[Closed] Anyone read War and Peace?

it doesn't actually [i]exist[/i]

I know they say don't judge a book by its cover (or the blurb on the back cover), but it just sounds a bit boring.

So no I've never read it, and I don't intend to.

I have, and once I got into it I quite enjoyed it.

Tried and got bored see also Don Quixote

Never read it, but just googled the pages, 1226(for some reason I expected alot more!). it's not that much, I've read books of a similar size.

Why don't you read it and give us a review?

Started, it was good but I found it overly descriptive.

it's not as good as Anna Karenina, and a lot of the book is a huge political essay.

It is quite a novel though.

I read it and did enjoy it but it could have at least 1 in 4 words removed without losing a thing. And it is just incredibly silly at times.

I have, it's ok. It felt like there were too many plots trying to be woven in and a few of them could have been left out with no real detriment to the story. But it'd lose out on the wider narrative if they had been.

seosamh77 - Member
Never read it, but just googled the pages, 1226

So I googled further, as page length is a poor indicator, 840,000 words! Hmmm a different prospect that!

Think the longest book I've read was Shogun, at 320k. I did read Gai-jin too mind you wich was 380k.. Alright, alright, I take that back, seek reviews before starting it. 😆

Just reminds me mind, need to pick up Tai-pan again..

I read about a quarter of it. But I couldn't cope with the regret. It hurt too much to read it.

Started to read it for a laugh. It wasn't a laugh so I stopped.

You might be able to help. In a bottom episode when Richie is reading w&p, he says at least they spelt the cat wrong. Please explain this joke to me. It's probably obvious, but I never got it.

Worth a read. After the first 500 pages it gets interesting, with the Napoleon wars and all that.

Why don't you read it and give us a review?

I may well do, but was just curious as to whether it was worth investing fair bit of time into. A pal read it a few years ago and came to a similar conclusion as a few folk here i.e. it took a while to get into, has a fair bit that was surplus to requirements, but ultimately he really enjoyed it.

I've just finished a couple of other (much "easier" and shorter) Russian classics, and War and Peace does have this near legendary reputation, so was curious as to what other folk thought. And with STW being such an educated and well read place (which is actually true despite the nonsense we all post) I thought it a good place to ask.

And it is just incredibly silly at times.

In what way?

I've just finished a couple of other (much "easier" and shorter) Russian classics

Which ones did you read an which would you recommend?

ps ignore that earlier post of mine i was just being unnecessarily belligerent, unusual for me i know! 😆

I did. I liked it apart from the many chapters that were long political/philosophical essays, as someone mentioned. The actual story, drama and intrigue was great. Was it worth the effort? Probably not, but at least I can genuinely say I’ve read war and peace.

I read it for a laugh too, found it a slog in the beginning but wanted to at least be able to say I’d read it. Ended up enjoying it.

It’s good, lots going on, takes ages to figure out who’s who, but by the end you really start to like some characters and feel bad for them when anything bad happens to them. Which is pretty much everyone.

It could easily be a series of books there’s so many stories in it. The war bits are really interesting and pretty accurate by all accounts.

Which ones did you read an which would you recommend?

First was a collection of short stories by Checkhov (not the Star Trek one!!). Like any collection it had good and bad, but there was one called The Exclamation Mark that left me overwhelmed at how a simple piece of punctuation can be so powerful. Admittedly these days a very over used piece of punctuation.

Second was Eugene Onegin. I heard it brilliantly adapted for Radio 4 over the summer so sought out the full version. I think (from what Google tells me) it comes down a lot to what version you read in translation (with it being a poem) but the version I read was beautiful. And I'm sure even better in the original Russian. A simple story but powerfully told. If the radio version is still available it's well worth checking out.

ps ignore that earlier post of mine i was just being unnecessarily belligerent, unusual for me i know!

Let's be honest, unnecessary belligerence is about 90% of the fun of STW. 🙂

#lifestooshort

If you are interested, other interesting Russian novels of a similar nature to War and Peace include And Quiet Flows the Don by Michail Sholokovsky. Its about life before, during and after the first world war. It's been recently re-issued. Fairly easy to read too and a bit gory in parts. Another classic, which is much harder to read, is Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. It covers the lives of characters during the second world war. This book was banned in Russia, because it was considered too close to real life.

kennyp - Member

In what way?

I'm dead, no I'm not, no wait I am again

kennyp - Member
Which ones did you read an which would you recommend?
First was a collection of short stories by Checkhov (not the Star Trek one!!). Like any collection it had good and bad, but there was one called The Exclamation Mark that left me overwhelmed at how a simple piece of punctuation can be so powerful. Admittedly these days a very over used piece of punctuation.

Second was Eugene Onegin. I heard it brilliantly adapted for Radio 4 over the summer so sought out the full version. I think (from what Google tells me) it comes down a lot to what version you read in translation (with it being a poem) but the version I read was beautiful. And I'm sure even better in the original Russian. A simple story but powerfully told. If the radio version is still available it's well worth checking out.

Haven't read much russian stuff, loved Crime and Punishment though, but I think alot of these books come down to whether there's a good translation. I tried reading the brothers Karamazov too, but the translation was terrible, I ended up giving up. Not a Russian translation but it was the same when I read the Trial, the translation was rubbish I struggled through to the end(I think this is why I had no patience for brothers Karamazov), but mind you that could just be Kafka as I read a load of his short stories too, very difficult to read...

Read it as an easy, light hearted bit of fun, after having read the brexit thread.

Excellant book, great read.

Well worth the effort.

Also, read the Iliad and Odyssey.

Personally I prefered the Iliad.

I did and I enjoyed it. Can't remember many specific events though.

Tried once but failed to finish - probably too young at the time.

MOby Dick - tried three times and failed. Given up on that one even as an adult. Poor US children!!!

Embarrassed to say that Anna Karenina took three attempts and never even started L o T Rngs. We were forced to read the Hobbit at school at age 8 and I never recovered

Lord of the Rings much more interesting as a book about racism that doesn't realise it's a book about racism.

I thought I read it once, but it turned out it was just a memo from an employer letting me know some "home truths" about myself.

I have, it's ok. It felt like there were too many plots trying to be woven in and a few of them could have been left out with no real detriment to the story. But it'd lose out on the wider narrative if they had been.

You might be able to help. In a bottom episode when Richie is reading w&p, he says at least they spelt the cat wrong. Please explain this joke to me. It's probably obvious, but I never got it.

I've downloaded the ebook from Project Gutenburg and will read it if I ever get stuck in a tent in a storm, or an airport, etc, with nothing else to read.

I tried. Years ago. Got it out of the library in a foolhardy attempt to save money by not having to buy it. Ha ha ha...

I was determined to get through it, but by god I struggled. Think I got about 100 pages in and it was still describing the same ambassadors reception or something. Took about six months of steely tenacity before I gave in and took the bastid back. Probably cost me about £20 in late renewal fines.

And this was before the internet. I wouldn't even bother to try now that my attention span has been worn down to a... ooh a gif...

A total corker. Loved it and was lost when finished. Took a wee while to get into it but it soon took off and just bowled along. I like this kind of thing though and also really liked Miklos Bannfy’s Transylvanian trilogy which is like a Hungarian Version of Tolstoy

I read it many years ago when I was into Russian literature. It took me 3 nights. Couldn't manage it in one go.

Enjoyed it. It's a book that needs total immersion because there's so much going on.

On the other hand I have never managed to complete Joyce's Ulysses which I have come to regard as pretentious shite.

I read it and keep iron my book shelf as a reminder that I can persevere when I want 🙂

I am unlikely to read it again. It was the names that I found difficult, not their names, just that they all have several.

Crime and punishment- loved it
The brothers Karamazov on audio book- took months to listen to it all, but kept me spellbound on long journeys.

Read it, Why not?

Tried reading W&P as it was free on Kindle. Couldn't get into it.

Also tried getting all the way through Count of Monte Cristo, that's even harder to get into properly, just way too complicated plotwise.

I went through a phase of reading the classics and found I had a 50:50 chance of loving them or hating them. Some were clearly written in the days when there wasn't much entertainment so it didn't matter if you waffled on about pointless rubbish for 50-odd pages before getting to the next plot point as it wasn't like your audience was going anywhere.

Got about a third of the way through W&P and gave up, partly as I couldn't keep track of the characters and their millions of names. I seem to be different to others on this thread though as I hated crime & punishment and loved the count of Monte Cristo 😀

Job these days involves a lot of reading so I really can't be arsed with anything that doesn't immediately hook me in when reading for pleasure. Started the Dark Tower series now and enjoying that, though I nearly didn't push through after the first book (which is pish).

loved it. There's a lot of everything - plenty of war, plenty of high-society poncing around, plenty of Tolstoy's theories about history and great leaders (and why Napoleon wasn't one, haha), tons of descriptions (which I really enjoyed actually - the way he describes people and their odd personality traits is so vivid).

If you've already read some old Russian stuff you'll be better placed to understand the names/patronymics and some of the cultural references.

I was expecting it to be a slog, but it wasn't at all - and surprisingly funny at times.

give it a go!

doris5000 - Member
...If you've already read some old Russian stuff you'll be better placed to understand the names/patronymics...

That's an important point. It is very confusing otherwise, so it's worth nailing that down before you start.

Took me over a year, occasionally having to stop and read something simple.
Before I started I did ask through the form of a facebook post if anyone had read it and was told by someone that it took them a fortnight. When I finished the same person made me aware that at the time they read it they were incarcerated at her Majesties Pleasure...

Lots of characters, with multiple names (as is the Russian way, formal, patriarchal, pet and other forms of name) which are switched between as appropriate for the setting.

Much easier to read than Moby Dick though, persevered through that, it doesn't help that Melville offered his opinions on what a Whale is every other chapter most of which goes against modern understanding (It's a mammal not a fish). That said it's a good story behind weak writing.

If you are interested, other interesting Russian novels of a similar nature to War and Peace include And Quiet Flows the Don by Michail Sholokovsky. Its about life before, during and after the first world war. It's been recently re-issued. Fairly easy to read too and a bit gory in parts. Another classic, which is much harder to read, is Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. It covers the lives of characters during the second world war. This book was banned in Russia, because it was considered too close to real life.

Cheers, will check them out. Have just started on One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Much easier to read than Moby Dick though, persevered through that, it doesn't help that Melville offered his opinions on what a Whale is

I read that fairly recently. It is hard going - and the actual whale is hardly featured! However, I read it as how science saw whales at the time and not specifically the author's opinion.

I would love to read it but I've long recognised the impact that my previous career (lawyer) had on reading: I spent 12+ hours a day reading tedious, turgid contracts and the last thing I wanted to do to relax was to read. I think several years passed when I didn;t read a book. And I very nearly read English Lit at university.

My "fix" has been to read novellas as they're short enough that, even if they take several weeks of picking up and putting down, I'll finish them.

But I would dearly love to have the mental space and energy to immerse myself into a book like that.

I like Tolstoy, but can't get through Dostoevsky at all.

I read War and Peace in my early 20s and loved it - as others have said, I felt bereft when I finished it. I enjoyed Anna Karenina too (except for the monologues on agricultural practice).

Conversely I started and failed to finish the Brothers Karamazov twice, then gave up for good.

Twice .. Once at Uni (totally unrelated to my subject) and then I picked it up like an idiot in the middle of revision for my MSc (eventually forced myself to finish it in about 3 days).

I agree its hard to get into, but by the end you want it to go on and on.