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Napoleon's turbulent history with Russia including his doomed 1812 invasion provides the setting for Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Often referred to as the greatest novel of all time, Tolstoy's classic follows the tumultuous personal lives of two aristocratic families touching on all of the great human epochs; youth, matrimony, age and death.
Eustrabirbeonne: Well, Henri Troyat is no Tolstoy of course, and he did not pretend he was : he described himself as a mere "storyteller". Yet some of his fiction is real good, and this "cycle" is certainly his best. And of course, Russian-born Lev Aslanovich Tarasov had in mind the never-written sequel to "War and Peace" about the Decembrist uprising, which Tolstoy initiates in the final chapters of "War and Peace" with his hints at Pierre's active participation in a "society". Would Natasha, already a mother of four in 1820, have left her children behind to follow Pierre in Siberia, as other convicts' wives did?… (more)
CurrerBell: Hardy's "Immanent Will" has much in common with Tolstoy's historical determinism. Personally, I'm in that probably quite small minority that prefers The Dynasts over Tolstoy's novel – partly because I find in Hardy's "The Road to Waterloo" scene (3.VI.vii) one of the greatest of antiwar poems.… (more)
carajava: Es muy recomendable despues o, en todo caso antes de leer guerra y paz, puesto que, mejorarà tu forma de ver el mundo donde viviàn los rusos, comprenderlo y razonar sus precarias situaciònes.
I took on the challenge of reading War and Peace in a positive frame of mind. I consider myself reasonably well read and willing to tackle books that aren't immediately easy, and I'd read many enthusiastic reviews and I was looking forward to finally tackling this classic. I've failed. I had difficulty getting to grips with the vast cast of characters, though I did eventually master these, and indeed became interested in the various family sagas which form such an important part of the narrative. I tried to interest myself in the War aspects of the book, and failed dismally. And as for the philosophical digressions, which increased towards the end of the book, and most particularly in the epilogue: I ended up skim-reading these. I kept on thinking that an editor with a very big red pencil should have been let loose on the book. I'm sure the loss is mine, but it's a book about which I'm now pleased to be able to say 'I've finished it!' ( )
A marvelous Book that repays whatever time one devoteds to it. I have read this translation, and lived in it for several weeks, and felt bad when it ended. The attempt to portray an entire culture, and, be fully aware of it has never been bettered. ( )
Obviously, I'll look like an idiot if I give this book a rating of less than five stars, but I read it after I had read many of Tolstoy's later religious works in which he had grown out of the pantheism I found inherent in this greatest of novels. It's awesome, of course, just not my favorite work of his. ( )
The title Tolstoy finally settled on was taken from the political theorist Pierre-Joseph Proudhorn's book La Guerre et L Paix (1861) a title which means what it says and no more. But when Tolstoy completed and published the final version of his novel Voyna i mir in 1869, the word mir carried a number of connotations and meanings, including a slightly obsolete one referring to society, mankind. In this case the word could mean, roughly speaking, humanity. Tolstoy's novel is concerned not merely with war and the cessation of war, it is about human beings, for whom war is a vast muddle, which is the curse of society. It is about the triumph of the human spirit in time of war; and the side that wins the war is the side that displays the stronger spirit. Natasha's dance and Andrey's sudden understanding of what matters are triumphant leaps of the human spirit; each results in an inner joy, a peace.
added by Cynfelyn | editSlightly Foxed, Christopher Rush(Feb 1, 2023)
The novel is not just a masterclass in fiction, Ms Li believes, but a remedy for distress. At the most difficult times in her life, she says, she has turned to it again and again, reassured by its “solidity” in the face of uncertainty.
I had it on my desk for about a year, and now I've given up and put it back on the shelf.
added by Sylak | editStylist [Issue 338], Paula Hawkins(Oct 12, 2016)
Tolstoy’s singular genius is to be able to take the torrent of conscious experience and master it. There are countless moments in the book where this happens ...
"Well, Prince, Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family."
'Well, Prince, Genoa and Lucca are now nothing more than estates taken over by the Buonaparte family.' (Anthony Briggs)
Quotations
War is not a polite recreation but the vilest thing in life, and we ought to understand that and not play at war.
Since time began and men started killing each other, no man has ever committed such a crime against one of his fellows without comforting himself with the same idea. This idea is 'the public good', a supposed benefit for other people.
Last words
Yes I will do something with which even he would be satisfied. . . . (End of First Epilogue-Maude/Maude)
In the first case it was necessary to renounce the consciousness of an unreal immobility in space and to recognize a motion we did not feel; in the present case it is similarly necessary to renounce a freedom that does not exist, and to recognize a dependence of which we are not conscious.
End of Book 15: "But why go to Petersburg?" Natasha suddenly asked, and hastily replied to her own question. "But no, no, he must. . . Yes, Mary, He must . . ." [tr. Maude/Maude]
Napoleon's turbulent history with Russia including his doomed 1812 invasion provides the setting for Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Often referred to as the greatest novel of all time, Tolstoy's classic follows the tumultuous personal lives of two aristocratic families touching on all of the great human epochs; youth, matrimony, age and death.
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Haiku summary
There's a bear in there and people as well. Stories to tell, and a war. (alsoCass)