pues termine el libro ayer. obviamente lo mas impresionante es el tamaño del edificio y la coherencia. no hay cabos sueltos, nunca pierde aliento. la narracion se mueve sin detenerse, sin torpeza. como lei en algun lado, los personajes crecen y se transforman. es el unico libro que conozco que reproduce esa sensacion de que la vida se transforma y uno se siente en una pelicula diferente. la posicion donde estan los personajes al final es creible y totalmente distinta del principio. ese me parece el mayor merito. por otro lado no es un libro que provoque ternura. a pesar de toda la filosofia y las meditaciones no me quedo con una vision particular del mundo como se siente despues de leer a kafka o proust. me parece particularmente cruel terminar el libro con meditaciones sobre la historia y libertad de voluntad. supongo que son muy profundas pero esteticamente son un desastre. ( )

No wonder it's a "classic"! I adored it. It's worth every page. Sheer delight. Why did I wait so long? Wouldn't mind reading it a second time. Long, though, no doubt. ( )

This is a book that I always said I should read "someday." I am reading it now, and I find that, while parts are cumbersome (battle details, for example), I am quite involved with the characters. I will have more to say as I continue through this classic. ( )

This book is written quite different from his Anna Karininan.
The is the story of the French and Russian war as told from the Russian front. At the beginning there are quite of few of the social aspects, the balls, parties, parlor visits, etc, but when it get into the war, Tolstoy really puts you there in the war. The logistics of war and wartime are laid right out there. The French were so not prepared for where their Napoleon took them. He didn't fight the war he had planned. And Alexander responded in kind. It very much came to the generals and commanders calling their own plays and battles. I much preferred Tolstoy's "War" to his "Peace". But I also liked how he wrapped up the story.
The very wimpy Pierre turns out to be the man after all. We get to see several sides of Alexander and of Napoleon. I had never read of Napoleon and so really found all that quite interesting. All in all, this is a great story and deserves to be read today and has it's place in literature today. I think it has proven and will continue to be proven a timeless epic of "War and Peace". ( )

tried to read twice and couldn't get past the names difficulty...Actually I didn't want to. I got it on cd's (51 of them) and it was a delight to have someone read this classic to me. I would highly recommend it. I'm a smart person now, but I don't get a gold star bec. it was on cd! ( )