Rating: 
Summary: Simply one of the best books ever written
Review: I first tried to read War and Peace in High School. A teacher, who had carried the book all through the Pacific campaign in WWII recommended it as a book that had changed his life. I tried three times and couldn't get past a few hundred pages because of the numerous characters - each with multiple names. The fourth time I stuck with it and was rewarded with a reading experience that has seldom been equaled. Since that time I have reread the book every two or three years, so I must have been through it 15 or more times, and each time I find things I haven't noticed before.This is such a grand book in terms of number of characters in all levels of Russian society, historical scope, period detail, philosophical implications, romance, drama, tragedy, action etc, etc, etc. There is just no way to enumerate all that is appealing about Tolstoy's masterpiece. The main characters are as humanly complex and interesting as real people. I feel that I know them like friends. The plot(s) are involving and get more tight and interconnected as the book progresses, so that there is a great satisfaction as various threads come together, and never with the jarring coincidences that propel a typical Dickins novel. If I had to pick only one novel that I would ever be able to read again, it would have to be War and Peace. There is so much of interest going on in this book that it would be hard to wear it out in a lifetime.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, if the translation is good
Review: There are a couple of things to watch out for here. 1. Make sure you are reading a really good translation of an unabridged version of the novel. This can make the difference between loving a sweeping epic, and feeling like you're trudging through a long soap-opera. 2. (I may alienate some teachers with this) BUY THE CLIFF NOTES for this one! This is the only book where some form of notes are needed to keep track of characters' names and relationships - and Russian history, if you're not familiar with the time period. Having said all that, I really enjoyed this book. I read some portions in Russian and read the Norton Critical edition translation in English ( a wonderful translation that appears to be out of print? ). I still think the imagery is amazing. I'm convinced I've been on a fox hunt, attended the Bolshoi in the 1800's, and have ridden in a troika - though I haven't. This is the power of Tolstoy's writing. The book can be read on several levels, all entertaining and thought-provoking. If you are young, read it like you would a good Jane Austin novel, concentrating on the people and the relationships. If you know some Russian History, read it for the comments it makes about the out-of-touch-with-reality, French-speaking aristocracy and the reality of war with France, as well as the characters. (The characters are Russian architypes, and therefore of interest to me, as a student of Russian History.) If you're into philosophy, politics, religion, whatever, you'll find something here to stimulate you. Tolstoy was pretty extreme on some of these topics, and it starts to show in this novel. (Reading about Tolstoy can be helpful to understanding the book as well.) The book probably deserves multiple readings, even though I know how overwhelming that sounds. (I'm a slow reader, myself!). Definitely deserves to be called a classic. I highly recommend it, even if you don't make it through the whole book. Read as much of it as you can.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever read.
Review: I first read War and Peace when I was 13 years old and I loved it from the start. I went back and read it 2 more times after that and I am still only 19. In my opinion War and Peace is the best novel ever written. It is like a world in itself, with all the types of people that you would meet in real time, all of them growing and developing as people according to the sircumstances that surround their lives. That is why I do not understand it when people say that it is difficult to keep track of all of the characters -- brings up the question -- how do you keep track of the people in your life? with a scorecard? Not only that but I think that Tolstoy was right, at least in the idea that no great general can win or lose a war by himself. The wars are won by people, their courage, their sacrifices, and their determination. So, in effect what makes this the greates novel ever written, or at least one of them is not only the fact about how it was written and about how long it took to write it, but also the fact that War and Peace basically describes and somewhat summarizes how we, as people grow and turn into who we are according to the challenges and people we meet in our daily lives.
Rating: 
Summary: Undoubtedly a classic, but a few flaws
Review: If you like epic sweep, you will not be disappointed, but bear these things in mind: 1. The romantic resolutions are too tidy to be satisfactory. 2. The social jostling among minor players of the upper class is not an original theme and has been dealt with much more creatively by other authors. 3. Tolstoy sometimes gets bogged down with his theory of history, and the second epilogue is truly a snore.
Rating:
Summary: A brief defense
Review: I happen to be at work right now, on my lunch hour and passing its few remaining moments by reading the customer reviews of my favorite books. As "War and Peace" is considered by many world-wide to be one of the greatest if not THE greatest novel ever written, any defense I might offer against those customers writing 1-star reviews would be purely inconsequential. One such reviewer's reasoning was that 'thousands of hours' were spent in reading. Personally, if I were capable of reading or comprehending no more than one page per hour, as is the self-confessed case with this reviewer, I would find it very difficult indeed to justify my criticism towards such a highly regarded work. Another reviewer's reasoning was that when one reads a novel, one must stop living in order to do so. This reviewer does not make clear what exactly 'living' is, but I myself consider such novels to be a 'life investment,' enriching the ways we DO live. I recommend the book to anyone and everyone - read it for yourself and see what the fuss is all about.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible
Review: You will need a scorecard to keep track of the characters in this one. There must be hundreds, if not thousands. None of them were interesting enough to bother with and I quit the book after three hundred pages of being bored out of my mind. Every few pages, I had to try to remember which character was which as there were so many and many of them were indistinguishable from each other. Tolstoy writes pretty flat prose. It never soars or goes anywhere. He just describes and reports, as boringly as possible. This type of literature is not going to hold an audience anymore. So many people have the opportunity to live interesting lives nowadays why would they stop to read a novel of this length about a bunch of fictional charaters when they could be spending the time actually LIVING their own lives? It was a real drag.
Rating:
Summary: It IS long, but well worth it.
Review: Being one of the longest books I have ever read, this is also one of the best. Tolstoy's characterization is very good. His usage of alternating chapters of war and peace was very effective in making each seem the polar opposite of the other. Of course, he also ties things together that show how each front affects the other. If you have the time and patience and a love for classical literature, this book is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most stunning inventions of the human mind
Review: wow Where does one start with War and Peace? I suppose with Pierre, the Everyman of the book, the man eternally questing for TRUTH, who ultimately finds that most truths are not so hidden and mystical after all. Or maybe with Natasha, so determined to grapple the world, so determined to have th world fall in love with her and her with it, only to find bitterness and betrayl. Or maybe with the whole Rustov family, or the Kuragins, or Prince Andre or... The cast seems endless, but think of all the people you deal with in your life and you will find that there is something familiar to this blend. There are few true villains in this book, just as there are few in the world; equally finding a true hero is difficult. Instead each person tries to do well at times, tries to protect themselves and those they love at others. Some are short-sighted. Some care too passionately for ideals and not enough for what is close at hand. some see only chances for personal gain. People talk about how long this book is. Remember -- Tolkein's _The Lord of the Rings_ is longer and the names are more alien. War and Peace is huge, breathtaking, and one of the greatest proofs of the possibilty within each of us. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book*~*~!
Review: This is my favorite book. It really interests you. It is very sympathetic. You almost feel like crying. When I read this book I thought my dad wa lying when he said that it was one of the greatest books ver written. But like always he was write and I bought the book the next day. It is the best. Tolsoy is a great novelist!*~!*~
Rating:
Summary: This book deserves no rating
Review: I first read War & Peace at 17, and have read it cover to cover three times since. I would not be exaggerating when I say that I have read the ballroom scene where Prince Andrei met and danced with Natasha over 500 times; the window scene where he happened to eavesdrop on her conversation with Sonya about 300 times; Andrei's ruminations while passing the aged oak over 200 times, and his proposal to Natasha over 100 times. Why this endless fascination? Simple - Andrei & Natasha ar real people to me (more real than some flesh and blood people I know). I've come back to the book again and again simply because I love them, and want to experience with them the joys, the fears, the ecstasy, the doubts, the uncertainties, and the hundred other emotions that assail the captivated heart. For me, the rest of the book is just a frame. Natasha and Andrei's relationship is the picture that I will admire for the rest of my life.
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