arrianne's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
ehunsy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Death
zeasea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Just incredible. Everyone should read at least once.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Pregnancy, War, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts
queerloras's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Lost a quarter star at the end for the epilogue - I enjoyed the bits about Pierre, Natasha , Marya and Nikolay - but all of the digression about what is power and Napoleon and Alexander and the revolution was so dense it was hard to get through, so I gave up with 10 pages to go.
Spoiler
(although it's a shame Natasha changed so much once she was married)
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood
Minor: Gaslighting, Abortion, and Infidelity
nosey667's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
"Here I am alive, and it's not my fault, so I have to try and get by as best I can without hurting anybody until death takes over."
i was intimidated by this book before starting it, as everyone is i think. i read the penguin classics edition translated by Anthony Briggs and the translation is really accessible and i actually had a much better and straightforward reading experience than i thought i would.
onto the actual book: this 100% deserves its reputation ad Tolstoy's writing is just amazing. its a perfect mix of romance, war, character flaws, relationships, philosophy, i'd say theres something for everyone in this book, something everyone can take away from reading it.
one upside to reading a book of such a length obviously is you get to stick around with the characters ad watc them grow, and i think this book shows one of the best examples of character development and character development that i've ever read, as well as with the relationships that develop between the characters. when reading a classic novel you dont expect (or i dont at least) to build such a care for the characters but in this you really do. Prince Andrei, Pierre and Natasha's stories all intertwine and will make you want to stick to the end.
the friendship between Natasha and Pierre i liked too. they seem so pure and just happy together which was so nice to read.
"The whole world is split in two for me now: one half is her, and its all happiness, hope and light; and the other is not her, and its all misery and darkness..."
i do think that Tolstoy went a little overboard with the philosophy and war scenes. dont et me wrong, the philosophical discussions were interesting, but i found part II of the eprologue largely unnecessary. i found he repeated a lot of the same ideas; that there is no single cause for events and that free will doesnt really exist, as a couple of examples. the metaphors use were really good for emphasising the points he made though.
this books also one that as soon as you finish it you feel you need to read it again just to see the parts that you missed, because inevitabely there will be passages or hidden morals that you would have missed on the first time round in such a massive, complex book such as this. it's wort watching/reading/listening to other readers interretations of the book i think to make the eperience even better and view it in a different light.
overall, i preferred the more character oriented parts of the novel over the war and philosophical chapters. i think parts were unneecessarily stretched out and could have been shortened, but nevertheless it is worth the read and is really, really worth it in the end. i won't forget the experiece.
"But how can you think of living for yourself? What about your son, your sister, your father?"
"Yes, but they're the same as me. They're not other people."
i was intimidated by this book before starting it, as everyone is i think. i read the penguin classics edition translated by Anthony Briggs and the translation is really accessible and i actually had a much better and straightforward reading experience than i thought i would.
onto the actual book: this 100% deserves its reputation ad Tolstoy's writing is just amazing. its a perfect mix of romance, war, character flaws, relationships, philosophy, i'd say theres something for everyone in this book, something everyone can take away from reading it.
one upside to reading a book of such a length obviously is you get to stick around with the characters ad watc them grow, and i think this book shows one of the best examples of character development and character development that i've ever read, as well as with the relationships that develop between the characters. when reading a classic novel you dont expect (or i dont at least) to build such a care for the characters but in this you really do. Prince Andrei, Pierre and Natasha's stories all intertwine and will make you want to stick to the end.
Spoiler
so much so that the death of Prince Andrei utterly shattered me.Spoiler
i think my favourite relationship was between Prince Andrei and Natasha. i think the brought out the best in eachother, especially on his side.the friendship between Natasha and Pierre i liked too. they seem so pure and just happy together which was so nice to read.
"The whole world is split in two for me now: one half is her, and its all happiness, hope and light; and the other is not her, and its all misery and darkness..."
i do think that Tolstoy went a little overboard with the philosophy and war scenes. dont et me wrong, the philosophical discussions were interesting, but i found part II of the eprologue largely unnecessary. i found he repeated a lot of the same ideas; that there is no single cause for events and that free will doesnt really exist, as a couple of examples. the metaphors use were really good for emphasising the points he made though.
this books also one that as soon as you finish it you feel you need to read it again just to see the parts that you missed, because inevitabely there will be passages or hidden morals that you would have missed on the first time round in such a massive, complex book such as this. it's wort watching/reading/listening to other readers interretations of the book i think to make the eperience even better and view it in a different light.
overall, i preferred the more character oriented parts of the novel over the war and philosophical chapters. i think parts were unneecessarily stretched out and could have been shortened, but nevertheless it is worth the read and is really, really worth it in the end. i won't forget the experiece.
"But how can you think of living for yourself? What about your son, your sister, your father?"
"Yes, but they're the same as me. They're not other people."
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Minor: Suicide
jackmchristensen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
maneatingbadger's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
"I read a Russian novel once," Anderson cut in bleakly. "People with unpronounceable names did nothing for seven hundred and eighty-three pages, after which somebody's aunt died."
- Crusade by David Weber and Steve White
I cannot say this was worth reading. War and Peace alternates between aristocrats' social lives and scenes from the Napoleonic Wars. The former passages are so tedious I gave up a hundred pages into my first attempt and waited more than a year to start over. The latter are relatively more intriguing but not enough so to carry a book, let alone almost a thousand pages, and Tolstoy's philosophical musings on history might've made for an okay, entirely separate short essay (as indeed the Second Epilogue proved to be) but otherwise clog everything up. Occasional moments of brilliance shine through, as when Tolstoy assesses human behavior under duress or the shortfalls of eyewitness accounts amid battlefield chaos. One day I'll figure out how to upload Kindle highlights from Project Gutenberg to Goodreads.
So why did I read this? Well, my partner saw Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway (which adapts only a 70-page section of War and Peace, though I do appreciate that the first song bemoans how difficult it is to remember all the characters' names) a few years ago and was so smitten by the storytelling she asked for the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation for Christmas, which she seems to still be enjoying. Shortly after, I came across the Maude translation at a used bookstore and decided to read it alongside her. 'Twas a simpler (pre-COVID) time... Then we named our cat after a Tolstoy portrayal in a YouTube comedy series. The rest, as Tolstoy would explain at length, is the interplay between free will and inevitability defining the intangible and infinitesimally reducible force of power that drives history.
I cannot say this was worth reading. War and Peace alternates between aristocrats' social lives and scenes from the Napoleonic Wars. The former passages are so tedious I gave up a hundred pages into my first attempt and waited more than a year to start over. The latter are relatively more intriguing but not enough so to carry a book, let alone almost a thousand pages, and Tolstoy's philosophical musings on history might've made for an okay, entirely separate short essay (as indeed the Second Epilogue proved to be) but otherwise clog everything up. Occasional moments of brilliance shine through, as when Tolstoy assesses human behavior under duress or the shortfalls of eyewitness accounts amid battlefield chaos. One day I'll figure out how to upload Kindle highlights from Project Gutenberg to Goodreads.
So why did I read this? Well, my partner saw Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway (which adapts only a 70-page section of War and Peace, though I do appreciate that the first song bemoans how difficult it is to remember all the characters' names) a few years ago and was so smitten by the storytelling she asked for the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation for Christmas, which she seems to still be enjoying. Shortly after, I came across the Maude translation at a used bookstore and decided to read it alongside her. 'Twas a simpler (pre-COVID) time... Then we named our cat after a Tolstoy portrayal in a YouTube comedy series. The rest, as Tolstoy would explain at length, is the interplay between free will and inevitability defining the intangible and infinitesimally reducible force of power that drives history.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Misogyny
ivana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, and War
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