My one regret is that i know no Russian, i would love to read it in the original.


An epic masterpiece   December 15, 2000
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Undoubtedly the most moving book I have ever read. Tolstoy's incredibly detailed depiction of the plight of the refugees, the tragedies of deaths in the family and the unstoppable pursuit of love and happiness in the middle of all that carnage brought a tear to my eye. Some people complain about the depth into which the author goes in describing every character and would say that it is unnecessarily detailed. Not a bit of it! By the time I read this book I felt like I knew each character as a personal friend with whom I had grown up. Pierre Bezukhov is the character who most people could identify with as a bit of an outsider in the Russian courts. The interaction of him and the other characters with real people from history is very cleverly done, Forest Gump was not a new idea by any means.

As for the long passages on the inexorable process of history which man cannot influence, well if I were living in a feudal Europe which was governed by a small extended family of in-bred nobles whose family squabbles were settled by the slaughter of their citizens, then maybe I would think that history is uncontrollable too. These passages are not hard to spot and anyone with a bit of common sense can read between the lines and take them with a pinch of salt.

He may seem to approve of serfdom, but in those days democracy was a concept which hadn't quite taken root and most people (including Tolstoy) didn't know any different.

This is an exhilerating read for anyone who has what it takes to get right through it.


One Big Soap Opera   August 25, 2000
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This books size should not put anyone off, it is actually very easy to read -read a bit each night and it is just like a big soap opera where you become interested in what will happen to the numerous characters and over the 900 or so pages you enjoy seeing them progress throught the years.

Occasionally there are some dull essays on the authors opinion of wars and how they work etc. but iother than this an enjoyable story about people combined with insights into a period of history.

Plus when you have finished it sounds dead impressive when you say you have read war and peace!

Though it should not since the only hat=rd thing is its sheer size.


A long-winded and tedious marathon   July 26, 2000
 1 out of 11 found this review helpful

I tried to read this book in one go, and failed. I reckon that I must have read three other books before I summoned up the courage scrape myself out of the mire that is War and Peace. It just goes on and on with passages that any other author would have described within twenty pages but Tolstoy takes three to four times that. If you're a glutton for punishment and have the mental constitution of a banana then I would recommend this book otherwise read Solzhenitsyn.


So disappointing   October 15, 1999
 3 out of 14 found this review helpful

I read this hoping it would be the greatest novel I ever read. How disappointed was I when, 1444 pages later, I concluded it was far too long, far too tedious, and hopelessly amateurish. Admittedly, there are wonderful and forceful sections, such as Prince Nikolai's visit to a field hospital, but these are outnumbered by sections of seering banality. A thirty-page description of wolf-hunting, anyone?

Behind Tolstoy's frustratingly forensic depictions of Russian life lies a desire to glorify Tsarist Russia. His arguments are weak, unconvincing, and (as you would expect from someone so involved with the aristocracy of the time) one-sided. Should you need proof of this, read the ecclectic coda concerning the predestination of the world's events.

It will be a fair while before I make the effort to read another Tolstoy.