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War and Peace (Vintage Classics) | 
| Author: Leo Tolstoy
Creators: Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.09
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Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 2039
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1296
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 2.1
ISBN: 1400079985
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781400079988
ASIN: 1400079985
Publication Date: December 2, 2008
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Product Description
From the award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov comes this magnificent new translation of Tolstoy's masterwork.
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.
A s Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 62 more reviews...
 The Norton critical might be better for classrooms January 2, 2009
I have enjoyed reading this translation. I applaud the retention of the orignal French. I do not know Russian so I cannot judge this translation by comparing it with others on the ground of fidelity to the original. As a reader, however, I think the old Maude translation is occasionally smoother and more attractive. The wierd and awkward attempt at reproducing Denisov's tongue-tied speech really irritates me; it is very badly done. Maude's version was infintely funnier and better. Do these brilliant translators know what "tongue-tied" means? The notes are neither as useful or as full as in the Norton Critical Edition. Neither are they accessible, being printed in the back of the book, where few students are going to be bothered to look for them. A great translation --no doubt--but not so great for some purposes.
 What other authors leave in their heads January 1, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Tolstoy goes far beyond just hitting the peaks of the story but also, writes at length on the hills, valleys, and everything in between (the material that other authors leave out). It is exhaustively detailed, down to the most mundane description of a character. Being that the high-points are few and far, I did have to trudge through this mammoth work. But what an opportunity to perfect, enhance and, give character to our own writings, through these wonderful, brilliant prose.
The story is played out in the present tense but sporadically, Tolstoy intervenes in short chapters with a second person history lesson on how the historians got things wrong (we discover history revisionists are nothing new) and a delving into the workings of the human mind. The epilogue is almost completely devoted to these assessments and can be read virtually on its own merit. This edition (translated by Garnett) is complete with helpful footnotes and endnotes.
Always with a spiritual force, Tolstoy captures well the cultural interactions and the Russian aristocrat families as they are caught between their fanciful lives and the looming French invasion, lead by the delusional Napolean. There was a feeling of contentment at the beginning, but that would soon be dispelled as Russia would be forced to wage unconditional war to push the French out. And it would be spirit that ultimately wins the war for Russia. Finally the story brings us to the aftermath and what befell the families.
Tolstoy reminds us, the varied perceptions of the war can only give us a partial understanding of the truth: We must dig deeper to understand. This straight-forward thinker finds a way to search through the clutter to critique the cause, and the why, and with it, generate a unique hindsight. For Tolstoy I believe it was more important to find the goodness and cheerfulness amongst the chaos, as if the war didn't exist----life moves on. Most enthralling of all is his examination of the contradiction, or is it conundrum, that arises between mans' free will and law through reasoning, that "if the will of every man were free, that is, if every man could act as he chose, the whole of history would be a tissue of disconnected accidents", though "once admit that human life can be guided by reason, and all possibility of life is annihilated".
May the LORD bless you
Scott
 An Amazing Book December 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
From the time I was a young boy, I had knowledge of the existence of this sprawling and intimidating work of literature. I finally decided to tackle it a few weeks ago after taking an interest in Dostoevsky and reading some of his greatest works. My understanding is that Nabokov put Tolstoy in a class significantly above Dostoevsky which increased my interest in reading this book.
Needless to say, this book did not disappoint in the least. The story revolves around three families, but in particular a single member from each family: Natasha Rostov, Pierre Bezhukov, and Andrei Bolkonsky. The story takes place during the Napoleonic Wars, certainly a time of unease and turmoil for most Russians (and most Europeans as well). It's very difficult to summarize the plot because this book had the aura of being about not individual events, but rather felt like it was about everything. One has to read it to understand this analysis, but I think to anyone who has read the book, this makes sense.
I can't tell you how many times tears would come to my eyes while reading this book. Tolstoy has such a great understanding of humanity that he could understand and convey the workings of people of all ages, genders, and social classes, and show the humanity and beauty in their souls, along with the weaknesses that made them imperfect.
I can't compare translations because this is the only translation I have ever read, however, I really enjoyed the prose and would recommend this translation to anyone interested in reading this great book.
 Do you speak French? December 5, 2008
2 out of 16 found this review helpful
Something to ask yourself before you buy this edition. If not, you may want to read War and Peace translated by someone else, where you do not have to refer to the bottom of each page in order to read a page. Extremely annoying. Who cares what Tolstoy intended? He intended it to be read in Russian too, so why not learn French and Russian and read the original? Good luck.
Old Novel/New Translation November 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This recent War and Peace translation from Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky reads smoothly and pleasurably. At more than 1,200 pages, Tolstoy's novel isn't exactly quick and easy reading but this version removes barriers that made previous English translations more of a chore to read.
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