War and Peace, Vol. 1

by Leo Tolstoy

Paperback, 672 pages

English language

Published Jan. 20, 2003 by IndyPublish.com.

ISBN:: 978-1-4043-4167-8

View on OpenLibrary

(30 reviews)

1 edition

Ikwezi reviewed War and Peace, Vol. 1 by Leo Tolstoy

Review of 'War and Peace, Vol. 1' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Who am I to give this any less than five stars? It is easy to see why this book has stood the test of time, but I would have traded the Second Epilogue, reciting Tolstoy's theory of history, for some more information earlier in the narrative regarding the off-camera (and convenient!) deaths of two of the characters. Though I did enjoy the "happily ever after" victory lap of the First Epilogue, after the long journey I had come on with these people. Now I want to see a sequel musical, "The Great Comet: Moscow Burning," with Princess Mary as the lead character (I never did warm up to Natasha).

Chris Mayes reviewed War and Peace, Vol. 1 by Leo Tolstoy

Review of 'War and Peace, Vol. 1' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

My god, what a slog! The story itself meanders over a pretty vast timespan and cast of characters. The worst part is all of Tolstoy's long-winded philosophical discursions peppered throughout (especially at the end). Much like Moby Dick, if the author had stuck to the narrative instead of trying to show off, it'd be a much easier read. I get that he's trying to illustrate that people are influenced by their circumstances, but letting the story alone prove his point would have been sufficient.

The story itself is pretty entertaining. It can be tricky to keep all of the characters separate, but you figure out who's who pretty quickly by their mannerisms and speech patterns. I did like the way the characters developed between the two periods of war.

Having struggled through the bloviating, I can assure any prospective readers that the non-narrative chapters and passages can be skipped without …

fluxmind reviewed War and Peace, Vol. 1 by Leo Tolstoy

Review of 'War and Peace, Vol. 1' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Didnt think that one would ever end.

Baltipink reviewed War and Peace, Vol. 1 by Leo Tolstoy

Review of 'War and Peace, Vol. 1' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

What can I say. If I was stranded on the moon for the rest of my life and could bring only one book with me, this would probably be it. And I'm not just saying that because it has over 900 characters and it's so long that by the time you finish you forgot how it started.