War and Peace Readalong thread 2022

[VikingNorthUtsire]

Interest thread for the 2022 War and Peace readalong

THIS OP WAS UPDATED on 4/1 BY MNHQ (THANK YOU) TO ADD MORE DETAIL TO THE READING SCHEDULE AND UPDATE THE AMAZON LINKS

"The finest novel ever written on this planet"
"Here is a novel that is worth whatever time one gives to it. There is more life between its cover than in any other existent fictional narrative"

This is a really helpful blog post by someone who has done the challenge: nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/announcing-the-2020-war-and-peace-chapter-a-day-read-along

1. Translations

The main complication seems to be which edition to choose. The blog post above contains some commentary of the different tranlsations that are available and their merits. There's also a pretty comprehensive guide here including samples from some of the best-known translations: welovetranslations.com/2021/08/31/whats-the-best-translation-of-war-and-peace-by-tolstoy/

The main differences that I can see are:

• some editions (including the free download on Project Gutenburg) have a different chapter structure. I think/hope we would manage to find one another if some are reading versions with more or fewer chapters but I have based the readalong on the versions with 361 chapters.

• there's quite a lot of French in at least some parts of the book. Some editions translate it into English, others keep it in French but use footnotes

• some translators have chosen to anglicise the characters' names. I guess its personal preference whether you prefer Mary, Andrew and Basil or a more Russian version.

Looking at the editions recommended and reviewed in the above blog:

The Vintage Classics edition, translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky: ]]

NB also this link for the kindle version: ]]

The Signet Classics edition, translated by Anne Dunnigan: ]]

The Penguin Classics edition, translated by Anthony Briggs: ]]

As a general rule I would definitely recommend downloading a sample of any kindle edition before buying, so you can be sure that you are happy with it.

Obviously, some people will prefer to avoid Amazon! Feel free to use the weeks in the run-up to Day 1 to share any tips on what you are buying and where from. Can I suggest though that we stick where possible to the editions with 361 chapters otherwise we will all get very confused!

1. Reading timeline

Nick, of the blog post, has very helpfully done the calculations for which chapters fall on which days, except he did it in 2020 which was a Leap Year. So feel free to take a look at nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Nicks-2020-War-and-Peace-Chapter-a-Day-Reading-Schedule.pdf but see below the schedule for the Mumsnet Readalong.

Again, different editions name and number their chapters differently - some refer to four books divided into parts (as below), others refer to fifteen books although it's essentially the same structure just with different numbering. Hopefully there's enough info below to keep us all in sync, and always happy to let anyone know via PM what's happening in today's chapter so we can keep together.

Book 1: 1805
Book 1 Part One (25 chapters): 1/1 - 25/1
Book 1 Part Two (21 chapters): 26/1 - 15/2
Book 1 Part Three (19 chapters): 16/2 - 6/3
DAY OFF: 7/3
Book 2: 1806-1812
Book 2 Part One (16 chapters): 8/3 - 23/3
Book 2 Part Two (21 chapters): 24/3 - 13/4
Book 2 Part Three (26 chapters): 14/4 - 9/5
Book 2 Part Four (13 chapters): 10/5 - 22/5
Book 2 Part Five (22 chapters): 23/5 - 13/6
DAY OFF: 14/6
Book 3: 1812
Book Three Part One (23 chapters): 15/6 - 7/7
Book Three Part Two (39 chapters): 8/7 - 15/8
Book Three Part Three (34 chapters): 16/8 - 18/9
DAY OFF: 19/9
Book 4: 1812-13
Book Four Part One (16 chapters): 20/9 - 5/10
Book Four Part Two (19 chapters): 6/10 - 24/10
Book Four Part Three (19 chapters): 25/10 - 12/11
Book Four Part Four (20 chapters): 13/11 - 2/12
DAY OFF: 3/12
Epilogue One 1812-20 (16 chapters): 3/12 - 19/12
Epilogue Two (12 chapters): 20/12 - 31/12

Phew!

I would suggest that we meet at the end of each section (so 17 times over the course of the year) to discuss what we've read, but with (non-spoilerish) chatter welcome at any time in between. According to my guru, Nick, each chapter is around 4 pages long, so it should be do-able.

1. Chapter "meditations"

This looks like another really interesting blog post from someone who has done it, with thoughts and meditations on each chapter: brianedenton.medium.com/a-year-of-war-and-peace-cc66540d9619#.yabefbbgz

Come and join me! This time next year we will almost have finished reading the finest novel ever written on the planet.

PS Some may feel that each day off deserves a shot of vodka or two. I couldn't possibly comment.

I have a beautiful old copy that has sat on my shelves for at least 30 years and never been fully read (loved Anna Karenina though) so I'm fully committed to reading this! Mine is the Maude translation and has a handy bookmark with main characters which I definitely need. I have read chapter 1 and moving onto ch2 now. Thank you so much for this thread. It's just what I need.

Am I too late to join? I'm a lit grad who due to mainly Mh issues had fallen out of love with reading having been a bibliophile of many years.

I'm also weirdly fascinated with Russia generally especially this era leading up to the revolution

Have you all already started have I gotta catch up! Which version are people recommending for kindle please?

I'd prefer NOT the one with names changed please

Nrtft so as to avoid any "spoilers"

Oh I'd be open to using Apple Books too not tried that yet!

If apple books, again please say which is best? I'm guessing the complete and unabridged is best?

I now have samples of five versions downloaded on to my Kindle and still can't commit. I would like one which still has the French in the text - I can't find one in English though, only in the Italian translation! Has anyone got one?

@ChessieFL

I have a question for those reading on Kindle.

I have the Amazon Classics edition which is free on Prime, but it only breaks it down into 15 books plus epilogues, and doesn’t break down into the individual chapters. This means that when I use the ‘go to’ feature I can only move to the start of each book and not the individual chapters within that book. It also means that the ‘time left in chapter’ is the time left for that book not the actual chapter. This is annoying because I want to know how long it will take me to read each individual chapter and I also want to be able to ‘go to’ individual chapters if I need to.

So if you are reading on kindle and your edition does break down into the individual 361 chapters on the ‘go to’ feature, which edition do you have? I might have to fork out for a different edition because I think this Prime one will annoy me too much.

I have the 75p kindle version, I think the publisher is 'the classics' translation by RICHARD PEVEAR AND LARISSA VOLOKHONSKY

@Graphista

Am I too late to join? I'm a lit grad who due to mainly Mh issues had fallen out of love with reading having been a bibliophile of many years.

I'm also weirdly fascinated with Russia generally especially this era leading up to the revolution

Have you all already started have I gotta catch up! Which version are people recommending for kindle please?

I'd prefer NOT the one with names changed please

Nrtft so as to avoid any "spoilers"

Hello! We only started yesterday. I'm reading the Briggs edition on Kindle.

@rifling

I now have samples of five versions downloaded on to my Kindle and still can't commit. I would like one which still has the French in the text - I can't find one in English though, only in the Italian translation! Has anyone got one?

It's years since i read it, but i seem to remember the Pevear and Volokhonsky edition has a fair bit of French in it. Not the 2% that's mentioned in an introduction somewhere though. Someone else might know more?

@highlandcoo Thanks. Unfortunately that's the only version I can't get on Amazon! (I'm on Amazon italia).

The Kindle versions are a bit of a mess I bought what I thought (and recommended in my OP) as the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation for 75p but it isn't!

Planning to ask MNHQ to update the OP later, in the meantime:

• this is really helpful, shows the opening paragraphs of most of the most popular translations so you can check which one you have

welovetranslations.com/2021/08/31/whats-the-best-translation-of-war-and-peace-by-tolstoy/

• if buying on Kindle, download a sample and check which edition it is (the one I initially downloaded had zero information on who the translators were but the link posted above helped)

I managed to get my 75p refunded and now have the real Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. And yes, lots of untranslated French so far, but the footnotes work - they pop up within the page. I do like being able to see the code switching between French and Russian, but then I can read a bit of French which helps.

Who knew this would turn out to be so complicated!

I have Pevear and Volokhonsky in hard back and on Kindle. It has all the French, and individual chapters in Kindle. I wonder why it's not available on Italian Amazon?

The link that Viking provided on the translations is very interesting.

@rifling a Russian novel in Italian with French passages?! That's insane! Love it maybe it means I can brush up on my Italian and French too? (My Italian reading is atrocious though! My French is rusty!)

I'm tempted by the "complete and unabridged" on Apple Books it's the Maude translation?

Or the penguin classics is only 99p seems to be the Briggs translation ?

Gah decisions decisions! Help!

@VikingNorthUtsire Thanks for the link about translations - very interesting although I can't get the version I want on Kindle!

@Plexie I think it's a formatting problem as I can see on the preview (here) that the accents don't work!

I would love to join you all if that's ok. I have a copy of War and Peace in my bookcase, but will download a copy to my Kindle so that it's more portable. I read some of it many years ago, but can't remember how far I got! Really hoping I can stick with it as I have loved so much Russian literature over the years.

Well that link was fantastic. I’ve been Googling ‘Heron Books’ W&P’ in various ways and concluded my hard copy must be Maude but it is in fact Clara Bell. I’ve got all three volumes so my format looks to match the 361 so I’ll keep on with this.

I have the Briggs on Kindle if it gets too weird. For those asking, this is the Briggs.

www.amazon.co.uk/War-Peace-Penguin-Popular-Classics-ebook/dp/B0033805UG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=35CSS1N7I1IJL&keywords=war+and+peace+kindle&sprefix=war+and+peace+kindle%2Caps%2C68&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1641125160&sr=8-1

Thanks for link and comments! I’ve now spent the eye watering sum of £2.14 to get the Maude version with navigable chapters! I definitely didn’t want a version with French in it, I don’t mind the odd word or phrase but my French isn’t good enough to deal with whole paragraphs and I don’t like the idea of having to read the English translation in footnotes. I never realised the original contained a lot of French, I just assumed it was all Russian.

Chapter One: I love the way Tolstoy throws you right into the action, we're at an elegant soirée in St Petersburg thrown by Anna Pavlovna, a middle aged socialite who has the ear of the Empress of Russia. The opening lines are mid conversation with her first guest Prince Vassily Kuragin. It all feels very cinematic.
We're bombarded with names, characters and opinions, some supremely unimportant and others that will become vital to the story.
Right from the outset the themes of 'War' and 'Peace' are apparent.
Anna Pavlovna is incensed by Napoleons war mongering, referring to him as the 'Antichrist' and a 'murdering villain'.
She harangues her first guest Prince Vassily Kuragin (The on line literature guide Shmoop has this to say on the royal titles peppering the novel: Russian aristocratic titles aren’t the same as English ones. Vassily is not a prince because he’s the son of the king. He and all these other [characters] are going to be called princes [and Princesses] but you can just mentally swap in the title duke/duchess to get a better sense of their status.) regarding the outcome of the peace negotiations between Napoleon and the Russian special envoy, Novosiltsev, who has been sent to Paris by Emperor Alexander. Vassily replies in his usual 'cold, bored tone' that the word on the street is that Napoleon has 'burnt his boats' and Russia is about to burn theirs. War seems inevitable, the alliance between Russia, England and Austria is not deterring Bonaparte's ambition and Pavlovna believes neither of their allies has the appetite for war that Russia has, who alone will be 'Europe's saviour'.

Vassily humours Pavlovna's war obsession. He's off to do a bit more schmoozing at the English ambassadors party once he leaves this one (This is a seriously ambitious social climber!) so as quickly as he politely can he moves the conversation on to the real reason for his brief visit to her party, and Tolstoy demonstrates Vassily's actorly tactics: ‘But tell me,’ he added, with studied nonchalance, as if an idea had just occurred to him, though this question was the main reason for his visit, "is it true that the Dowager Empress wants Baron Funke to become First Secretary in Vienna?”
Vassily wants this important post to go to one of his sons and is desperate to know if the rumours he has heard are true, that the Empress favours Baron Funcke for the role. Pavlovna confirms his worst fears and Vassily maintains his poker face at the bad news.
The conversation turns to Vassily's three children. And whilst he claims to not have a paternal bone in his body, describing his offspring as 'the bane of my life. They're the cross I have to bear' Vassily is obviously as ambitious on his children's behalf as he is on his own. Not least because they're costing him a fortune and he'd like them off the family books!
His daughter, Helena, we hear via Anna P, has delighted society with her great beauty since she came out. (Although neither speak of her character only her appearance.)
His two sons however are more problematic both are 'idiots' according to Vassily but at least the oldest Hippolyte, is 'a fool on the quiet'. The younger son, Anatole, seems to have no redeeming features. Pavlovna baldly states that she doesn't like him and that people in high places feel sorry for Vassily to have fathered such a rowdy, good for nothing.
Pavlovna suggests Vassily marry off Anatole as quickly as possible, she believes a suitable match would be a female relative of hers, Princess Maria Bolkonsky, (given the two have just spent the preceding conversation describing how despicable Anatole is you can't help but thinking that with friends like this Maria B. doesn't need enemies!)
Pavlovna tells us that Maria's father, Prince Bolkonsky, is a retired military man who was well known under the previous Emperor. He is rich but a miser, clever but a crank. He's an eccentric who is difficult to get on with and his poor daughter, Maria, is 'as miserable as any girl could be'.
Pavlovna decides to begin the matchmaking that very evening by speaking to Lise Bolkonsky, Maria's sister in law. Vassily is delighted promising to be Pavlovna's faithful slave for ever if she can pull off this advantageous match between Anatole and Maria Bolkonsky, he metaphorically rubs his hands together describing Maria as:
“a girl from a good family, and she’s rich. That’s all I need."

Phew that's a lot for the first chapter, I will calm down I promise but I bloody love this book! 💕 Off to read chapter two.

I'm reading the Briggs version on Kindle, I think it was under £3 last year. No French and I like the slightly more updated translation and the Russian rather than anglicised names.

Well, I jumped in to read the first chapter and by the time I emerged I'd read six! So many themes in the opening chapters; war, peace, the purpose of revolution and how to go on afterwards, class, marriage etc. The drawing of characters is so good too, already they seem like real people with all the virtues and flaws that real people have.

Love the blog post you linked to by the way Viking.

Oh I bought the 75p one you originally linked, can you please give me the link for the right one @VikingNorthUtsire?

Done chapter 2 and read the meditation. brianedenton.medium.com/pierre-at-the-party-cd2c43afbe72#.itrzi3rqe

I felt a bit embarrassed, I think 30s are the age when you turn from a Pierre to an Annette, definitely see some of my past self in Pierre, but have enough Annette wisdom to cringe!

New words: samovar

https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Peace-Oxford-Worlds-Classics-ebook/dp/B005X3S9J8/ref=mpssa113?crid=PLOVD71QHG1M&keywords=war+and+peace&qid=1641128585&sprefix=war+and+oeace%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-3

This is the edition I have on kindle - it's an updated version of the Maude translation with the Russian names and the French passages restored.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief - that was a brilliant recap!
Will you be doing the same for the next 360 chapters?