustrated trying to keep the names straight.

That's been my experience the few times Russian lit was foisted upon me by teachers and professors. Probably also one of the reasons War and Peace has been pretty far down on my "must-read" list. I remember having to keep a running sheet of everybody's names and nicknames in Crime and Punishment to try and keep them all straight. I realized by the end that there were one-third less characters than I originally thought.

 

[DevilEyes]

What's it about? Are there pictures?

It's about a teenage girl with a crush on an older guy, and a fat, bespectacled, socially awkward nerd who doesn't know how to act with women.

Oh, and there's also some war. And Napoleon's in it.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I made it a third of the way. I enjoyed it but grew frustrated trying to keep the names straight.

Honestly wasn't a big problem for me; most of them are fairly logically derived and similar in spelling (Sofya/Sonya/Sophie, Marya/Marie, Natasha/Natalia/Natalie).

 

[Shurik]

I tried to read it and got bored pretty fast. I also tried to read Anna Karenina (actually had to in high-school) and couldn't get past the first 100 pages, it's basically an 800+ pages-long soap opera.

Not my cup of tea, I guess. Out of the classical Russian writers I prefer Pushkin and Gogol.

 

[auntiehill]

I had to read it in college, and once I learned how to gloss over the battle scenes, I found it moved a bit quicker.

Actually, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I found Andre to be a fascinating character--more so than Pierre--and really teared up at the death scene.

Interesting topic---as I just got back from seeing "The Last Station," a very different look at the life of Tolstoy.

 

[Bloodwhiner]

I found Andre to be a fascinating character--more so than Pierre--and really teared up at the death scene.

HEY - how about a spoiler warning!!!

 

[auntiehill]

^ I KNEW someone was going to say that.

Every time someone mentions War and Peace, I think of that old Woody Allen joke:

Him: I took the Evelyn Wood speed reading course and read War and Peace in a day!

Her: Really? What's it about?

Him: Um....Russia.

 

[1001001]

Did you know that Tolstoy's original title for this book was "War: What is it Good For"?

 

[CaptainCanada]

Interesting topic---as I just got back from seeing "The Last Station," a very different look at the life of Tolstoy.

Heh, it's actually that film that gave me the impetus to read it, roundaboutly. I was interested in seeing the film, so I read the novel it was based on back in December, and decided it was time to finally try and read one of his books.

The movie also totally spoiled the end of Anna Karenina.

 

[The Borg Queen]

Did you know that Tolstoy's original title for this book was "War: What is it Good For"?

Hmm... I don't know.

 

[1001001]

Did you know that Tolstoy's original title for this book was "War: What is it Good For"?

Hmm... I don't know.

If you watched Seinfeld, you would....

 

[Nardpuncher]

I have a paperback edition I want to start soon, and it's cute because this edition makes it look like there's Scotch tape holding it together at the edges. It's the Signet edition I believe. Itried a google search bu t it's really hard to make out. Cute.

I read The Brothers Karamazov and would say that it was easier to read than I'd been led to believe (maybe it was Ben on Lost) and you need to rememebr near the start the different versions a name can have, like Dmitri becoming Mitya and so forth.