War and Peace (Vintage Classics)

I have, at various times, tried to read four different editions of War & Peace (Penguin, Signet, Barnes & Noble, and now this) and by far, this (the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation from Vintage Classics) is the best edition I've seen. This edition is everything I was looking for in a copy of War & Peace and I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is the edition of War & Peace I finished, and it bound to become the standard for the foreseeable future. Pros: It is highly readable. Translating texts is always difficult, because you want to retain the feel of reading a Nineteenth century work but use language that makes the work accessible. Personally, I found some editions (Barnes & Noble, Penguin) to be hard to read and comprehend, especially when you first begin. This edition is a relative breeze to read. It has French translations. When reading the Signet edition, I found myself using google translate to understand sentences or phrases left in the book in French. Other editions translated most of the French but left phrases here and there untranslated and in the text, without footnotes. I understand in the original, Tolstoy wrote entire passages in French but provided translations in the foot notes. This edition follows that pattern. There are entire passages in French, but they are translated in the footnotes on the page. It has historical end-notes and an index. I am not unfamiliar with European and Russian history, but I, like most people, have no more knowledge than what I learned in my freshman world history class. This work has end notes in the text to provide context. Though it slows me down, I find myself flipping to the back of the book and reading every end note when the text provides it. I cannot stress enough how helpful this has been. The index is likewise helpful. It is an alphabetical list and short biography of the historical characters and places mentioned in War and Peace. It includes a short chapter summary. At the very end of the book, there is a chapter summary for a collection of chapters sharing a theme or describing the same event. The summary is no more than a sentence long and provides a nice refresher when you are trying to recall what happened when. Cons: Compared to editions that translate all the French, reading in the footnotes can be burdensome. I personally don't mind, but I can see how that might trip some people up. If you are looking for a copy of War and Peace, this is the one to get. Trust me.

Translated works notoriously fall short of the originals, especially in the case of such great novels as War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy is a great author who expounds profound thoughts and philosophy through his novels, and the translators have tried to keep up with the beauty of the original. Kudos to the translators for this work. Still, I struggled with the last 50 pages where the author goes on a journey into the world of philosophy of the struggle of human free will against human compulsions. It may be because of my limited ability to understand or a shortcoming of the translation, I don't know. I should thank the translators for translating this monumental work and making it available to the English-speaking world. And also made me feel sorry for not being able to read the original because of my ignorance of the Russian language. I have to caution those who are about to embark on this reading journey of War and Peace, as it is quite daunting, and sometimes the book slows to a crawling pace. You have to exercise tremendous will and patience to sit through the introduction of the 200-odd characters in this book. It is also a memory exercise and a challenge to remember the characters and what they are up to as the plot thickens. If you are expecting a thrill a minute of a Stephen King novel, then expect to be disappointed. All in all, a great read and time well spent.

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Reader: You're not really going to die on that hill, are you? P&V: Hold our croissant. The P&V is the most imposing, and probably the most interesting translation to consider carefully or to teach. They have a real way of freshening and enstranging the encounter with the book and the author. That said, my concern is that the love of life in the book, the zest of reading and experiencing the story, suffers some in the name of fidelity. Note: this edition also uses little symbols instead of numbers for its French translation footnote system. This may seem like a silly point, but I never warmed up to this practice. Also, in the translations, P&V only translate the French, so if a passage is a mix of French and Russian, you not only need to look down for the French, but then back up for the English, then back down... are you going to need a chiropractor? I can't answer that question.... All said, these two have been attacked unfairly, and this is a very potent and illuminating translation, even when strong reservations are brought against it. Given the Cadillac nature of this edition, I can't figure why some maps aren't included, memo to vintage for the next version. Now the Maudes... the new edition, edited by Amy Mandelker for Oxford World Classics, really challenges P&V seriously. She puts the French back in, but more importantly uses a footnoting system with numbers and then gives you the whole passage in the note. This may seem like a small difference, but it made a big difference in reading for me. Also, the book is just smartly done for readers and teachers overall. Maps up front, characters up front, non-annoying footnote system to deal with the whole "French thing," and good notes in the back that are helpful for understanding and experiencing the story, ex: the first long note on Napoleon and the rest. Mandelker also tweaks this beloved translation where it needs some correction and updating. Overall, she has done readers a real service in preparing this edition. Also, it's physically nice to hold and read, no small thing; the P&V suffers from its gigantic size and its paper quality. Finally, there's just something still to be said for the closeness of the Maudes to Tolstoy and his own lifetime, mind, and culture. The older Tolstoy remarked when one of his stories was read aloud, "the old man wrote it well" -- well, the same can be said of the Maudes as translators. It's no small thing to help a century of readers fall in love with the longest book they've ever considered reading. Mandelker's new edition preserves the grace, intelligence, and moving power of this older translation, while improving it in respectful but real ways. Finally, on falling in love with books, there's Briggs. He is remarkably engaging and enjoyable. In fact, he's quite funny. He candidly embraces the "cavalier" school of translation, a cosmic alternative to the P&V approach. Some benefits to his edition and approach: he ditches the French so that there are fewer obstacles between readers and the story (as Tolstoy himself did in the 1870s edition, before it was added back later). Briggs also understands and loves what makes this novel -- or whatever it is -- Tolstoy's happiest and greatest work (sorry, Anna K nation). Casually, I note that many of the reviewers who "fell in love" with this monstrous book did so through this translation, more so than through P&V, on the basis of my unreliable and unscientific analysis. If Briggs would just talk Penguin into italicizing his translation when the speaker uses French, he'd probably run off with the sales victory, no doubt. All that said, his cavalier approach has its fair critics, and sometimes his zest for the colloquial, for dynamic expansions, and for riffing on synonyms rather than following Tolstoy's repetitive original causes problems. So, on these three overall: I'd put Maude/Mandelker in the lead; P&V are indispensable for rereading of key passages; and Briggs in third place, with the full acknowledgment that the guy's got game and in the great race for winning reader's hearts all bets are off here. Whatever you choose and do, *read this story* -- there are few experiences of literature and life in the world like this one. And enjoy a good croissant regardless.

War and Peace

the book came in excellent conditions, my daughter is very happy.

I have intended to read War and Peace for many years, but never got round to it. Now I have and am very glad. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the philosophy near the end less so.

Seriously!

I received this expensive book damaged and patched just as if i would not notice it!