Tolstoy

[andrei]

You should try reading the novel in the original language, then all of your complaints about the confusing structure will be put to rest. You really should not judge the quality of language of a book that you are not reading in its original form. Try Russian, it works much better.

[tyler]

As with all translations, particularly Russian, including Dostoevsky, which is translated often not even from the Russian, but from the French, which was translated from the Russian. Secondly, War and Peace, with its great length, takes about 100 pages to really get into, as opposed to Anna Karenina, which takes much less time (and is half as long as War and Peace). Lastly, because War and Peace has the reputation it does it can be disappointing when one goes into it with very high expectations. Just let it be, let it be what it is and don't think it ought to be this or that.

[Wes]

My suggestion is that you don't read the British translation. It tends to be more droll, with less expressive language. If you can find a copy by an American, the dialectic may feel more alive and realistic to you. Then again, it may not help at all. By the way, this suggestion probably won't work if you are British.

[stephen]

andrei,<br>If the peron could read Russian he wouldnt need a translated copy.

[Uncle]

Keep reading friend. The beginning is very hard to get through but once you get warmed up you wont be able to put it down.

[Unregistered]

I absolutely agree that it takes longer to get into W&P than into Anna Karenin -- and that it takes a while for all the characters to come to life (and just to begin to learn who's who). I'm reading it for the first time & am now about half-way through and for the last 200 pages or so I can scarcely put it down.

[Unregistered]

I totally agrre with you in the fact that war and peace is much harder to read then Anna Karenin, i read both of them recently but i would have to say that they are both very powerfull in their own way.. While in Anna you got intriged by the family life and the husban wife relations and love right at the beginning you must agree that Anna too had some down moments, there were pages with descriptions not much neccessary, and the same thing goes for war and peace, you would just have to read on.... after a while you will stay up all night just to finish it...it happenned to me and a few of my friends who read it. the only difference between the two books is that one is long when you start but gets really exciting as you go along one has some downtimes in the middle...the language in both of them ie beautiful, and very insightfull.

[Greg]

Friends, I would agree with Neal <br>Actually i read both books in original language, i just would like to express my opinion than Anna Karenina is more mature and more reach and punctually written than War and Pease (Tolstoy wrote A.K. much later, when he reconsidered his perception of life and sharpened his talent), however I would disagree that the language in War and Pease is worse (language of Tolstoy was very good from the beginning of his writing), language greatly depends on the translator, often the translators spoil the magnificent books and verses <br>

[Neal]

Encouraged by my recent enjoyment of Anna Karenina I have started to read War and Peace. Frankly I am disappointed: while as yet only on page eighty-two the writing does not seem as good and even, at some times awkward. Is this due to a bad translation? Anna was an old Modern Library edition translated by Constance Garnett; W&P is a three volume Heron Books, London, undated. I fail to understand the notorious reputation of the complexity of characters in W&P: Anna seemed to have many more and the variety of sub-plots was intriguing, the characters more fully drawn, the observations on life more insightful, the concerns of the characters of more modern interest, and the feeling for the social life of the aristocracy more real. But, perhaps I just have to read more. Please comment.