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Title: War and Peace (Modern Library Classics) by LEO TOLSTOY, CONSTANCE GARNETT ISBN: 0-375-76064-4 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 09 July, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Novel or Epic?
Comment: Can't afford to travel to Russia to explore historic St.Petersburg, Moscow, and the beautiful rural villages? Then give War and Peace a try. It took me a couple of weeks to read this. I chose to start it in the dead of winter and found that the novel transported me delightfully in time and place from the warmth of my hearthside recliner. I had been reading quite a bit about the Napoloenic era so this novel was a very nice twist in perspective from the French to the Russian. Tolstoy was at his best when writing about war. His writing can be very tragic, but isn't steeped in as much Romanticism as the French writers of the time. I enjoyed reading Tolstoy's fervent religious views. My only complaint is that the book lacked a cohesive plot, protaganist and that the ending was trite.
Don't worry about the length or the huge cast of characters as you read. You will get accustomed to all of the many characters and you will begin to see the book as an old friend waiting to be read daily. The social exploits of the characters are vividly interesting and intriguing. I feel like I have been to Russian drawing rooms, wars and theatre.
Although I prefer War and Peace to Anna Karennina, I would recommend Anna to anyone who wants a bit more philosophy and less history from Tolstoy. It may also behoove the reader to purchase a book or two that explains the historical info regarding Napoleon's march into and out of Russia as a companion to the reading of War and Peace. I used one with biographies of French and Russian generals as well as battle maps and understood the war scenes much clearer.
Rating: 5
Summary: yes its long..
Comment: But every chapter is short. Unlike some "Classics"(ehem Ulysses) which are long on style and short on substance, Tolstoy is ALL substance. This is a very important book that will change your live.
Rating: 5
Summary: The covers of this book are not too far apart!
Comment: It is too bad that so many people are intimidated by the 1500 pages of this book because once you get started, its deterring volume becomes irrelevant. I was immediately drawn into the fast-paced story and to its characters like the dysfunctional Bolkonskys, the oh so wonderful Rostovs (some members of both families were based on real-life Tolstoys) and the confused yet loveable Pierre Bezuhov.
An edition with an index, list of all characters, footnotes and maps would be preferable. I don't know if one exists, but this edition offers no assistance, so you're on your own. I added to my own list of characters as I advanced through the book. The battle descriptions were quite confusing at times, especially since I am not familiar with Russian geography (where exactly do they go when they retreat by way of the Kaluga road?), and I referred to my "Dictionary of Napoleonic Wars" (Pope) for maps and to "The Age of Napoleon" (Herrod) for more information about the individual campaigns. I had the best intentions of dissecting this book but was soon swept away by its compelling story, barely stopping to underline the most brilliant sections before moving on (but not before re-reading out loud my favorite paragraphs to my ever so patient dog). The images left in my head are countless and priceless, such as the description of the sledge horses kicking up the snow, "hard and glittering like sugar", and the snowy plain that, "glittering like a diamond with bluish lights in it, lay stretched out on all sides, all motionless and bathed in moonlight." [p.597] Unforgettable the moment when young Rostov, wounded in battle, sees soldiers coming toward him: "What are they running for? Can they be running to me? And what for? To kill me? Me, whom every one's so fond of?" [p.207] Later it's Prince Andrey's turn: wounded on the battlefield he blends out the commotion and noise around him: "But he saw nothing of that. Above him there was nothing but the sky - the lofty sky, ... with grey clouds creeping quietly over it. 'How was it I did not see that lofty sky before?'" [p.313]
This timeless book will broaden your mental horizon in regards to life and death, material and spiritual aspects of life, humankind and its individuals' daily struggles within the movements of the masses. Looking for the numerous polarities (war and peace, life and death, love and hate, movement and stillness, age and youth, heat and cold, individual and masses) was a lot of fun. Be prepared for the many questions that pop up throughout the novel: "What for?" "Why me?" "Can it be so?"
Please give this book a try, it's mindblowing.
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Title: Anna Karenina (Modern Library Classics) by Leo Tolstoy, Mona Simpson ISBN: 067978330X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Crime and Punishment (Crime & Punishment) by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett ISBN: 0553211757 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 June, 1984 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky ISBN: 0374528373 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Pub. Date: 14 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens ISBN: 0451526562 Publisher: Signet Book Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: War and Peace (Penguin Classics) by Leo Tolstoy ISBN: 0140444173 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1982 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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