a reader on War and Peace

Charlie writes:

“Saw your post re: War & Peace. It’s a good time to reread it now that we have the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, which is just a tremendous joy to read. The care, attention, and intelligence that P & V put into their work is really unique–I think partially having to do with the nature of their teamwork… the handing back and forth of the book between critical and poetic eyes.”

The tip is greatly appreciated, though I can’t see enough free time at the end of the tunnel just yet.

However, I did have a great experience as a 21-year-old reading War and Peace, which was simultaneous with my first reading of Hegek’s Phenomenology. That was an excellent combination to read side-by-side. But here we’re talking about Tolstoy.

First of all, it’s a great story. I thought the interweaving of the social scenes and the war scenes was done brilliantly. There’s a reason this is considered one of the 2 or 3 greatest novels ever written, and sometimes the best. (I’d probably rank Don Quixote slightly above it, but not by much.)

Anyway, War and Peace is a great experience. If you’ve never read it, you should put it on your short list of big projects. And Charlie tells us the new translation is really good. I’m glad to hear that, because the copy I read at age 21 was taken from me by someone I knew well, who read the book on my advice and loved it so much that it was simply never returned to me and was then taken off to a distant country.