I went through a phase of reading the classics and found I had a 50:50 chance of loving them or hating them. Some were clearly written in the days when there wasn’t much entertainment so it didn’t matter if you waffled on about pointless rubbish for 50-odd pages before getting to the next plot point as it wasn’t like your audience was going anywhere.

Got about a third of the way through W&P and gave up, partly as I couldn’t keep track of the characters and their millions of names. I seem to be different to others on this thread though as I hated crime & punishment and loved the count of Monte Cristo 😀

Job these days involves a lot of reading so I really can’t be arsed with anything that doesn’t immediately hook me in when reading for pleasure. Started the Dark Tower series now and enjoying that, though I nearly didn’t push through after the first book (which is pish).

loved it. There’s a lot of everything – plenty of war, plenty of high-society poncing around, plenty of Tolstoy’s theories about history and great leaders (and why Napoleon wasn’t one, haha), tons of descriptions (which I really enjoyed actually – the way he describes people and their odd personality traits is so vivid).

If you’ve already read some old Russian stuff you’ll be better placed to understand the names/patronymics and some of the cultural references.

I was expecting it to be a slog, but it wasn’t at all – and surprisingly funny at times.

give it a go!

doris5000 – Member
…If you’ve already read some old Russian stuff you’ll be better placed to understand the names/patronymics…

That’s an important point. It is very confusing otherwise, so it’s worth nailing that down before you start.

Took me over a year, occasionally having to stop and read something simple.
Before I started I did ask through the form of a facebook post if anyone had read it and was told by someone that it took them a fortnight. When I finished the same person made me aware that at the time they read it they were incarcerated at her Majesties Pleasure…

Lots of characters, with multiple names (as is the Russian way, formal, patriarchal, pet and other forms of name) which are switched between as appropriate for the setting.

Much easier to read than Moby Dick though, persevered through that, it doesn’t help that Melville offered his opinions on what a Whale is every other chapter most of which goes against modern understanding (It’s a mammal not a fish). That said it’s a good story behind weak writing.

If you are interested, other interesting Russian novels of a similar nature to War and Peace include And Quiet Flows the Don by Michail Sholokovsky. Its about life before, during and after the first world war. It’s been recently re-issued. Fairly easy to read too and a bit gory in parts. Another classic, which is much harder to read, is Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. It covers the lives of characters during the second world war. This book was banned in Russia, because it was considered too close to real life.

Cheers, will check them out. Have just started on One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Much easier to read than Moby Dick though, persevered through that, it doesn’t help that Melville offered his opinions on what a Whale is

I read that fairly recently. It is hard going – and the actual whale is hardly featured! However, I read it as how science saw whales at the time and not specifically the author’s opinion.

I would love to read it but I’ve long recognised the impact that my previous career (lawyer) had on reading: I spent 12+ hours a day reading tedious, turgid contracts and the last thing I wanted to do to relax was to read. I think several years passed when I didn;t read a book. And I very nearly read English Lit at university.

My “fix” has been to read novellas as they’re short enough that, even if they take several weeks of picking up and putting down, I’ll finish them.

But I would dearly love to have the mental space and energy to immerse myself into a book like that.

I like Tolstoy, but can’t get through Dostoevsky at all.

I read War and Peace in my early 20s and loved it – as others have said, I felt bereft when I finished it. I enjoyed Anna Karenina too (except for the monologues on agricultural practice).

Conversely I started and failed to finish the Brothers Karamazov twice, then gave up for good.

Twice .. Once at Uni (totally unrelated to my subject) and then I picked it up like an idiot in the middle of revision for my MSc (eventually forced myself to finish it in about 3 days).

I agree its hard to get into, but by the end you want it to go on and on.