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War and Peace Vol I

War and Peace Vol I

List Price: $99.95
Your Price: $99.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply the best
Review: This book is so trancendent, sublime, and all encompassing. Words are not enough. No novel is more thought provoking or rewarding. I'm sure some are of equal merit, but none surpass it. I would recommend the Maude translation. The Maudes actually lived with Tolstoy for a while. He personally approved of their translations. Also, if you like this book, check out Alessandro Manzoni's The Betrothed(I Promessi Esposi). Its historical and spiritual value are in some ways better than tolstoy's. The Betrothed is the Italian War and Peace.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing Classic
Review: Plot and history intertwined. It's long but fascinating. I read it for a class, and I could read the basics, then go back and enjoy it all. Everyone should read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "the Iliad of Russia....."
Review: ....as someone dubbed it (Trotsky?), although with exquisitely human characters rather than archetypal gods and heroes. The film GETTYSBURG comes to mind, but stripped of all the "why we fight" rahrah.

Those who read history know that by the early 1800s, Napoleon had captured most of Europe. Only the discipline and seamanship of the Royal Navy had kept him from swallowing all of it. In his grandiosity he lined up his next target, fabled Moscow, sent in the army, burned the city; but Russia was the rock upon which his Grand Armee shattered. By the time it ran back to France, most of its vitality lay dying in the Russian winter. That's the historical context of the novel.

For me the start was a slow read--all those balls and drawing rooms and Russian high society--but only until realizing that Tolstoy was setting the stage, introducing key characters, and making an ironic contrast between the insulated world of the nobility and the blood and death that would soon pierce it.

What stood out most for me: people and events. What a gallery of people: the parasitic Anna Mihalovna and her insipid son Boris; the callous Don Juanism of Anatole; his psychopathic friend Dolohov; Sonya, clever but faded; the unstoppable Denisov, the Wobin Hood of Wussia ("Weload!"); Prince Andrei, fated for a moment of battlefield transcendence in which even Napoleon seems paltry and limited; girlish Natasha; and Pierre, living proof of William Blake's dictum that excess can lead to wisdom.

In charge of the Russian army: Field Marshal Kutuzov, as weary and patient as the ground he defended. The clever and enduring peasant Karatayev might serve as his spiritual counterpart, the first an exemplar of the Russian heart, the second a bearer of its soul.

The ball where the nobility dance as Napoleon quietly crosses the border; the burning of Moscow; and the terrible carnage as Prince Andrei's men are knocked to pieces one by one in a fog torn by incoming artillery fire: just three of many poignant, wracking, and unforgettable events in this vast tapestry whose human threads weave their way in and out of what for us is history.

A few critiques:

My edition of this translation could stand updating. I don't read Russian, but I can't visualize Russians using words like "fiddlesticks," "blackguard," or "at sixes and sevens."

The book's most obvious artistic flaw is all the pages it devotes to the grinding of Tolstoy's history ax. At least he put most of it in the Epilogue. An aspect of his view has been called Tolstoy's fatalism: wars and other big events don't happen because of heroes or geniuses or bad guys, but because power relations within and between societies make them inevitable. Napoleon no more "chose" to attack Moscow with insufficient supplies than Kutuzov "chose" to hold his ground at Borodino. Even so, such determinism, "Russian fatalism," or whatever the reader chooses to call it also serves to polish and brighten the flaws, foibles, choices, and losses of the richly drawn characters, whose strivings are ennobled and illuminated by the darkness of the social forces gripping them.

What stands forth clearly in his epic is that the forces of life shine on another scale of magnitude altogether and are, in the end, as proof against final eclipse as the Russian soil in which this masterpiece germinated.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One More Time.....
Review: After reading such a huge book, it's tempting to congratulate oneself and then accord it the status of a great piece of literature (perhaps the argument running that it must have been great to hold one's attention for so long). I suppose that others could find its length daunting or its pace too slow, such that they don't see the point of wasting the time it inevitably demands.

So, how to assess "War and Peace"? I've read it three times now, albeit I've left a number of years between each reading. I found that re-reading is almost a new experience: that is to say, so vast is its scale, that there is always something new to discover or reflect upon, something missed or unappreciated before. Perhaps this is partly the result of the passing years causing one's perception both as a human and a reader to change. But there had to be sufficient "raw material" in the novel to provoke such reactions, a tribute to Tolstoy's skill.

This time, I was struck by Tolstoy's ability to describe three-dimensional characters, and to develop them - none are really static, each is a mixture of emotions and attitudes, each are imperfect, make mistakes and grow emotionally. Even the worst of them have some redeeming features. Tolstoy's eye was sharp: Bitsky was "one of those men who select their opinions like their clothes, according to the prevailing fashion"; Berg "measured his life not by years but by promotions". Bitsky and Berg are still around! Tolstoy holds up a mirror to human traits and gives the reader the chance to reflect.

Unfortunately, there are newly-observed faults in the book. The end is a real anticlimax. And as the novel progressed, in one sense it became less of a novel and more Tolstoy's critique of contemporary historical analysis (and a repetitive critique at that, ending in a forty page treatise). I'd got the message earlier on and didn't need it hammering into me.

A great work, yes, but with its faults, and one to enjoy time and time again.

G Rodgers

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Epic is Too Small a Word
Review: War and Peace is the best book that I have ever read. Even though I am in eighth grade, I would not read this book just so I could say that I read War and Peace. Truly, Tolstoy writes a classic story of contrasting themes, and develops the storyline into an epic that cannot be forgotten.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well worth the time it took to read it.
Review: "Nobody gets through 'War and Peace'". I heard it many times before I decided to tackle it. At first, I decided that I would read it cover-to-cover just so I could say I did it, regardless of whether I liked it. When I finally put it down, I realized that it was the best novel I ever read. Stunning visual descriptions, thrilling battles, family and political intrigue, and characters that you begin to care about so much that they become a part of you. Who wasn't moved when Pierre finally took Natasha's hand in marriage, or didn't feel heartache as the fortunes of the Rostov family fell so far from their former heights? It's a beautiful story, from beginning to end.

My only real gripe has to do with the interspersed pieces of philosophy from Tolstoy himself. As a student of history, I found them interesting, but I think they would have made a better appendix. They show up at very inopportune moments and can throw you off track. Nevertheless, I didn't let their presence spoil my enjoyment.

Bottom line: Don't be intimidated by this book's length. Take your time with it. You will be rewarded.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: There is a reason why this book is a classic
Review: War and Peace is not for the faint of heart. To tackle War and Peace, one must have the resolve to do so. I have had War and Peace for quite some time but only recently had I built up enough resolve to plunge into the imposing tome. I'm glad I did.

War and Peace starts with a story. The story is of certain families (The Rostovs, The Bolkonskys, and The Bezuhovs) and the historical ack drop of those stories is the Napoleonic Wars. The climax of the story occurs with the "War of 1812."

The story is compelling because Tolstoy holds nothing back and bears all for the sake of story. Characterization is nothing short of amazing with Tolstoy's words conjuring up vivid images for the reader. Character development is also superlative and it is as if the reader grows and lives along with the main characters. Tolstoy also does not hold back from fully developing "minor" characters (if there is such a thing as a a minor character in this epic).

Many reviewers have commented on the presence of Tolstoy's exposition of his historiographical views so perhaps a few words would be useful here. The book begins with story intermixed with views on history and the theory of history. The book ends with Tolstoy's theory of history intermixed with a bit of story. Why all the history?

1.) Tolstoy was writing a "history of sorts." Tolstoy took exception to the methods of history that focused on deeds of one man (Napoleon for instance). Those histories did not tell the real story. With that said, Tolstoy's work of "fiction" would be at least adequate and if not superior to the history of his day.

2.) Tolstoy's view of history is advanced by the story. In addition, he uses the story to further expound his views on history. The story serves as a kind of parable or fable in that it seeks to present and explain a certain truth (in this case, Tolstoy's view of history) in a more accessible form.

This book is a marvel. Though not easy, the characters are compelling, the chapters are manageable and the story is breathtaking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A perfectly isosceles novel
Review: Through Tolstoy's mastery of device, confutation, and liminality, we are graced in this age with easily available wisdom from a great sage of the "Pleh" era. By weaving alternate strands of recontextualized violence and thoroughgoing renascence, the author has brought before us in a new, brilliant manner the age-old conflict between X and Y, or, as Turgenev once put it, between cat, dog, and lamppost.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Surprised--Very good!
Review: I checked War and Peace out from my school library (I'm a 7th grader--yes, that's what I said) because I wanted to be able to say that I had read War and Peace. Then once I got into it, I really started enjoying it. I'm not finished with the book yet, but so far it is very good. The descriptions in it are wonderful, and the plot is very interesting. A slight word of warning, though. Many people have the same first name, and similar names. The names are also Russian (obviously) , which makes them a bit harder to remember. They may be confusing at first (they were for me) but after a while you can distinguish the characters. Don't be put off by the title, because this is not just some philosophical novel that talks about the human race and all that. This is a very well-written action/adventure novel (even though it was written in the 1880s) that has an exciting plot. Don't be daunted by the 1386 pages, either. They go by very quickly. (Another reason to read this book. If you really want to impress someone, just carry this book with you. That's not the only reason to buy it, but it works!! :) ) This book made me INCREDIBLY glad that I don't live in Russia in the 1800s. Overall, I'd say that this is a very good book, despite a few rather daunting aspects of it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A book full of life
Review: This novel covers fifteen years in the lives of several noble families from early XIX-century Russia, at the time of the Napoleonic wars. More than having a plot, it is a vivid depiction of life in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, as well as in the different theaters of war. First we are introduced to the families and their daily lives, but very soon some of the young members have to go to war, and that has a definitive inlfuence on the developments that follow. Summarizing the book is hard to do in a short space, since it is precisely its huge epic scope which constitutes its main charm. Beyond few and scattered comments by Tolstoy on his view of history, illustrating but not very useful, since he has a determinstic approach, the book is pure action, in a cinematographic way. The book is long, but every chapter is very brief, and you change scenes frequently as you read it. It is by no means a hard read, especially after you learn to discriminate between important and less-important characters. Some reviewers have complained that characetrs go in and out of the story without much explanation, but I think that is one of its main strengths: in our lives, people enter and leave the scene and we don't always know where they come from or what becomes of them after they leave our lives.

The literary aspect itself is of the highest quality: even in translation, you can see that Tolstoy was a master of the written word. The characters are fully rounded, complete personalitites, at least the most important ones. None of them is entirely good or bad, likable or unlikable. Like all of us, they have their moments. Tha main ones are: Natasha Rostov, a lovely yet troubled woman, who goes through a lot of changes in her life. Sometimes she is a young beauty, full of life and splendor. Then she is a total fool, then a sad woman and in the end... well, no spoilers here. Another one is Pierre Besukhoff, a strange man, insecure and intelligent, who also goes through many adventures and misadventures. Andrei Bolkonsky and his family are antoher point of focus. If character development is the mark of great writing, then this is one of the best books you can read.

Tosltoy alternates between war and peace to show us the many different faces of life, and he does so with masterful skills. There are many hilarious moments, but also many tragic, sad and gloomy ones. Favorite scenes that come to my mind are, among many others: the Rostov kids' Chrsitmas holiday celebration in their rural estate, driving in their carriages on the snow, having fun and feeling love; Pierre's experiences in the frontline; the public execution outside the Kremlin, etc.

Certainly one of the highest points in world literature, it is a very entertaining novel full of life.


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