War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy | After all the superlatives, more than anything War & Peace stands...

War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy | Engaging rendition

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War and Peace

	War and Peace Leo Tolstoy Knopf, 2007 - 1296 pages average customer review:based on 61 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

After all the superlatives, more than anything War & Peace stands as a great story

Most articles on Tolstoy's mammoth War & Peace ooze superlatives, whether in regards to its length, its genius, or the trouble people have getting through its 1200 plus pages. Yet for all of that, I found it above all to be a really great story, not just epic in scope, but full of exciting human characters and entertaining dialogue. While I cannot speak to the debates that now rage on the various translations of War & Peace, I can say that having twice picked up the book before, this third translation proved for me to be the charm. Not only do Peaver and Volokhonsky bring a poetic rhythm to much of the prose, they also capture what I can only imagine was Tolstoy's dry humor and powerful sense of irony.

While not a work to be taken likely, I found it thoroughly enjoyable.

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Engaging rendition

I have tried to read different translations of War and Peace, including Garnett's and Edmonds'. One thing that has always annoyed me - especially with Garnett's translation - is the tendency to use Western or Roman Catholic terms whenever something related to Christianity is involved (Edmonds does not make this mistake). Instead of using the language of Orthodoxy, we often get "holy images," attended Mass," the Virgin Mary," etc, instead of "icon," "attended Liturgy," or "the Theotokos." While invisible to most readers, to Orthodox ears it is grating. The Pevears get this right by avoiding Western terminology in speaking about things religious. And, as other reviewers have noted, it is nice to see the French broken out. As far as the quality of the language, it doesn't seem any less awkward than other translations I have read. Garnett may have turned a phrase with a bit more flare but at the expense of making Tolstoy sound like Tolstoy and more like a Victorian. I agree, too, that this version would have been nice had it been published as a three volume set. You can't really tote it around to read at work or on the bus.

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WAR AND PEACE

An incomparable translation, one that guarantees you'll revisit or seek out the other Russian novelists for whom, with miraculous success, Pevear and Volokhonsky have created in English a believably authentic Russian soul!

War And Peace

Though I haven't finished it yet, it seems the translators have done as excellent a job with War And Peace as they did with Anna Karenina. It's fantastic!

War and Peace and on and on...

Well, if you like to cocoon with a big book during the cold months, pray for a long winter, as this book will keep you planted by the fireplace.
Other than all the French translations at the bottom of many pages, and the plethora of characters with long Slavic names, this is one of the great books. But I will also say this, get a Cliff Notes to help keep you (and your progress) comfortable with the action and the characters.

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