War and Peace (Penguin Classics)

This review of the Briggs translation of "War and Peace" is broken down into two segments, a Descriptive Summary and an Evaluative Summary. If you're already very familiar with the story, you may wish to skip directly to the latter facet of my review which is essentially the critique of this particular volume/translation. DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY: In 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Austria to expand his European empire. Russia, being an ally of Austria, stood with their brethren against the infamous Emperor. Napoleon prevailed and a treaty was ultimately signed at Tilsit. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, again in an effort to expand his empire. The end result of this tragic war was that Napoleon's army of about 600,000 soldiers was reduced to roughly 60,000 men as the defamed Emperor raced from Moscow (which he had taken), back across the frozen Russian tundra in his carriage (leaving his troops behind to fend for themselves) for Paris. That encapsulizes the military aspect of this work. But the more intricate story involves both the activities and the peccadillos of, primarily, three Russian families of nobility: The Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Bezukovs. The continual thorn of "The Antichrist," Napoleon, really just provides the wallpaper for this story of romance, riches, desolation, love, jealousy, hatred, retribution, joy, naiivety, stupidity and so much more. Tolstoy has woven an incredibly intricate web that interconnects these noble families, the wars, and the common Russian people to a degree that would seem incomprehensible to achieve -- but Tolstoy perseveres with superb clarity and great insight to the human psyche. His characters are timeless and the reader who has any social experience whatever will immediately connect with them all. In his Epilogue, Tolstoy yields us a shrewd dissertation on the behavior of large organizations, much of it by way of analogy. It's actually an oblique, often sarcastic, commentary on the lunacy of government activities and the madness of their wars. "War and Peace" is a fictional, lengthy novel, based upon historical fact. EVALUATIVE SUMMARY: Anthony Briggs, the translator of this edition, is a former Professor of Russian at the University of Birmingham, (Edgbaston, 26,000 students), coupled with the fact that he has previously translated many other literary works from their original Russian language. Overall, his 2005 translation is a fluid, easy-to-read version of "War and Peace". Having previously read the stalwart Maude translation (twice) and the new (2007) Pevear-Volokhonsky translation I feel compelled to state that that I'm very pleased and impressed with Briggs' smooth, modern-language translation, (which is also devoid of any anachronistic or modern "buzzwords"), and, I'm even more copasetic with the book's straightforward layout. The main text of the Viking Adult version is nicely supplemented with 4 detailed maps, a list of principals (both fictional and non-fictional), and 2 commentaries, all at the rear of the text. There is NO introduction by the translator and it's a direct read -- rendered entirely in English with almost no footnotes to bother with. There are historically-oriented endnotes but, as they are at the finale of the work, I found them useful, yet not distracting. The book is almost exactly the same size and weight as the P-V translation, (3.8 pounds, pretty hefty), with a beautiful white sewn binding and with a white dust jacket. (Penguin offers two alternative bindings of the Briggs translation as well). One of the few early complaints I heard on Briggs is that he "British-ized" the dialogue, using words like "mate" as soldiers address one another... so it's not written in "American" English. This fact, too, probably doomed him a bit in pecuniary terms, at least in the USA. But that is a very small caveat and I was not in the least distracted by this actuality. As Briggs pointed out in his commentary, (paraphrasing), he had to choose an English dialect to translate it TO and, since he himself was English, that was the vernacular which he chose to utilize. This makes total sense to me and the actual instances of these "British-izations" of the language are actually few and far between. Some others have criticized Briggs for eliminating the French entries (Briggs renders the entire work, unabridged, in English), thus eliminating the need for footnotes that we see in other translations which yield the English translation of the French script. Briggs does, however, shrewdly let us know, (by working it into the text), when a particular dialogue or letter was originally written by Tolstoy in French where this fact is either relevant or important for the reader to know. Honestly, the "straight English" text is much of the beauty of this volume for the casual reader because it's notably less distracting. Those who wish to read "War and Peace" for some academic or scholarly purpose would be better served by reading either the Maude or P-V translations since both maintain the French entries, with English translations in the footnotes, the French being roughly two percent of the entire book. In summary, if you are looking for a complete and unabridged, easy-to-read version of "War and Peace" which features modern language, the Briggs translation would be a fine choice.

As a mother who screens everything her 13-year-old daughter reads, I was hesitant at first to introduce her to one of my all-time favourite books, partly because if its length, and partly because *other people* say it's too difficult for anyone not in a college Literature class. I am SO GLAD I decided to ignore common wisdom! This book, and all its various dramatizations have made Leo Tolstoy our permanent favourite writer. The only thing missing from our "War and Peace" experience is visiting Russia in person. I'd settle for seeing a Fabergè exhibition if there was one in town :-) Nevertheless, I foresee a revival in all things Leo Tolstoy in the days to come: "War and Peace" is quoted in both "The Gallagher Girls" YA series as well as the (unexpectedly affecting) existential novel "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" (which actually quotes Anna Karenina more). "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" is also a movie available in DVD form now, I believe. I am convinced our enjoyment of these other books (and life in general) would be much enhanced with a (re)reading of one of the world's first l-o-n-g series. If a person can get through all seven of Harry Potter's adventures, (s)he can certainly manage "War and Peace." I'm only sorry *I* didn't read Tolstoy myself until I was 30!!! Said daughter's review follows. Her quotes are taken from a mix of the Kindle version of the book, and the Penguin Classics edition. " 'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy is one of the longest books in the world, a story spanning the course of about twenty years and which is about, well, *life*. And, like life, the book is complicated when trying to explain it, yet it makes perfect sense to anyone who reads it. There are betrayals, death, marriage, love, religion, war, passion, historical facts, courageous and cowardly men - actually, I think the only genres it *doesn't* cover would be cowboy and alien. As a thirteen-year-old girl, who has always loved books, I'm not usually a fan of giant books - I prefer to be able to curl up with a book, not plonk it on my desk as if it's some tree-made brick. However, I think I will make an exception to this particular giant-of-a-book. "In case you don't know the plot of the story, here's the shortest version I can possibly give you. "Basically, the book revolves around five people - Prince Andrey, Princess Maria, Nikolai Rostov, Natasha Rostov, and Pierre Bezukhov, and their lives from 1805-1820. "Prince Andrey is unhappily married, and is a bit of a jerk to everyone except Pierre, who's basically his BFF (Best Friend Forever), and, occasionally, his younger sister, Maria. "Princess Maria is Andrey's little sister, and she is extremely religious and kind. However, her and Andrei's eccentric father often bullies her, and she is always being told that she is plain, so she is rather insecure. "Nikolai is Natasha's older brother. He is "in love" with Natasha's best friend, Sonya. He, like most boys, dreams of being a war hero. Unlike most boys *now* though, he actually has a chance to be one. "Natasha is about 12 years old at the start of the book, and is very naïve and lively. However, she is prone to bouts of depression and seriousness, which are sometimes good (like when she tries to understand the secrets of life), and sometimes bad ( when she thinks that no one will ever truly love or understand her). "Pierre is the illegitimate son of the wealthy Count Bezukhov, which makes him very unpopular among the aristocratic families. Unfortunately, he is also extremely clumsy and absent-minded, and spends most of his time drinking and partying. He's kinda like that boy in high school, you know, the one who's best friends with the school bad boy, but is never noticed without someone thinking 'ugh!' "As the book goes on, many things happen. Russia goes to war against Napoleon's armies, and Nikolai and Andrey both decide to go and fight. Meanwhile, Maria is very unhappy, but tries to cheer up for Andrei's pregnant wife's sake. Natasha is growing up, and becoming more and more beautiful every day, and Pierre suddenly inherits all of his father's fortune, making him suddenly popular with, well, everyone. However, then he gets a crisis of faith, and does all these things to try and find out if there is a God. "My favorite part was the ending. I've always like epilogues, and with this, I'm no different. This is one of my favorite quotes from one of the endings. Tolstoy decided to have *two* endings - one so that readers can find out what happened to all the characters, and another to explain life and history. This quote (which is on page 1292 in my version of the book) is from the ending where we find out what happens to the characters: " 'After seven years of marriage Pierre had the joyous and firm consciousness that he was not a bad man, and he felt this because he saw himself reflected in his wife. He felt the good and bad within himself inextricably mingled and overlapping. But only what was really good in him was reflected in his wife, all that was not quite good was rejected. And this was not the result of logical reasoning but was a direct and mysterious reflection.' "However, you're going to have to read the book yourself to find out what happens to the rest of the characters! "My favorite characters (because I can't choose just one), would have to be Natasha and Pierre. I like Natasha because she's a bit like me - we both are a bit ... umm... *lively*, and we both sometimes get gloomy/serious. Unlike Natasha though, I'm not a good singer or dancer! :-) I like Pierre, though, because, right now I'm kinda looking for the meaning of life like he did. While Pierre joined the Freemasons though, I became Buddhist for about a month, before deciding that, as much as I liked Buddhism, Christianity was more my style. Also, Pierre really does *try* to be kind. Sometimes he goes about it the wrong way, but sometimes he ends up becoming the person's favorite confidant! As the book says, (on page 1231 in my Kindle), " 'In external ways Pierre had hardly changed at all. In appearance he was just what he used to be. As before he was absent-minded and seemed occupied not with what was before his eyes but with something special of his own. The difference between his former and present self was that formerly when he did not grasp what lay before him or was said to him, he had puckered his forehead painfully as if vainly seeking to distinguish something at a distance. At present he still forgot what was said to him and still did not see what was before his eyes, but he now looked with a scarcely perceptible and seemingly ironic smile at what was before him and listened to what was said, though evidently seeing and hearing something quite different. Formerly he had appeared to be a kindhearted but unhappy man, and so people had been inclined to avoid him. Now a smile at the joy of life always played round his lips and sympathy for others, shone in his eyes with a questioning look as to whether they were as contented as he was, and people felt pleased by his presence. Previously he had talked a great deal, grew more excited when he talked, and seldom listened; now he was seldom carried away in conversation and knew how to listen so that people readily told him their most intimate secrets.' "However, there were things I didn't like about *either* of them. I guess that means though, that Tolstoy did his job - the book is suppose to show what life is *really* like. And, yeah, sometimes fighting a war for a good cause won't save you, sometimes your friends will annoy you to death, and sometimes the meanest person you know is the hero in someone else's life. But that's life - complicated and messy and chaotic and sad, funny and crazy and mysterious - but you know what? "That's why I like it so much."

Most who are deciding on a modern translation of War and Peace have probably narrowed it down to the Briggs and Pevear/Volokhonsky version. This review mostly serves to compare the two. I have great respect for Pevear and Volokhonsky's rigorously faithful approach to Dostoevsky's nervous style of writing. But I didn't want a literal translation of this literary behemoth with all French passages intact. It seemed like overkill, so I ordered the Viking edition of Briggs' translation. I already have the P+V edition of Tolstoy's short stories and Anna Karenina, so, keeping in mind what I know of their treatment of Tolstoy, and having compared their War and Peace on Kindle, I'd recommend first time readers to go with Briggs over the P+V version. First off, be suspicious of those who claim P+V's translations of everything will be superior to any other translator ever. That's simply not true - it's just marketing hype obscuring the reality behind their success. The reality is that, when given the choice, P+V choose a mimicking of the Russian syntax and slightly more stilted, though accurate, word choice to fit the meaning in Russian. It makes every novel they translate sound different, and in many cases, more "faithful." As I said, it's a huge advantage to their work on Dostoevsky. This sets them apart from most other translators, but it's entirely a matter of taste as to whether it's a more worthy or authentic method of translation, because all P+V translations just take the English a few steps further toward Russian. Anthony Briggs instead prefers to stay rooted in sentences that sound completely authentic in English. Having made it 115 pages in to the end of Part 1 Volume 1 over the course of two days, I can say that it's been a completely comfortable read, more so than any P+V translation I've read, which typically take me a bit longer as I think over why they made the word choices they did. The overall story as translated by Briggs is very clear, and it's easy to keep track of all the different and distinct characters. And as War and Peace is meant not as a regular novel or exercise in style, but as an overall view of history and humanity, missing the forest for the trees due to a translation that tries too hard would be missing Tolstoy's point completely. I'm afraid this would happen with P+V's translation if I switched over to it wholesale. It's very accurate, and reads a bit unnaturally as a result. Briggs' sentences flow like Tolstoy just wrote it yesterday. Keep in mind that the Viking hardcover's binding is not sewn (as every Everyman book is) but glued, which requires a bit more effort to keep open and is probably less durable in the long run. But besides this minor flaw, the white cover design is beautifully minimalistic, and the print and pages are just fine and easy to read. In the end, for the average Russian literature enthusiast, reading Pevear and Volokhonsky's doggedly academic and faithful version the first time around is like trying to do a no-oxygen-tank hike up Mt. Everest your first time up - it's not necessary and you probably won't make it the whole way. So save their edition for your second pass, when you're familiar with the story and you want a more challenging, faithful interpretation. If you're a first time reader, get Anthony Briggs' edition, breathe easy, and you'll be happy you did when you reach the top. Update 11/23/2013: just finished War and Peace after many months, and it was every bit worth the hype. Everything I already wrote does hold true from start to finish.

War and Peace, Tolstoy's 2nd greatest novel after Anna Karenina, can be read as a series of shorter novels so as not to intimidate the reader: the 4 volumes are each around 300 pages, and it ends with 100 pages in (not 1 but) 2 epilogues. But make no mistake; it is all of one piece, a single glorious work of art. The greatness lies largely in the way that Tolstoy tells such a large story with such patience and clarity of vision from start to finish. There are so many characters, so much heavenly scenery, a multitude of dynamic relationships described over the course of the novel, and above all, many lifetime's worth of human emotions; but from start to finish not one of these creations of Tolstoy's is written falsely, inconsistently, or one-dimensionally. If you are passionately interested in the philosphy of history but have never read it in truly masterful fiction, you must read this book. Or if you are just intrigued by the idea of a literary narrative which shines from the far away vista of the here and now, and deftly skims both the river of time and the surface of unspoken conscious thought, without dallying into the murky depths of the subconcious, then you also must read it. It's greatest quality is how few if any passages are less than perfectly written so as to create a clear and delicate feeling within the reader, with grace and precision. It does not have as much profundity within the story as I had thought it might, and Tolstoy had to leave the narrative in order to make any major point about the nature of human knowledge and behavior (which he does in several asides which amount to essays on the flaws of history.) But this is not really a problem as long as you don't expect the book to probe deeper and deeper into human nature by way of storytelling, since within the story proper, it stays at the same level of human thought on page 10 as it does 1,200, except through those essays. And knowing this, you may get even more out of reading it than did I. The Briggs translation is a fairly easy read, though clearly it's written for the U.K. market (the use of slang is not like anything I've heard here in the USA) and the copy I bought contained a major typo in the first chapter summary, and several minor ones in the latter part of the book. This is only a problem if you paid $25 for the book like I did, and tend to feel ripped off by such careless mistakes with such a carefully crafted work of art.

While I’ve been at times an avid war historian, particularly of World Wars I and II, I seldom read the stories connected with them. Books by Bowden, Marlantes, Moore, and Shaara have been the exceptions. War and Peace was another exception. I read it following Anna Karenina and expected, and found, a lot of soap opera in it. I also found a true war story. Tolstoy’s history may not be perfect, but it is close enough, at least for me; so much so that I had to read it with Google Maps, Wikipedia, and other apps open all the while. Of course, what I think Tolstoy did best was to capture the thinking of officers, real and imagined, as they plodded through yet another senseless conflict. The best war writers, of fiction and non-fiction do this. I’m glad I read this. It only took me until my 70s to do what my older brother did before he was 19. War and Peace is, to my delight, a war story, with a healthy dose of romance thrown in.

I had decided early on to use my Kindle to read early significant literature. But I had no idea of the power of Leo Tolstoy, even in translation. Tolstoy uses the plot of the war between Russia and Napoleonic France to describe the essence of man. The parts of the book in peace show Russian society in the early 19th century, and how, when families are filled with persons of virtue those families are happy and at peace. But the part of the book in war show how foolish war is, and especially at that time, how random the results of war tended to be. Communication between parts of the armies was so poor, whether one side or the other was victorious in battle was almost by chance, or so Tolstoy seems to argue. But the final part of the book concerns Tolstoy's concern about the direction of the study of history. How can we study the history of nations, and what constitutes nations? Are nations merely the leaders of those nations and their interaction, or do the people and their interaction with their leaders play a part? One must remember that in Europe at the time, almost all nations were still monarchies, in which royalty was the ruling class and the rest of the people had no consequence. Meanwhile, in America, the young nation was electing its representatives in government, and if those leaders disappointed the people, they voted them out and elected new leaders. Tolstoy is also interested in free will vs. necessity. Do people behave because of the influences of their environment, or do they behave freely regardless of these influences? Clearly there is a changing relationship between free will vs. necessity, but Tolstoy creates a neat argument that is important for people to understand and think about. I wish more people would read this amazing book. I also wish Tolstoy wrote about his ideas in a briefer version so that more people would read his work!

I just read this for the first time after seeing an IG reel about the longest book out there. After having read 'the count of Monte Cristo', I was feeling ambitious about this one. It took a little over a year of me reading it with no actual prior knowledge or background of the book. It was slow at times and I had to just force myself to read through the chapters. Some I found boring and when it got exciting, I binge read. As I reflected in my readings and the events happening in the current days, I found the similarities happening then as they are now. Human nature and the turn of events haven't changed, even when the world has. It is an adventure and a drama set in Russia during the Napoleon war. If I were to read this again, which I would love to, I would do it with a further understanding of the war and do this rereading with another person (or group) to discuss each chapter in detail. There's a lot of talking points to be made and it would have been nice to discuss them.

I feel like giving this book four stars is not right. After all, the vast majority of the novel was absolutely brilliant. Tolstoy's characters are so well drawn, and you really care about them so much. Tolstoy is a master of emotional scenes imbued with pathos, humor and tension. He knows people so well and most of the novel was a pure joy to read.This was one of those books I felt challenged to read all my life but was somewhat intimidated by the sheer bulk of it as well as the subject matter. It also seemed, well, dull. Until I started to read it. I found it addicting and emotional and very profound. BUT........ What really bothers me is Tolstoy offers us much more information about the Napoleonic Wars against Russia than I really wanted to know. I can understand that some background is required. But he doesn't stop there. He keeps going and going and going. You keep slogging through it because you are addicted to the actual story. What is really really tedious is Tolstoy also goes through many chapters of historical philosophy. Not just a few, but dozens and dozens and dozens of interminable pages about a subject I find of very limited interest and of absolutely no relation to the story. Granted, pretty much all classic nineteenth century novels have their longueurs you have to endure before you can get to the rest of the story. But Tolstoy's longueurs really mar the rest of the novel. I truthfully believe in this instance a nice editing job would be an excellent idea. You may call this heresy, but if you do I think you probably haven't read the book.

My journey through war and peace has just been something else. War and Peace is a beautiful, dazzling piece of literature. At its heart describing the human condition with a clarity and richness I have never experienced reading before. Tolstoy conveys emotion with so few words. At times I felt not enough words, as when he just kills off a character so quickly, and although I wanted more at these times, he was giving us reality. He has the ability to see inside you and creates a narrative with so many emotions and sensations, that you feel you are experiencing it yourself. It is a complex and untidy book, but I actually loved this. There isn’t really a start middle and end - the book just sort of stops and that is weird but it makes you feel that the characters all just continue living within history as it continues. He weaves history and the characters experiences together in an astonishing way, there is a real richness to it that I won’t forget. He shows us how messy history is, it’s not boxed up neatly for us as in a textbook. It is ongoing, with blurred lines, and no control so that you cannot identify the ‘right side’. This book is for everyone, don’t be put off. It is readable, funny, rich, complex and simply a literary triumph. I will definitely read this again through my life as I feel it has so much more to give me and I will take new meanings from it each time I read.

Paper is good quality. I finished the book, and loved the story of L. Tolstoy. He explained the war sequence, reasons, his view about napoleon are splendid. Translation is acceptable. I felt almyer maude translation is short compared to briggs. Otherwise briggs also good.Text are small, but readable.

If you want to read War and Peace but don't know which translation you'd get. Hopefully my review will help. If you want everything in English [British it is!], then this translation is perfect! But if you want to know who speaks French at what occassion, get Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky's translation. Both are good! But for first time reader I do recommend this book translated by Anthony Briggs! The pages are not easily torn, too.

The paperback is torn and in bad condition.

プーチン大統領の愛読書であり「世界最大の小説」と称されてる本書を私ごとき豚児が書評をかける故もないのですがその素晴らしさに圧倒され筆をとりました。多少の小説は読みました、「風と共に去りぬ」、「大地」そして「誰がために鐘はなる」、全て素晴らしい作品ですが、「戦争と平和」がこれらに与えた影響は多大です。トルストイ以前の哲学と宗教に加え科学的見地を加えた世界観・人間観が全く新しい見方をもたらしてます。仏語を日常に使用し、王室と女性にしか興味のないロシア貴族階級が、ナポレオンの侵攻にどう対応するのかが、本書の主題です。愛国心に満ちた若き貴公子が初陣であっけなく頭を射貫かれ、狡猾な老将軍たちは巧みに戦場から離れる対比。信仰心の塊だった貴婦人は、愛人のできた父親の伯爵から冷たく扱われ信仰の意味を失う。最大の謎はナポレオンが略奪と大火のみが残り、栄誉・富の一切ないモスクワまで何故侵攻したのか？彼の「意志」がそうさせたのか？それともモスクワ侵攻は「運命」だったのか？人間と歴史を「意志と運命」の相反する観点から展開させ記述し、本質に迫る描写には圧倒される。気になったのはトルストイが強調してる「Good of living and the love of death」の一節。「love of death」は東洋思想には有りません、これが現在のロシア・ウクライナ戦争にどんな影響を与えるのか？本書は現在も生きてます。