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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: Long but oh so good
Review: As I read this book I kept thinking of Bilbo's line in The Lord of the Rings. "The Road goes ever on and on" To change the line slightly, This book goes ever on and on but is it ever worth it. War and Peace is one of those novels that makes you say, they don't write 'em like this anymore. Anyone's who's read this novel knows just how breathatking it is. From it's amazing human drama to it's awesome battle scenes this book has it all. At times Tolstoy gets a little deep into the history but I didn't mind at all. This book is incredible and is one that any fan of literature should have on thier shelf.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best Stories ever written
Review: I couldn't believe how absorbed I got in this story. I would start reading and I wouldn't be able to stop for at least 2 or 3 hours. In my opinion this is one of the most well written books I have ever opened. As a matter of fact I can't think of any other book I enjoyed more than this one. Whats interesting about it I think, is that the length of the book is one of its greatest VIRTUES not drawbacks. The story wouldn't have been near as interesting if it was shorter. I feel the sign of a great writter is that they can keep you interested for a long period of time and not make you feel uncomfortable with the length. Also the characters never really grow old, I was always interested in coming back to characters and finding out what was happening to them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Talisman of all the Classics
Review: I've read a great number of books, everything from modern techno-thrillers to satire, allegorical works to adventure stories. But my favorite category is undisputably the Classics. And of all the Classics "War and Peace" is hands down not only my favorite, but undoubtedly the best book ever written.

The book covers the grand Napoleonic Wars between Russia and France in the years 1805-1814 and introduces how this effects several notable familes in Russian society, namely the Bezukhovs, Rostovs, Bolkonskys and Kuragins. Each family seems to have it's own unique characteristics. For instance the Rostov family is simply put the nicest collection of persons in the book. One cannot help but like all of them. The Kuragins are more or less the moral villains of the book, and as a direct counter to the Rostovs amiablity, they are corrupt and depraved people, the kind of people you'd like to meet someplace remote with a bludgeon in your hand.

Of these families, the three main characters of the book are Count Pierre Bezukhov, a kind-hearted philosophical type of guy who spends much of the book trying to find the meaning of life. He finds it ultimately in his eventual falling in love with Natasha Rostov, who is the heroine of the story, a vivacious and beautiful young lady who's presence at almost any place in the book exudes joy and happiness. The melancholy Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is the third hero of the story, a man who is cynical of all that life offers, questioning everything, until he too meets Natasha.

The book abounds in love triangles, and the above is unarguably the most central one of the book. Intrigue and despair run rampant, right alongside joy and celebration of the finer things of humanity. To say this book is a Classic "soap opera" though would be to malign it, because for a great part of it you'll read about the military campaigns employed by Napoleon and his Russian counterpart, Emperor Aleksandr, as they spar each other for control of key parts of Europe.

Tolstoy writes so well, so compellingly clear that you will almost be able to smell the gunpowder during battle, feel the earth shake from the cavalry charges, and feel the inherent panic as mobs of Russian soldiers flee from the disasterous battle of Austerlitz.

And interspersed throughout the political turmoil and shadows of war the main characters trudge, thier lives amazingly intermingled like a spiders' web. Never before in a book, of the hundreds I've read, have I ever connected with characters like I have in "War and Peace". I've talked to others who have read this book and have noticed that they too have had the same feelings, that characters just jump out of the book at them. The individuals are so deep and well-written that they become real to you, or remind you of people you know, or maybe even of yourself. You become so engrossed in this epic that despite it's 1500 page length you don't want it to end!

Trust me and try it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great, and yet....
Review: It's 10 o'clock and I have just finished the tome that all Lit buffs fear with a terror unknown by any other group. Coming out of this Herculean task, I can't say that I'm not a slightly disappointed, but I also can't say that I didn't just read one of the greatest novels ever put to page. No one before or after Tolstoy has written something with the sheer scope of War and Peace. Five families, more characters then you can keep track off and a country torn and shaped by War populate this novel that transcends the novel. If you venture to read this tome, you'll be giving a part of yourself over to the characters of it. You'll feel passionate love and pure hatred, loathe some actions, and admire others, you'll think (man will you think...), you'll feel, you'll be emersed into a world that we do not know anymore. You'll desperetley want to learn Russian.

That said...even Tolstoy is not perfect. As many others reviewers have stated, War and Peace is spliced with many chapters that are there to spell out Tolstoy's theory of history. While they are interesting, and even insightful in some points, they simply do not fit in with the story. You'll be dying to know what happens next to the people who have given all your emotions over too, and instead of being treated to more exposition on their life, you instead have to read 30 pages of analysis of Russian battle stratagies in the war of 1812. Interesting, yes, but does it really belong there? Also, Tolstoy does not, I feel, successfully rap up the story lines of some of the more minor characters. Boris, for instance, is quickly shuttled out of the picture two thirds of the way through the book. Sonya's character doesn't get the time that her story deserves. All in all, it is an amazing read that you will never forget...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Deserving of its reputation, it's brilliant in all ways. The greatest novel I've ever read and surely ever will read. The war scenes and the high society scenes and the characters and the relationships are all drawn perfectly, with the irresistably charming character of Natasha as a high point among many high points. I haven't reread the whole thing, but I have found myself picking up the novel to reread certain scenes. One caveat: I was warned about the swarm of characters that fill the book, so made sure to write down the page on which each character is introduced, so when a character's name came up again, I could refer to my homemade "index" and flip right to that page for a refresher, thus sparing myself flipping around endlessly. I advise you do the same.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Deserving of its reputation, it's brilliant in all ways. The war scenes and the high society scenes and the characters and the relationships are all drawn perfectly, with the irresistibly charming character of Natasha as a high point among many high points. I haven't reread the whole thing, but I have found myself picking up the novel to reread certain scenes. One caveat: I was warned about the swarm of characters that fill the book, so made sure to write down the page on which each character is introduced, so when a character's name came up again, I could refer to my homemade "index" and flip right to that page for a refresher, thus sparing myself flipping around endlessly. I advise you do the same.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It Demands Your Time and Will Command Your Attention
Review: This is a long book. It's also a masterwork of storytelling and immensely enjoyable. The thing is, you've got to be willing and able to give the story time to develop, not allowing the barrage of characters and scenery to discourage you. The story is about Czarist Russia at its height during the Napoleonic Wars, but more specifically about a group of families that live, die, and survive this period of warfare and uncertainty. The characters are rich and complex, but they all display emotions that are accessible to us in contemporary society: love, anger, jealousy, despair, fear, etc. Please do not let the length deter you. It's worth the time and effort:)Break it up into sections of reading at first, because as the first third of story progresses, you will not be able to put it down so easily. You will actually care what happens to these characters that Tolstoy took so long in setting up.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great classic.
Review: Leo Tolstoy's writing is something that cannot compare to the writers in this lifetime. He manages to write a long book such as War and Peace and keep the writing so wonder and clear.

The writing of Russia and war would not have normally kept me reading, but something in this book pulled me into and would not let go. I start to feel like I was right there in Russia with the characters and I was seeing Russia as it was.

Each of the characters was painted a real person with real feelings and each character was writing as that. You get to feel like you felt the hurt when the characters did and you felt the happiness when they did.

This book has been reviewed a lot so I will not go into the story of the book, but I will tell you that this was a such a great book. It took me just under a year to read this, but I am happy to say that I read this book and would recommend it to people who are looking for a book to read that will make you feel emotions.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This book rocks (actually im 15)
Review: Everyone who gave this book less than 4 stars can do so that is all i will permitt anyone to dislike this book. I read this book expecting to be bored out of my mind. well it came as a big suprise to me when halfway through instead of talking on the phone chatting or playing video games i was layed out on the couch totally absorbed in this book. I can't tell you how wonderful this book is please please please go out and read it. it's not even that hard to read im 15 and im reading it of course half the kids in my class probably couldn't get past the third page but thats just cause they are some of the dumbest people alive. its really great plus its written by a Russian guy about Russian people so you know its gotta be good ;).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "The force that moves nations"
Review: To put it in the simplest terms, "War and Peace" chronicles the lives of three Russian families during the Napoleonic wars of 1805 to 1820. While this premise by itself doesn't seem sufficient to justify a 1,500-page novel, Tolstoy manages to assemble a successful set of ingredients: the very character of Napoleon, inarguably one of the most charismatic and intriguing military leaders in history; his campaigns which changed Europe irrevocably; meticulously detailed battle strategies; and the human drama of war, domesticity, and romance.

When the novel begins, Napoleon's visions of a united Europe are gradually becoming a reality. Russia is the final frontier, so to speak, and while the Russians don't want to be annexed by France, they actually consider French a fashionable culture and speak the language frequently on social and formal occasions. The novel covers the two major military campaigns that concern Russia: the battle at Austerlitz in 1805, in which Napoleon's army crushes the Russians and Austrians, and Napoleon's invasion of Moscow in 1812 after the pyrrhic battle at Borodino. The last third of the novel is devoted to masterful descriptions of the panic and chaos that erupt in the streets of Moscow as many citizens flee for their lives, leaving the city ablaze; followed by the French retreat, accelerated by the pursuit of roving bands of Russian guerrillas. Basically, the novel covers the time from the peak of Napoleon's powers to the retreat that signified the beginning of his downfall.

Besides the principals Napoleon and Tsar Alexander of Russia, there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of named characters in the novel, too many for a succinct plot summary. These are primarily members of the three middle to upper class families -- the Rostovs, the Kuragins, and the Bolkonskys -- and their friends and relatives and various soldiers. Tolstoy's purpose is to show their interrelations and how wartime affects and interferes with their lives. The character who receives the most focus is Pierre Bezuhov, the illegitimate son of a count who inherits his father's fortune and marries a beautiful and wealthy Kuragin daughter. His life odyssey -- from a somewhat carefree and irresolute young man to a Freemason convert to a philanthropic landholder to a soldier to a prisoner of war -- seems to represent Tolstoy's idea of the redemption of man through the suffering of the realities of the world.

In the novel, Tolstoy does not withhold his personal opinions on Napoleon and Kutuzov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. He regards Napoleon as an arrogant, dishonorable, and unwarrantedly admired scoundrel, and Kutuzov as an underappreciated hero and symbol of Russian fortitude. He even gives the novel a philosophical spin, musing on the failure of diplomacy and the complexity of the causes of war. However, the narrative is mostly objective, portraying these men as they actually might have acted, and effectively separates story from propaganda.

Despite its daunting length and occasional dips into sentimentality, "War and Peace" is probably the single most important war novel of Western literature; so expansive as to contain a world of concepts, from political showboating to hypocrisy and all the absurdities that the theater of war entails; so comprehensive and definitive, it seems inconceivable for it not to have influenced every war novel that came after it, either directly or indirectly.


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