Whitaker's Reviews > War and Peace
War and Peace
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![1415047](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1410926609p2/1415047.jpg)
When I was growing up, the conventional wisdom was that War and Peace was the sine qua non of difficult books: the scope, the length, OMG the length! Conquering this Everest was The Test of whether you were a Man/Reader.
I have now read it. Thump chest and make Tarzan yell.
Actually, you know chump, big deal. The mountain really wasn't so large after all.
There are love affairs, there is a war, peace eventually returns tothe Shire Russia. Sorry, got confused there for a minute with Lord of the Rings, another 1,000+ page work where there are love affairs, war and an eventual peace. (That's hardly a spoiler by the way. Not unless you've been hiding under a rock and don't know that Napoleon didn't succeed in conquering Russia.) Which is my point: With every half-penny fantasy potboiler these days weighing in at several hundred kilogrammes of war and peace (*cough*Wheel of Time*cough*), how can we still look at a book this size and feel fear? 1,000+ pages? Only? Pshaw! That's nuthin!. Spit out t'baccy chaw.
And yet, the notion still lives on about how HARD War and Peace is. So, if anyone out there still buys into that, is intimidated and deterred by that notion, well, really, don't be (unless, of course, the last thing you read was Green Eggs and Ham).
The thing is, to my surprise, I found it a rollicking good read. There are star-crossed lovers, suicide attempts, heart-rending death bed scenes, and battles aplenty where our heroes get knocked on the head and taken prisoner. Instead of Middle Earth, you get a fantasy-land of wholesome, loving Peasant Russia and you learn how True Self comes from Loving the Russian Soil. Okay, there's also the rather irritating and interminable philosophizing by Tolstoy about History and Its Causes, but you got through the interminable side songs in Lord of Rings didn't you?
In case any of you are thinking that I'm mocking War and Peace by this comparison, please note that it's not intended to be (wholly) facetious. I loved Lord of the Rings. If anything I'm mocking the awe with which we approach "Great Works". So, yeah, if you ever thought of reading War and Peace but were put off by its reputation, don't be. It's actually quite fun.
I have now read it. Thump chest and make Tarzan yell.
Actually, you know chump, big deal. The mountain really wasn't so large after all.
There are love affairs, there is a war, peace eventually returns to
And yet, the notion still lives on about how HARD War and Peace is. So, if anyone out there still buys into that, is intimidated and deterred by that notion, well, really, don't be (unless, of course, the last thing you read was Green Eggs and Ham).
The thing is, to my surprise, I found it a rollicking good read. There are star-crossed lovers, suicide attempts, heart-rending death bed scenes, and battles aplenty where our heroes get knocked on the head and taken prisoner. Instead of Middle Earth, you get a fantasy-land of wholesome, loving Peasant Russia and you learn how True Self comes from Loving the Russian Soil. Okay, there's also the rather irritating and interminable philosophizing by Tolstoy about History and Its Causes, but you got through the interminable side songs in Lord of Rings didn't you?
In case any of you are thinking that I'm mocking War and Peace by this comparison, please note that it's not intended to be (wholly) facetious. I loved Lord of the Rings. If anything I'm mocking the awe with which we approach "Great Works". So, yeah, if you ever thought of reading War and Peace but were put off by its reputation, don't be. It's actually quite fun.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
July 20, 2009
– Shelved
July 20, 2009
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Finished Reading
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![Down arrow](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/down_arrow-1e1fa5642066c151f5e0136233fce98a.gif)
![Lori](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1357149372p1/744602.jpg)
But the point is that Whitaker got it completely right, which I've been trying to tell everyone who is intimidated. There's some imagery that's stuck with me from my very first reading: the upper lip of the little princess, goofy Pierre's experience on top of that hill during the war. Read it! It'll fly by.
![Chloe](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1580564408p1/70078.jpg)
![Lori](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1357149372p1/744602.jpg)
Say, were you disappointed in how changed Natasha was in the epilogue? I had different experiences the 2 times I read it, but I won't say until maybe someone else comments. Oh and I always felt sorry for Sonia.
![Robert](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1606834944p1/1433865.jpg)
From the film I developed enormous respect for the Russian military commander!
Well, there's a copy on my shelf - I'll get to it one day.
![Chloe](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1580564408p1/70078.jpg)
![Lori](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1357149372p1/744602.jpg)
And poor Sonia. ALtho why she and Mary were so in love with Nicholas, feh! I was torn, because I wanted Sonia to be finally get her own, and yet I did love Mary so.
![Whitaker](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1410926609p1/1415047.jpg)
That is SUCH a cool thought. I hope it's true!
(Maybe it's the "tol" bit. Ya know, as in TOL-stoy and TOL-kein. Mwa ha ha!)
![Whitaker](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1410926609p1/1415047.jpg)
I think that's such a great point to make. It really does get to the core of life doesn't it, this book?
And yeah, I though Sonya was hard done by too. It just felt unfair.
Robert, you really gotta get round to reading it. Try the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. It's an easier read for modern ears.
Yeah, the Pierre on the hill scene was fantastic. I kept expecting something to happen to him.
![Ian](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1324174664p1/2465351.jpg)
So I loved War and Peace (the movie with Henry Fonda and the awesome Borodino sequence) and I loved Lord of the Rings (the movies with Liv Tyler ... oh yea) but I did not particularly enjoy Lord of the Rings (the books ... please don't hate me for that). So will I like War and Peace (the long and difficult book)?
![Whitaker](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1410926609p1/1415047.jpg)
What's totally true is that you can skip all those bits and you won't be missing any of the story. Presumably it was what the movie was like: the story sans the philosophising.
![Robert](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1606834944p1/1433865.jpg)
![Eh?Eh!](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1370013095p1/137273.jpg)
I saw the last book of the Wheel of Time series in the bookstore last week. Excuse me, the first of the trilogy that will make up the last book. There's an end in sight!
![Brad](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442484575p1/1022982.jpg)
![Shannon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1665017521p1/395599.jpg)
My problem isn't whether or not to read - I do want to - but which edition to read. I have one, and there's another one I want to get that's a more recent translation (that got criticised by the snobs) and they both have gorgeous covers - anyway I don't know which one I should read!
The edition of Anna Karenina that I read, Wordsworth, was a terrible edition, so it's made me wary. Advice?
![Brad](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442484575p1/1022982.jpg)
That's the edition I read of Anna Karenina too, and I hated the book so much I burned it. I wonder if Wordsworth or Tolstoy was to blame.
![Shannon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1665017521p1/395599.jpg)
![Ken](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1227742632p1/721233.jpg)
PS: there are supposed to be shortened versions of these classics, touted to be "half the length, twice the fun" . has anyone seen these editions. (pls no flaming from the purists). Tolstoy was supposed to have hypographia (obsession with writing, a form of writing diarh...)
![Whitaker](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1410926609p1/1415047.jpg)
I loved this review. Thank you. I've had it on my to-read list but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. It's now been promoted.
![Frank](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1292697104p1/4488010.jpg)
For those of you asking about an edition of Anna Karenina, I would suggest the Oxford World's Classics edition, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude.
![Robert](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1606834944p1/1433865.jpg)
![Whitaker](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1410926609p1/1415047.jpg)
Good luck!
![Efath Kaje](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1303130231p1/5136653.jpg)
![Renato](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1524097330p1/29402621.jpg)
![Whitaker](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1410926609p1/1415047.jpg)
Yeah, it has an intimidating reputation, but it's a really engaging novel. :-)
![Robert](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1606834944p1/1433865.jpg)
Yeah, it has an intimidating reputation, but it's a really engaging novel. :-)"
Having read it, I agree whole-heartedly!
![Yelda Basar Moers](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1510766100p1/3687216.jpg)
the ShireRussia. My Russian teacher always claimed that the Russian word for "thick", referring to the size of his books, came from his name, and not the other way around. It's one of those words named after a person, like mesmerize or maudlin. It's possible that my teacher made that up, as he always liked messing with our overly earnest credulity, but I always liked the idea.