War and Peace : Complete and Unabridged: Premium Edition Premium Edition, Kindle Edition

This is NOT what it is supposed to be. Most American readers would not notice, but this is the Maud's translation, not Lady Garnett's as shown in the picture. Shame on you Amazon for the deception. Note to Tolstoy readers: all translations are NOT the same...

I officially scratched off an item from my bucket list. I read War and Peace in its entirety – and more. I didn’t just read one version. I read and referenced back and forth between two versions of the classic book. I used an ebook version translated by Anthony Briggs and the paperback version from Barnes & Noble Classics series.There were differences between the translations. The language in the digital version is more accessible to the English reader but the structure of the ebook is poorly formatted and distracting in many places. The vocabulary in the paperback version was more challenging, more florid, and the formatting was never an issue.The focus of my review from here on out will be on the book itself. There are many translations out there for readers to choose from. Those are the two I used.War and Peace is an epic tale of Russian life before, during and after Napoleon’s invasion in 1812. I knew little about the time period, the war or the culture in Russia at this tkime but Tolstoy masterfully draws the reader into the world. Despite the various locations, the use of several languages, a host of unfamiliar names and titles, War and Peace is rather easy to follow. I didn’t find it complicated, in that it never lost me. It is complex but I seemed to know where I was and who I was with from page to page. It wasn’t overwhelming.Three chief fictional figures serve as anchors to the massive world building – Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostov and Andrei Bolkonsky.War and Peace is adorned with a full cast of colorful characters. Tolstoy brings us inside their heads as often as the three chief characters, changing POV where it is necessary, providing much needed insight.The most intriguing part of War and Peace for me was the exposition. Tolstoy breaks the fourth wall countless times and speaks to the reader as a professor speaks to students in a classroom. He educates us and he interjects his opinions about the war, about the historical players, and he even critiques others who have critiqued this time period.“All historians agree that the external activity of states and nations in their conflicts with one another is expressed in wars, and that as a direct result of greater or less success in war the political strength of states and nations increases or decreases.”By modern scholarly standards, this exposition would be considered taboo and unacceptable.In War and Peace, Tolstoy has written a history as much as a work of fiction.“History is the life of nations and of humanity. To seize and put into words, to describe directly the life of humanity or even of a single nation, appears impossible.”I for one actually enjoy the digressions and the exposition because I enjoy reading history. I’m not so sure other readers will fancy or appreciate these additions but I did.“The historians quite falsely represent Napoleon’s faculties as having weakened in Moscow...”Tolstoy is telling a unique story of the world as he sees it and doesn’t make anyone a hero or a villain. Napoleon is not portrayed as a monster and the leadership in Russia is not lionized. In fact, he often described the Russian leadership as disjointed, out of touch, and haphazard. It is not the unified, well-oiled machine filled with strategic maneuvers that historians often describe it as. Many of the greatest moves made by Russia were blunders or accomplished due to a lack of communication, even the headstrong actions of vigilantes and incendiaries.Pierre, Natasha and Andrei are flawed characters. Whatever strengths they possess are countered by equally destructive weaknesses. Having seen and loved the classic King Vidor film from 1956, I couldn’t separate, no matter how I tried, Pierre, Natasha and Andrei from Henry Fonda, Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer. As I read, I saw their faces and heard their voices in my head.Not sure if I should commend the filmmakers for this or not.Pierre, with all his obvious quirks and shortcomings, his absentmindedness and debauchery, has always been my favorite character and reading the book did nothing to change this. (Or maybe it’s because Henry Fonda is such a great actor – I don’t know)Pierre’s time as a prisoner of the French, his emotions and thoughts when he thinks he’ll be executed by a firing squad, the long, cold, hopeless journey by foot, his conversations with Platon Karataev, are undeniably my favorite part of the book.“He baked, cooked, sewed, planed, and mended boots. He was always busy, and only at night allowed himself conversation – of which he was fond – and song… Karataev had no attachments, friendships, or love, as Pierre understood them, but loved and lived affectionately with everything life brought him in contact with… He loved his dog.”I was surprised by the Masonic chapters. They were interesting but I’m not sure if they were wholly necessary.I like how the book explored Pierre’s later years, his marriage and children, his growth as a man.The book enhances Natasha’s character in ways I had not anticipated. Natasha’s youth and aloofness disguise a rather complex and intelligent person who suffers from grand illusions and countless disappointments. Although she grows sick in body, she is strong and unique in drive and devotion – eventually.Andrei is intriguing. While he tries to be a successful man, a beacon of nobility and honor, he never quite measures up to the cold expectations of his stern father and wears this failure on his sleeve. He can never seem to find happiness in anything. He is stoic but he doesn’t want to be. His heart years for more than his head will allow. His unhappy first marriage is also a burden and results in one of the most famous lines ever written.“Never, never marry, my dear fellow! That’s my advice: never marry till you can say to yourself that you have done all you are capable of, and until you have ceased to love the woman of your choice and have seen her plainly as she is, or else you will make a cruel and irrevocable mistake.”I think one of the best features of Andrei’s character is his inability to change. His ideals, his concepts of virtue and goodness are so ingrained in him, they actually strangle him and inhibit him throughout. It is difficult for him to adjust and lighten up, take risks in social settings, to step out and try things beyond tradition. And when he does, he is injured to his heart and retreats back inside his shell of convention.The book provides the reader with deeper insight into Andrei’s life at Bald Hills, with his father, his sister Maria, and his wife Lisa, as well as the maturation of his son Nikolay.When one reads War and Peace, the world today is put on pause. There is no denying the mastery of storytelling that was Tolstoy. It’s a book everyone should read.

This is the older translation that is a classic and sometimes difficult to understand. The language is beautiful and this book is considered the greatest novel ever written. There is an informative introduction and a brief reader's guide at the end. This paperback edition runs approximately 1390 pages.This novel was written in the 1860s and takes place in the years spanning the French Napoleonic invasion of Europe and Russia and its aftermath, 1805-1820. It concerns six families and their entanglements, loves, losses, fortunes, and struggles. There are many pages of philosophical and historical treatises and one gets an intimate understanding of all aspects of living in Europe in the early years of the 19th Century. Some characters are given only one or two scenes, while others return again and again. Other prominent writers, one being Anne Rice, love this novel and have applauded this particular translation. There have been modern English and equally excellent translations, but this is the one most people will have been familiar with in their school years. It can difficult reading at times, but it deserves to be savoured and digested slowly and more than once to truly appreciate it.

After just a few chapters I was engrossed in the story. I completely understand why this is considered a masterpiece. Tolstoy's characters grow tremendously throughout the book as each of the storylines entwine. He also paints such a great picture of the human condition, dealing often and insightfully with the questions of life and death. Despite the depth of the subject matter he consistently advocates for a concept of traditional Russian folk values, highlighted through contrasts with other institutions and philosophies. Reading this book is a commitment but I was amazed with how much I enjoyed it.

This is a full edition of Tolstoy's work. It has also many foot notes explaining the concepts of the time that Tolstoy was debating in the text as well as clarifications for certain phrases and translations of Greek, Latin, German and French expressions in the text. As many know, this is not so much a novel as it is a discussion of various political, religious, and social themes woven in a fabric of stories about fictitious families in early 19th century Russia through their dialogue and social, political, and relational interactions.

One of the best books ever written! Not only does Tolstoy describe human relationships in depth, giving insight into how little we have evolved, he also describes the foibles and passions of love and power. Most importantly, parts of the book could be condensed into a volume containing only his philosophies which are interspersed throughout the volume and make for great reading in and of themselves.

While I suppose the review concerning the book is dependent on your opinion of War and Peace, I am here to assure you all that I have had no formatting or technical issues with the Kindle version, so if you like the book and have the Kindle, this is a good bet.

Like, I am sure, countless people who are finally getting around to reading War and Peace now, in the early months of 2016, I have been spurred by watching the BBC production that had just finished. I determined, at the last minute, to take the book with me on a recent skiing holiday, and tried to find a version that had "whispersync", which is Amazon/Audible's name for the narration, voiced by an actor, which is synced to the words of a book. In the few minutes I had to make this last minute purchase I could not find one, so ended up buying separate audio and text versions of War and Peace. The unintended benefit of this has been the ability to compare he translation of this version with the audiobook one.This has been an interesting experience - and odd too, as both appear to have been translated by the same person, Constance Garnett. She died in 1946, and I can only imagine that if this is indeed the case, her translation for the audiobook has been "modernised" in some way. In any event, it serves as a reminder as to how important the translation is when reading a book written in a foreign language.

A bit wordy and in many ways dated, not least in its treatment of women and serfs, nevertheless War and Peace is in all other respects as valid today as when it was written. I have probably read it six or so times in my sixty years and still love the characterisation. Human nature really has not changed at all :-)

Just perfect

Half way through and I'm still gripped.

I will read this one day