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Watched the telly programme and enjoyed it, but it felt like huge amounts of detail were left out (understandably).
So is it worth a read?
twice, the cartoon was better...
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I studied this at Uni for a Russian Literature paper. Was an elective, not my major. I looked at all my other work and decided reading it was not a good use of my time. Read the Coles notes, researched Tolstoy and watched an ancient film of the novel. Got an A in the exam.
If you do read it, let me know how it turns out !
read it when i was about 30. loved it.
there's a lot more 'war' in the book. There's a lot more stuff about people who aren't just mincing about in drawing rooms - peasants, the freemasons, etc. Pierre's journey is a lot more fully realised, and the bit where he decides he has to assassinate Napoleon made me laugh out loud (a bit).
there's also an absolute arseload of Tolstoy's pontificating about history, historians and commentators generally, which i enjoyed but may not be for everyone.
and it is, as you may expect, beautifully written. the fact that he wrote it in his 30's is staggering IMO
I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.
Woody Allen
Yup. Just finished reading it before the mid series came out. Couldn't face watching it. How could they do it any justice? Loved Tolstoy's notes on war. Favourite quote:
"But what is war? What is needed for success in warfare? What are the habits of the military? The aim of war is murder; the methods of war are spying, treachery, and their encouragement, the ruin of a country's inhabitants, robbing them or stealing to provision the army, and fraud and falsehood termed military craft. The habits of the military class are the absence of freedom, that is, discipline, idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery, and drunkenness. And in spite of all this it is the highest class, respected by everyone."
Yes, as a teenager after the BBC series in the 70's. That had 20 episodes to get the the story across IIRC.
40 odd years later I might have another go.
Not yet, but I do have this on the shelf and a meeting to discuss my redundancy this afternoon.
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If you do read it, let me know how it turns out !
Spoiler Alert: It gets a bit chilly and Napoleon bottles it.
I've tried too twice.
Same as crime and punishment. Twice just need to mtfu try it.
Prefer Chekhov. Uncle baby's is an easy read.
Gorky is great too.