Rating: 
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:
Summary: Great story, odd philosophy
Review: A wonderfully intricate story by an unbelievable tale spinner. The war is Napoleon's invasion of Russia, a complete fiasco because Napoleon failed to make provision for the Russian winter and the absence of food for his invading army. It's a long but generally quick read, sometimes as hot and scandalous as the gossip on TV. The strength of the book is in the characters. There are five Russian families to follow - the fabulously wealthy Bezukhovs, the slimy Kuragins, the cerebral Bolkonskys, the spirited Rostovs, and the crafty Drubetskoys. There are few characters in literature as memorable and adorable as Natasha Rostova, as a child and as an adult. Don't be intimidated by the size of the book. This isn't Proust or Joyce. It's not that difficult. And it's a really good story. It's not perfect. Tolstoy throws some rather crackpot ideas in. He believes that Napoleon and other historical figures (we can assume Hitler and Stalin would fit his criteria) have no influence on history - they are simply pawns in the game of fate. Why not just say that everything that you and everyone else has ever done and ever will do is nothing but preordained fate, having nothing to do with you, beyond your control or influence. Tolstoy is a much better storyteller than he is a philosopher. The only way to make any sense of his philosophy is to take it in small doses and just admit that world leaders wouldn't have risen to power unless they met the perceived needs of some of the people they governed.
Rating:
Summary: It is worth the time you put in.
Review: War and Peace, one of the most intimidating books ever, the tears of sorrow and happiness that I have shed over this book, ye gods, have mercy on this child, I read it for Lit class and everyone else wrote a review on the book, I'm going to review the Norton Critical Edition of War and Peace, very insightful information and it is especially for 1st time readers. It helped me out quite a bit, w/out the notes, I couldn't have finished the book, now I'm on to read Faust.
Rating:
Summary: Life.
Review: Over the 4-week period it took me to read "War and Peace", I was asked several times by friends and co-workers who saw me with the book why it was so long. At first, I really didn't have a good answer although I felt I knew why. Having finished it, I would tell them that its length is due to its being a very thorough novel covering almost every aspect of life in general. This could be said about several books obviously, but in "War and Peace", Tolstoy covers human life more thoroughly than, although maybe not as well as, any other book I've encountered. "War and Peace" lets us follow along in the daily lives of several land-owning class characters from early 19th Century Russia. The Bolkonsky and Rostov families comprise most of these figures, but their friends and acquaintances take up nearly as much of the focus of Tolstoy's classic novel. These characters cover a wide range of personalities from the devoutly religious Maria Bolkonsky and her close and conflicted friend Natasha Rostov to the independent Pierre Bezuhov and his miserable wife Helene Kuragin. Tolstoy is able to go in and out of his creations' lives with simplicity and without exaggeration, whether its in relating the most common moments of their daily lives or the climaxes of their earthly existences. The range of emotions, feelings, and actions that Tolstoy is able to relate is easily done through his genius in setting the story in the midst of Russia's War of 1812 (the history of which he knew very well), one of the worst in its long history. It's through such a life-shattering event that people can be seen everywhere from their best to their very worst, and Tolstoy, through a compelling story line and the novel's famous length, displays the entire spectrum. I still love Dostoevsky's writing more, mostly because of the difference in the conclusions his characters come to in their cathartic moments, but "War and Peace" gave me a much greater respect for Tolstoy than I had previously held (having read Anna Karenina, among others). I definitely recommend taking the time to read this classic.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the time spent...
Review: War and Peace is a complex story with revolves around the lives of three affluent families, the Bezuhov's, the Rostovs and Bolkonsky's, over a period of fifteen years. This book takes place during Russia's struggle against Napoleonic Europe, describing Russia's early defeats and then recounting how Napoleon fled Moscow in a weakened condition. The book begins with Pierre coming into his eventual title of Count Bezuhov, along with the enormous wealth accompanying it. Pierre is the pretty much the primary character in the book, and his path into his marriage of the young Helene is explored as well as his eventually affections for the young Natasha Rostov. War and Peace also explores Pierre's search for religion, his falling out with Christian beliefs and his joining of the Freemason's Order. Tolstoy's uses of description in the battles make the scenes come to life for the reader and portray a genuine picture of warfare during the Napoleonic Wars. The descriptions of Prince Andrei's exploits in battle are extraordinarily rich with details and in giving equal time to the description of the common soldier. Tolstoy's basic analysis of humanity is that instead of great leaders such as Napoleon and Czar Alexander being held responsible for the great occurrences of the time, it was instead the result of a million individual decisions from the common people participating. The reader takes away from this book an understanding of free will versus destiny and the way they shape our lives and the paths we take.
Rating:
Summary: 19th century soap opera
Review: To fully appreciate this novel, you need to read the unabridged version, not Cliff Notes or some other shortcut used by students. You need to set aside a significant period of time for this (when I first read the novel 40 years ago, I used a week long break between school terms). The story is about a Russian nobel family and their friends and associates over an extended period of time. Young children grow up, get married, have children, and take over the family estates. It is set during (and after) the Napoleonic Wars, the setting being in Russia (to a very large extent in Moscow, but some on country estates). Tolstoy was a member of the nobility and, by standards of the day, could have been considered a social reformer trying to improve the lot of the peasants. You will usually find a character in his novels that reflects his own attitudes (but not the principal character). He wrote and published novels in installments. To produce this properly in a film media would require making a lengthy TV series, somewhat like "Upstairs, Downstairs." I am surprised that has not been done. The novel covers the rise and fall of the fortunes of the family and the people around them. The family's fortunes are shattered by a variety of circumstances including bad management of money and the French invasion. Partly the head of the family puts the welfare of others ahead of his own family. When the French are at the gates of Moscow, and they have wagons to save their belongings, they leave their own possessions behind in order to use the wagons to rescue wounded Russian soldiers. Eventually, the next generation is left with the task of salvaging what remains and restoring the family fortunes.
Rating: 
Summary: My opinion
Review: War and Peace is a wonderful story about the war and the lives of the people it affected. I thought it was a very exciting story. Everything was described extremely well and efficent. What I thought was missing in the story though was the effect the war had on the poorer people. The story was only told from the view of the richer people. How hard it was for them and how much they lost, well, imagine how hard it was for people who didn't have much to lose. In my opinion you can't say War and Peace is the nations story unless you tell both sides of the story. But otherwise it's a fantastic story that I don't regret reading. :)
Rating: 
Summary: There's no such thing as a great novel
Review: While cultural pundits try to convince you that some literature is better than other literature, the truth is that all art is relative to individial tastes. Thus, it doesn't make any sense to think that a novel like this one is really any better than say, Michael Crichton or Stephen King. Aesthetic standards can't be grounded. Thus, don't listen to anyone who tries to distinguish between "serious" works of literature like this one and allegedly "lesser" novels. The distinction is entirely illusory, because no novels are "better" than any others, and the concept of a "great novel" is an intellectual hoax.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: 'War and Peace' looks formidable when it is sitting on your desk. However, the sheer readibility of this delightful historical novel eclipses the volume of the novel. 'War and Peace' reads almost like a serial publication about the military, provincial, and urban life of Russians on the brink of an epic collision with Napoleon's army and the invasion of Moscow by the French in 1812. The plot does not need rehashing here as I believe that other reviewers have done an excellent job already. I had initially found the opening chapters of War and Peace to be somewhat archaic, particularly the battle of Austerlitz where generals looked on while their soldiers were slaughtered. Military death appeared to be portrayed with a sense of romanticism and heroics. This initial assessment was incorrect. Tolstoy was at the vanguard of modern perceptions about war in the closing chapters. Kutuzov, the Russian counterpart of Napoleon, was the moral centre of this novel: weary of war and with no lofty ambition for glory but rather, the security of his nation, and a man who respects destiny's hand in deciding the outcome of war. Kutuzov to me, was the only main character in the novel who understood chiefly, with compassion, the vileness of war but also its necessity. He was the cusp between the two central theme in the novel - war is needed to achieve peace but the cost is often diminished by the ambition of glory, medals, and renown. Tolstoy's keen assessment of humanity, the minute mannerisms that gives away a person true intentions, and the incongruous but enlightening details that are peppered throughout the novel marks him as an astute and articulate writer. Although Tolstoy set out to write a fictional novel set within a historical context, what struck me most about War and Peace was the philosophical examination of what it means to be a good person (Pierre's quest), to love life as well as another person with the greatest depth (Prince Andrei, Princess Maria, and Natasha's journey), and the true mechanism that drives war and history (Kutuzov's battle with Napolean). I don't feel that my review does War and Peace justice. It is an epic novel that is surprisingly intimate and empathic because of the way that Tolstoy characterizes the ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. I apologize that I may not have covered some of the important themes in the novel as I'm not particularly sophisticated in literature. I found War and Peace entertaining as well as enlightening and hope that potential readers will overcome their initial aversion due to the size of the novel and embark on this journey.
Rating:
Summary: Essential reading
Review: War and Peace is the master of all Russian novels, read by every Russian high school student. Recreating the life and times of the Russian aristocracy (and to a more limited extent, the peasantry) of the early 19th century, it's not only a portrait of individuals living through times of war and peace, but an overview of Russian life and culture and a portrait of humanity.
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