War and Peace (Penguin Classics)

I was young and naive when I first saw War and Peace sitting impressively on my dad's bookshelf, which probably accounts for my longstanding childish conviction that it was the most difficult and absolutely the most enormous book ever written by anybody EVER. Sound familiar?My initial impression of War and Peace survived for years to the extent that I didn't even consider reading it, believing it to be beyond my meagre intelligence. I imbued this juggernaut with an almost mythical quality, imagining it with reverence as the bastion of all high literature.Now obviously, War and Peace is a substantial book; a hefty tome with a reputation as a masterpiece that is fully justified. But if my previous doubts and feelings sound familiar to you, I urge you to look past your preconceptions. War and Peace is not the difficult scholarly chore that some people would have you believe. Rather, it is a highly readable book, a saga that is often thrilling, consistently emotional and always absorbing.Beginning the book is a challenge but rest assured that it is, for want of a better phrase, a glorious page-turner. Do not fear War and Peace. Read it and you will love it!

Bought this for my Dad as I read a version on Kindle. I chose this version quite carefully; my Dad does read French but I didn't want a copy that had so much French in (even with translation) that it took away from the narrative flow, and I didn't want a version that took all the French out as the whole point is that the Russian elite didn't even speak their own language until after the invasion! I hope Dad loves this book as much as I did and it's pure luck that the BBC decided to televise it just after I'd finished reading it and passed a copy on. It's not a difficult book to read,just takes a little while is all :-)

This is a 2 volume book. In a good condition. After all , it is a 2nd hand book. The prints are very small, though. Under the Corona lockdown, it is the best read...

I really admire Rosemary Edmonds' translation of Tolstoy's classic. Before buying, I read that it doesn't have as many authentic Russianisms (if I may call them that); Russian figures of speech that may be present in other translations. Despite this, she never fails to capture the mood of each and every interaction! She does very well to keep the attention of the reader, with flowing passages that stay very true to the original Russian.Definitely a must-read!!

Will use again

A brilliant book. It is a fine tapestry of human nature.

I would not presume to review this brilliant novel by Leo Tolstoy.I am finding the reading of this book wonderful and page turning.

As much a history of Napoleon's invasion of Russia as it is a novel. Wonderful

I really wanted the Edmonds translations as I stumbled on it at a friend's house and preferred it to the Briggs translation I owned; it was simultaneously less modern, and yet used more common terms so that I could actually understand what was being discussed and see the humour in some specific situations. I couldn't find it new anywhere, so was really glad to find it here!

I finished reading War and Peace sooner than I had expected. In spite of its size, the book reads rather fast. The characterization is excellent; Tolstoy's strength lies in his ability to create real people with complex emotional and intellectual make up, who love and fear, people with strengths and weaknesses. In War and Peace there are not "perfect" people, everybody has within themselves the roots of human nature that can spread out as goodness or evil. In my search for a hero, it was comforting to me to perceive the shortcomings of those that one could classify as "perfect"; and, surprisingly, one could find goodness in those that could be classified as the wicked-such is the case of Dolhokov, an antagonist character without scrupulous and yet full of genuine love and dedication for his mother and hunchback sister. Tolstoy's work astounds me with the depth with which he understood human nature. When a character does something, feels this or that, or behaves on a certain way, I often think, "Yes, I've done that!"A great lesson about love is found in Prince Andrew's meditations on the matter. To experience the feeling of love which is the very essence of the soul and does not require an object. I particularly like his conclusion, "It is possible to love someone dear to you with human love, but an enemy can only be loved by Divine love... When loving with human love one may pass from love to hatred, but Divine love cannot change. No, neither death nor anything else can destroy it. It is the very essence of the soul."I was very taken by Tolstoy's development of Pierre, who eternally quests for truth, and ultimately finds that most truths are not so hidden and mystical after all. Natasha, so determined to seize the world, so determined to have the world fall in love with her and her with it, only to find happiness and realization in her wife and mother duties. Trying to find a true hero is difficult. I must admit that almost every character, at some point, was for me the book hero. The minute I read about Pierre, I felt the he was the one, the big hero; but I also felt the same way about Prince Andrew, and Natasha, and Nicholas, and Princess Mary, and even Sonya. Eventually, as their characters developed and showed more of their human side, I became disenchanted and my search for a hero, and instead, I learned to accept them with their complexities. I'd like to add, however, that if someone were to ask me whom would I consider my hero perhaps my response will surprise more than one. I would have to say "my hero" is Kutusov. I feel that, somehow, Tolstoy tries very hard to excuse and even exalt him in his book. The fact that this commander-in-chief devoted all powers not to slaying and destroying men but to saving and showing pity on them is reason enough for me to claim him my personal hero.War and Peace works in many levels: as a romantic novel-following the lives of various characters; it is also a historic account of the Napoleonic wars and of social history at that time; it has chapters filled with the "science" of war. Tolstoy also includes his views and his perspective in philosophy and history. The book also deals with many issues, including leadership. Tolstoy's basic analysis of humanity is that instead of great leaders such as Napoleon and Czar Alexander I being held responsible for the great occurrences of the time, it was instead the result of a million individual decisions from the common people participating. In the beginning of the battle of Borodino, Tolstoy argues that the course of battle is not a matter of command or control but of fate. What Tolstoy attempts to capture is not the simplicity of a war and peace relationship; the complexity lies in our reaction and the decision we come to about our own roles and the stands we take between war and peace. Tolstoy's own ambiguous definition of free will, "In history what is known to us we call the laws of necessity; what is unknown, we call free will", presents another aspect of human nature that is only shaped through consistent existence pattern. The novel itself sets forth such a theory of history, concluding that there is a minimum of free choice; according to Tolstoy, an inexorable historical force rules all. He argues that although Napoleon may be the "expression of that age" as a leader, his intellectual activity is simply produced and created by the movement of people. Tolstoy further argues that Napoleon "genius" comes from sheer chance and his triumph from mere luck.I do agree with Tolstoy's idea that no great general can win or lose a war by himself. People win the wars by their courage, their sacrifices, and their determination. So, in effect, War and Peace basically describes and somewhat summarizes how we, as people grow and turn into who we are according to the challenges and people we meet in our daily lives.To end, I'd like to say that I appreciate Tolstoy's effort to not portray the horrors of society of the period - the horrors of serfdom, the immuring of wives, the flogging of grown-up sons, Saltikova, and so on. Tolstoy is a great example of what I already knew was true - that a good work doesn't need the use of foul language, and doesn't need to appeal to vulgarity to make the book interesting or real.A final note: I realize now that, after reading War and Peace, I have learned in such short time more about Russia, war strategies, the French language, masonry, aristocracy, the 19th century traditions in Russia, Napoleon, Czar Alexander I, Kutuzov, Tolstoy, and many more things, by reading this great book than any class I've ever taken, and had such fun doing so!

An epic and a masterwork of western literature. One of Tolstoy's main themes is the exploration of whether the unfolding of great historical events will necessarily mean that people will behave a certain way or whether human decisions and interactions will ultimately determine the course of history.

Everyone wants to read this at some point, so why not start? I read most of it on a plane ride from the US to China. And you know what? The book's pretty good! I liked the historical stuff, which is interspersed with the narrative. At least try to read a few chapters to say you gave it a shot!

The product was sold as "good condition" but for the most part it was great. Pages are all intact, including the cover. No notes inside. Very happy.