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War and Peace


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Translated by
Louise and Aylmer Maude.

Epic historical novel by Leo Tolstoy, originally published as Voyna i mir in 1865-69. This panoramic study of early 19th-century Russian society, noted for its mastery of realistic detail and variety of psychological analysis, is generally regarded as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace is primarily concerned with the histories of five aristocratic families--particularly the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Rostovs--the members of which are portrayed against a vivid background of Russian social life during the war against Napoleon (1805-14). The theme of war, however, is subordinate to the story of family existence, which involves Tolstoy's optimistic belief in the life-asserting pattern of human existence. The heroine, Natasha Rostova, for example, reaches her greatest fulfillment through her marriage to Pierre Bezukhov and her motherhood. The novel also sets forth a theory of history, concluding that there is a minimum of free choice; all is ruled by an inexorable historical determinism

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Recent Forum Posts on War and Peace

Opening of Book Six

I just read the opening pages of book six: Prince Andrew (or Andrey) and the stripped oak, spring, Natasha, rebirth. Just totally masterful. What they meant when they said this book was "written in sunlight.

Posted By Hack Attack at Wed 16 Jan 2008, 7:23 PM in War and Peace || 1 Reply

An Unmentioned Influence of W&P

Attending a couple of performances of Prokofiev's magnificent opera, War and Peace, at the Metropolitan recently, and thinking of all the plot lines he did not choose to set (the piece is nearly five hours long as it is, and doesn't include three-quarters of Tolstoy's characters), I began to think of Tolstoy's masterful construction: the two or three aristocratic families (Bolkonskys, Rostovs, Kuragins-and-Bezukhovs), the pettiness of their romantic and other involvements when the great tidal wave of national disaster rolls over them, the way the characters show their mettle in meeting it, the way their personal destinies work themselves out in a more peaceable aftermath -- and the resemblance to another work in an entirely different medium occurred to me. Can it be that no one has noticed this? Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation." Like Tolstoy, he examines a couple of aristocratic families, their loyal underlings, their intertwining romances, and then hits them in the head with a shattering cataclysm that kills quite a few of them and transforms the lives and social circumstances of the rest. His very neutrality on the Civil War (and his determination to see blacks who attempt to break out of their class as contrary to the "natural") seem to grow also from Tolstoy's belief in the Russian-ness that links the class system of pre-Revolutionary Russia to a proper devotion to the Russian earth. (His racism could almost be a dreadful parody of Tolstoy's religion.) Even to the happy endings tacked on in both works after the upheavals, the story told in the American work seems to be an attempt to create the effect -- in a transAtlantic milieu -- of national epic in the manner and on the level of Tolstoy's. For the fledgling film industry, it was an important attempt, and he chose (I believe) a significant model. But Griffith's own blindness to the evils of racism and the reality of American culture (not that Tolstoy was seeing Russia 20/20) make us uncomfortable with this relationship.

Posted By ATsarIsBorn at Sat 5 Jan 2008, 3:22 AM in War and Peace || 0 Replies

Is Dohokhov more than a scalawag in Persian dress?

I'm glad there are so many of you who love War and Peace as much as I do. Ths last time I read it, I was struck by how often Tolstoy used Dohokhov whenever he need an antagonist: Dohokhov goads Pierre into a duel, entices Nikolay Rostov into a huge gambling debt, helps Anatole Kuragin in his attempt to abduct Natasha and carelesly leads the naive Petya Rostov behind enemy lines. Dolokhov has no Christian name or patronymic. What do you all think? Did Tolstoy pull it off? Is Dolokhov a contrivance or a believable character?

Posted By Bleakhills at Tue 6 Nov 2007, 8:15 PM in War and Peace || 15 Replies

War and Peace

...by Leo Tolstoy; has anybody read this book and/or does anyone know if it is worth reading?

Posted By Smooth Operator at Fri 21 Sep 2007, 7:00 PM in War and Peace || 6 Replies

New " War and Peace " adaptation

Does anyone know when the new movie adaptation ( Lux Vide company ) is coming out in North America ? Apparently, it has already debuted in April In Italy. Am dying to know. By the way, has anyone seen the new version---and is there an online version ( other than trailers ) ?

Posted By olichka at Sun 22 Jul 2007, 3:39 PM in War and Peace || 1 Reply

Which translation to read?

My book club is reading W. & P. this summer but we don't know which translation to choose. I've looked into Garnett, Edmonds and Briggs, but it's hard to determine which would be the best choice. I also heard there's a new translation coming out in Nov. '07 and maybe we should wait for that one. I'd really appreciate some advice. Thanks.

Posted By mtk12345 at Fri 18 May 2007, 7:35 PM in War and Peace || 7 Replies

The ORIGINAL VERSION of WAR and PEACE

Has anyone gotten an original version of W. and P. yet ? I bought it last week and am reading it right now. It`s actually an interesting read, and gives additional info about the characters, as well as insight into their motivations. Andrey does survive, but he and Natasha do not end up together --- he gives her up to secure the happiness of his sister Marya who loves Nikolay. However, he realizes that Natasha never truly loved him --- so, is it really a sacrifce then ? It would be interesting to see what you guys think of this version.

Posted By olichka at Sun 6 May 2007, 4:37 PM in War and Peace || 23 Replies

Anatol Kuragin

Was anyone else left wondering, like me, what really happened to Anatol? We were never given a definitive answer. We were told that Prince Andrei and Anatol died, but then found out that Andrei was, in fact, still alive. That, to me, made the news of Anatol's death come in question and it was never clarified. Or maybe I'm just reading to much into this?

Posted By metal134 at Sat 5 May 2007, 11:20 AM in War and Peace || 3 Replies

Help locating a passage

Hi everyone, I need help locating a passage on descriptions of Napoleon taking a bath or coming out of a bath. I did a search for it, but it returned no results. So I'm not too sure if there is such a passage in the book. Much thanks!

Posted By sabrinashen at Fri 27 Apr 2007, 4:53 PM in War and Peace || 3 Replies

Book by R.F. Christian: Recommended?

Greetings, There's a book by Reginald Frank Christian I'd like to read titled, "Tolstoy's 'War and Peace': A Study." (It's not available on Amazon but it is at my local library.) If you've read it, could you please tell me what you think? I understand that it is something of a literary analysis of the book, i.e. characterizations, structure. Thank you.

Posted By Francisco at Wed 28 Mar 2007, 2:57 AM in War and Peace || 0 Replies

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