As part of my reading goal this year, I decided to read a few big classic novels π One of them is ‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoy. Inspired by two of my friends, who have probably read it more than once, I have made multiple attempts in past years to read this classic, but for one reason or another I haven’t been able to continue with my reading effort. ‘War and Peace’ is a mammoth classic (my edition is 1358 pages long with small font – if the font size had been bigger, the size of the book would have increased by atleast 50% to around 2000 pages!). One needs to put in the time and effort to read it and do justice to this epic book and be rewarded by the experience. I decided that I will put in the required time and effort this year. And what is more, instead of procrastinating, I decided that it will be first book that I will read this year π I started reading it a couple of days back, and have finished around 125 pages till now. The classic translation of ‘War and Peace’ is the one by Constance Garnett, but the one I am reading is a new translation by Anthony Briggs.
If you haven’t read the book before, here is a two-line summary : The book is set during the the war between France and Russia at the time of Napoleon. ‘War and Peace’ describes the fortunes, lives and loves of some of the story’s fictional characters and families during this time.
I am giving below some of my favourite lines from the book, from the chapters of the book that I have read till now.
His French was the elegant tongue of our grandparents, who used it for thought as well as speech, and it carried the soft tones of condescension that come naturally to an eminent personage grown old in high society and at court.
As tends to happen with the best-looking women, a defect – in this case a short lip and a half-open mouth – came out as a distinctive and beautiful feature.
Just as a skilful head waiter can pass off as a supreme delicacy a cut of beef that would be inedible if you’d seen it in the filthy kitchen, Anna Pavlovna served up to her guests that evening first the viscount and then the abbe as if they were supreme delicacies.
If everybody fought for nothing but his own convictions, there wouldn’t be any wars.
Even in the very warmest, friendliest and simplest of relationships you need either flattery or praise in the way that you need grease to keep wheels turning.
…she was at that charming age when the girl is no longer a child, and the child is not yet a young girl.
There was a smoothness in the way she moved, a gentle suppleness in her little limbs and a kind of wary aloofness that suggested a pretty half-grown kitten that would one day turn into a lovely cat.
Sonya half-rose, and the kitten in her revived, its eyes gleaming; it seemed ready to flick its tail, pounce about on its soft paws and start playing with a ball, as good kittens do.
At this point, Princess Marya sighed and looked around at the tall mirror to her right. The glass reflected a feeble, unattractive body and a skinny face. The ever-gloomy eyes looked at themselves more hopelessly than ever. ‘She’s flattering me,’ thought the princess as she turned back to read on. But Julie was not flattering her friend; her eyes were large, deep and radiant (sometimes a warm light seemed to pour out of them), really so winsome that very often, in spite of the plainness of the face as a whole, her eyes held a greater appeal than mere beauty. But the princess had never seen the beautiful expression in her own eyes, an expression they assumed only when she wasn’t thinking about herself. Like everyone else, her face took on a strained, artificial and disagreeable expression the moment she looked at herself in the mirror.
We love people not so much for the good they have done to us as for the good we have done to them.
The regiment stirred itself like a bird settling its feathers…
Hope you enjoyed reading the above lines. I will post more of my favourite quotes, after I read more of the book.
I read War and Peace last year and I really did love it! I felt intimidated by its size early on but if you keep at it, the time is worth it. I think i’m going to try tackle more classics this year as well.
Glad to know that you liked ‘War and Peace’. Nice to know that you are planning to tackle more classics this year.
Wow, as usual IΒ΄m completely in awe of people who actually read the most unread classics ever! The lines are great, sounds like it should be quoted from more often. Good luck and hope you enjoy it π
Glad to know that you liked the quotes! Whenever I say classics are good, one of my friends keeps throwing Mark Twain’s quote at me : “A classic is a book which people praise and don’t read.β I am hoping to do my bit this year, to prove him wrong π
Haha, thats great motivation! π
Vishy,
I loved your quotes! I read the book once all the way through and 3/4 of the way the second time reading the sections that I liked best the first time. I liked your quotes especially because I could just enjoy the beautiful bits of lanugage without having the challenge of reading the document in it’s entirity. Thanks for your blog! By the way, the other two books where I cried at the tough spots were ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and ‘The House of the Seven Gables’.
For God so loved Mankind that he gave us, wonderful literature.
Thanks for making my day!
Best to you!
Thanks for stopping by Ebeth. Glad to know that you liked the quotes. ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is one of my favourite books π That was the first Dickens story I ever heard when I was a child and I have read it a few times since. I liked you comment ‘For God so loved Mankind that he gave us, wonderful literature’ π
Do you have a blog? I am not able to find it from here. It will be nice to see your blog and comment on your posts.
Good luck, Vishy. I think you’ll end up enjoying it. As you know, it took me months to read it, but I did actually really like it. And it feels great to be able to say you’ve read War and Peace. π
Thanks! It is going on nicely till now. I am waiting for that day, when I can say I have read ‘War and Peace’ π
Well done with starting already and good luck with finishing! I haven’t read War and Peace before, I just can’t find myself able to mentally commit to doing it yet. I’ve read Anna Karenina and enjoyed that even though it took me months to finish. I will read W&P someday! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as your reading progresses. π
Thanks! I am able to appreciate your thoughts very much. I started ‘War and Peace’ a couple of times and got intimidated by the size, and couldn’t continue reading it. In the old times, people read novels as chapters, when they were published one-chapter at a time in magazines. I think that is how they were able to read big books. When we look at the complete book, it is so thick that it becomes difficult to commit to it. But it is great that you have read ‘Anna Karenina’! It is great book and also a big book at 800+ pages!
I read War & Peace back in 2008-I received the new Pevear & Volokhonsky translation for Christmas and dove right in! I LOVED the book, and I really loved P&V’s translation. π I also tore through it, finishing it in less than a week, because I had to find out what happened to my favourite characters. So I want to reread it within the next couple years and go at a more leisurely pace. π
Wow! You read ‘War and Peace’ is a week! That is awesome! I am hoping to read it slowly in a month’s time π I have heard a lot of nice things about the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, but the one I am reading is a translation by Anthony Briggs. I have a translation of ‘The Three Musketeers’ by Richard Pevear though π
One thing I loved about the P&V translation is that the French was left as French in the main text with the English translation as footnotes. It made it feel more authentic to me. π But I think Tolstoy’s talent comes through regardless of translation.
That is quite interesting! Maybe I will try the P&V translation while reading one of the other Russian classics π
I have an award for you! The Blogger Buddie award.
Thanks Jennifer! You have made my day π
A commendable goal. The quotes are fascinating. I liked “If everybody fought for nothing but his own convictions, there wouldnβt be any wars. ” I have made a start on this book years ago and don’t remember the language being so smooth. I should try again with a new translation perhaps.
Just now I’m obligated to finish Moby Dick and four of Woolf’s novels with online reading groups so this one will have to wait. I’ll watch for your progress and your thoughts on the book.
I see you are enjoying some classics. I’ve posted my thoughts on Moby Dick and Mrs. Dalloway during the past week if they interest you at all.
http://freshinkbooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/moby-dick-by-herman-melville.html
http://freshinkbooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/mrs-dalloway-by-virgina-woolf.html
Hi Sandra, Thanks for stopping by. Glad to know that you liked the quotes. I am enjoying the translation of ‘War and Peace’ I am reading (it is by Anthony Briggs) but the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky has also got great reviews.
Thanks for introducing me to some of the posts on classics in your blog. I will read them soon.
I’ve tried a number of times over the years to read War and Peace. My problem is the Russian names – I can’t pronounce them so I stumble all over each name in my head everytime I encounter one. I’ve been thinking I can overcome that problem by listening to it on audio. And your quotes make me want to try again. Thanks.
Nice to know that you liked the quotes from ‘War and Peace’. I agree – the names are a bit complex, and there are a lot of characters in the book and so, sometimes it is difficult to keep track of who is who. But I have managed to do that till now and am enjoying the book. Hope you get around to reading the book and enjoy it.
I haven’t seen anything come through my Vishy RSS feed in a long time. I hope you haven’t gotten bogged down with ‘War and Peace’. I read it a few years back and loved it…until that tacked-on chapter at the end, that is.
Thanks for stopping by! Actually you are right. Have been bogged down a bit by ‘War and Peace’ but am not giving up this time π Am hoping to continue to read it and finish it soon. My next post on it follows soon.
Nice to know that you read it a few years back and liked it. I did check the last chapter a little bit – after I heard some of my friends say that it has a lot of philosophy and yes, I agree with you – it does look like a ‘tacked-on’ chapter π I am hoping to get to the end of the book soon.
I still haven’t read this one. I want to, but I worry about the size and finding the time to dedicate to it.
I gave up last time, after reading one part, TBM. It is really big and intimidating. I hope to try reading it again soon. I liked very much the part of the book that I read. I hope you get to read it some day.