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I started reviewing the top 100 best books and this is up there. This is simply one of the best books you will ever read.it will take you a while.
One of the great virtues of a 'Look Inside' feature should be to let you see how different translators present a work. Not so at Amazon, where what you're reading may come from any edition they have, not the one you're browsing. Useless and of course disrespectful to the reader, translator and author.
Some readers argue that there's too much here, but I think it's all enjoyable and useful in some way provided you're comfortable with long books. The story is great, the characters incredibly lifelike, and the language not nearly as dense as many people expect from classics. I will add that this book taught me a lot about war; most novels gloss over the confusion of battle, for instance, but it's clear that Tolstoy learned a lot from his war experience, and probably does a better job writing about it than any other novelist I've read. The time devoted to character development, scene-setting and so forth definitely pays off, and the chapters themselves are quite short, so something new is always happening.Really, this book deserves its superlatives, and there's not much more I can say that hasn't already been said. Other versions leave it untranslated in the text and include footnotes, but when I sampled one I found it tiring.
Why have I never read that in a book before." High praise indeed. Here it's almost all translated, with only a few words and phrases left in French for flavor or because the language being spoken is important. Usually they last no more than a few pages, and as they're set off in separate chapters, they can be skipped entirely if the reader so chooses. If you want a more academic experience and background on the text, though, this may not be the edition for you.Finally, for those who are thinking about reading War and Peace but a little intimidated--don't be. I'm pleased to report that War and Peace works on all fronts, that it is honestly a great read.
I'm not a big classics reader. As most potential readers probably know, the book deals with several Russian families from the years 1805-1812 (particularly that last one, when Napoleon invaded Russia). When an entire conversation is in French, Dunnigan simply tells us that it's in French. There is quite a bit of French in Tolstoy's original. This is someone who really understands how people operate. Whether these aspects of the book thrill or annoy you will depend on what kind of reader you are.
I will note, though, that in the second half, Tolstoy does include several essays on "The Inevitability of History" and takes time away from the narrative to discuss his philosophical views. This book will leave you understanding not just how war worked in the 19th century, but how it works in general.On a related point, many of Tolstoy's insights into human nature are just astounding. It's a long book but absolutely readable and worth the effort. Dunnigan renders peasant speech into standard (American) English. The characters' names remain in Russian. 2. I can't even count how many times I reacted to some statement with, "hey, that's so true. These sections are well-done, but it does mean that especially later on, the narrative spends quite a bit of time away from any main characters.
Tolstoy originally used local forms of speech which some British translators decided to translate as Cockney accents. I look for books that provide great stories and characters--that provide entertainment, not just material for study. "Andrei," for instance, is not that difficult a name--no need to call him "Andrew." 3. One or two of the other translations Anglicize them, which seems silly to me. I highly recommend this one, particularly to American readers who don't speak French, and people who are reading it for non-academic purposes, for the following reasons: 1. Dunnigan's choice may have less flavor, but it doesn't call attention to itself or give a false flavor to the characters' speech.4. Yes, it's long, but it doesn't feel like it. Really, it seems to deal with nearly every aspect of life at the time--there are battles, of course, but also plenty of daily life, parties, hunting, courting and so on.
If you'd rather miss a few allusions than feel like you have to flip to the back of the book to look something up every couple of pages, this is a plus. A considerable amount of time is also spent with minor, unnamed characters, when Tolstoy looks at the situation of the army, or in Moscow, or what have you, and no main characters happen to be there. On Dunnigan's Translation: This is the only translation of War and Peace that I've read, but I did look at several before deciding which one to read--when the book is this long, which translation you read is important. No endnotes, and minimal footnotes. This one is a classic for a reason.
I have read several reviews by those that can read the language and the consensus by them seem to favor these two translators. HelloJust to add another into the mix.there is another translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. I always look for their translation while buying my Russian books. I believe they have won many awards for the efforts. Just something that I thought I would add to further your enjoyment while reading.
It is simply long because it contains so much--so many characters, so many profound issues, so much military action, and so much history. Moby Dick, for example, is known to be about whales and obsession (more the author's obsession with whales that Captain Ahab's obsession with Moby Dick it seems to me). There are a number of classics that aren't so much read as they are known. Much of what I learned and remember about Russia, Napoleon, the Napoleonic campaigns, the Battle of Borodino, Russian geography, Russian society, General Kutuzov, military strategy, nineteenth century weaponry, soirees, and romance came from the pages of this book. War and Peace is not so much known for even its superficial content as it is for its length--a hindrance that keeps many readers away and even thwarts high school teachers from assigning it as required reading. This is a shame, because far from other alleged "classics" that are a tedious slog, War and Peace is an enjoyable read. The epic scope gives the reader an abundance of reasons to keep turning the pages to learn more about the era, the characters, the history, and the plot, making this one of the biggest page-turners I have read among the classics. Take the time to read this novel--it will be a delight, not the chore that the jokes about length might make you think.
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