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War & Peace - Volume I
Unavailable
War & Peace - Volume I
Unavailable
War & Peace - Volume I
Audiobook30 hours

War & Peace - Volume I

Written by Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by Neville Jason

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The Neville Jason performance of Tolstoy’s War & Peace has been selected as a Top 12 Fiction title for Best Audiobooks Of 2007 by AudioFile Magazine. War and Peace is one of the greatest monuments in world literature. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, it examines the relationship between the individual and the relentless march of history. Here are the universal themes of love and hate, ambition and despair, youth and age, expressed with a swirling vitality which makes the book as accessible today as it was when it was first published in 1869. In addition it is, famously, one of the longest books in Western literature and therefore a remarkable challenge for any reader. Translated by Aylmer and Louise Maude.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 1, 2006
ISBN9789629545727
Unavailable
War & Peace - Volume I
Author

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy grew up in Russia, raised by a elderly aunt and educated by French tutors while studying at Kazen University before giving up on his education and volunteering for military duty. When writing his greatest works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Tolstoy drew upon his diaries for material. At eighty-two, while away from home, he suffered from declining health and died in Astapovo, Riazan in 1910.

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Reviews for War & Peace - Volume I

Rating: 4.572151898734178 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

395 ratings191 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An epic that spans multiple intrigues of the lives of its principal characters. A story that is remembered for its immensity and scope and recommended to all of those who enjoy to read literary fiction.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There's always a worry with such great works like this one that they won't live up to the hype.For 2/3 of its length W&P *does* and is an excellent read. Everything is suitably grand, as is Tolstoy's style, and his prose is wonderfully easy to read as well.However the final 1/3 of the novel, starting with Napoleon's invasion of Russia, drags the rest of the epic down. From there on in Tolstoy goes into historian mode, spending many chapters reiterating the same points over and over again, temporarily forgetting all about his characters.Some of that context is nice, but Tolstoy certainly over does it. If most of it were edited out then I might just give this work the full 5 stars. As it is, just 4 will have to do.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    War and Peace focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.I really enjoyed listening to this book on audio. Loved the history and the love stories centered around Natasha Rostov. Tolstoy's writing is very detailed but the information is very interesting. I look forward to reading Anna Karenina. I would highly recommend War and Peace to those who enjoy books about the history, war, love and romance.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Indrukwekkend zonder enige discussie. Vooral door het brede panorama, zowel in de tijd, maar vooral in de geledingen: niet alleen Napoleon, Alexander en hun generaals worden gevolgd, maar vooral de individuen (zij het dan nog die uit de adel).Hoofdfiguren zijn duidelijk Pierre, Andrej en Natasja. Zij evolueren en de veranderingen leveren dikwijls de interessantste beschouwingen op, maar niet altijd is het verloop consistent. Zo maakt Pierre nogal wat "bekeringen" door. Literair munt vooral het tweede boek uit (met enkele van de mooiste bladzijden uit de wereldliteratuur), hoewel het verhaal daar aan spankracht verliest. Het verslag van Austerlitz en Borodino is ongemeen boeiend door de onconventionele invalshoek. Naar het einde toe wordt de schrijftrant langdradig, met soms ellenlange theoretische beschouwingen die dikwijls overlappen. De eerste epiloog moet dat compenseren, hoewel de verhaallijn daar doodbloedt. De tweede epiloog is bijna niet te volgen.Eerste keer gelezen op 18 jaar, erg onder de indruk
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    tedious at times
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Indrukwekkend zonder enige discussie. Vooral door het brede panorama, zowel in de tijd, maar vooral in de geledingen: niet alleen Napoleon, Alexander en hun generaals worden gevolgd, maar vooral de individuen (zij het dan nog die uit de adel).Hoofdfiguren zijn duidelijk Pierre, Andrej en Natasja. Zij evolueren en de veranderingen leveren dikwijls de interessantste beschouwingen op, maar niet altijd is het verloop consistent. Zo maakt Pierre nogal wat "bekeringen" door. Literair munt vooral het tweede boek uit (met enkele van de mooiste bladzijden uit de wereldliteratuur), hoewel het verhaal daar aan spankracht verliest. Het verslag van Austerlitz en Borodino is ongemeen boeiend door de onconventionele invalshoek. Naar het einde toe wordt de schrijftrant langdradig, met soms ellenlange theoretische beschouwingen die dikwijls overlappen. De eerste epiloog moet dat compenseren, hoewel de verhaallijn daar doodbloedt. De tweede epiloog is bijna niet te volgen.Eerste keer gelezen op 18 jaar, erg onder de indruk
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good, but no Anna Karenina
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Took me a month to read, but definitely a masterpiece. It took a notebook to keep all the characters straight for the first half of the book. There was a bit too much about battle techniques contained, but all in all I can see why Tolstoy is considered a master as he can amuse, horrify, entertain, and make one weep during the very same story line. I especially liked seeing how Tolstoy developed his characters and then transformed then or their circumstances. One of the story's main characters, Pierre Bezukhov has his epiphany while being held captive by the French as he befriends Platen, a peasant, and learns to be happy, no matter the situation. The author certainly raises/discusses issues such as ideas of free will, fate, and providence Tolstoy has certainly nailed Napoleon, if other historians are correct.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Seemd to be a story about the delicacies of human love and the lie it is prone to tell to keep the illusion alive.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very good reader/ narrator Riveting historical fiction wrapped in a classic. Loved it
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Believe the hype. What a story. What a performance. BRAVO!!!???
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A great story about the lives of the elites in 19th century Russia read beautifully.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An outstanding reading of an excellent book. I followed in the book, while listening to this audio recording. There is also a miniseries, to help you get better acquainted with the characters, which can be daunting in the early chapters. The author reads in character, which makes listening very much like listening to a movie. Perfect in all aspects!!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This narrator has done an excellent and masterful job of rendering this classic. He draws you in and engages you with the story
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It is the perfect audio, for the perfect book. excellent
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is so beautiful read. Stay with it, the story is long but worth it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a captivating read...listened to it over several months, while putting my children to sleep, and each time I had to stop, I didn't want to..it was too tense... highly recommend!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    That epilogue tho
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is an utterly fantastic reading! A great way to experience Tolstoy’s work.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Transport yourself to simpler times. The characters stay with you.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There are many lists of "The 100 Best Books Ever Written," or, "Fifty Books You Should Read before You Die," and lists similar to these that show War and Peace as the number 1 best book ever. And there are other similar lists which list something else. Those latter lists are just plain wrong and not to be trusted or consulted.
    There is nothing I could say that would add to the reams of paper others have spent talking about this marvel. But I would like to suggest a couple of tricks for a person thinking about reading it or struggling a little with reading it.
    First, get a good translation of it. There are many and probably all are good, but the one that works best is one which minimizes the use of nicknames for characters and which also includes a list of characters either at the beginning of the volume or as an appendix. A "too literal" translation will tire you out and justify not completing the book.
    Second, the first 100 to 125 pages are absolutely necessary to the book but they are also the place a reader might decide that the book is boring or difficult. Ignore the impulse to quit reading! You'll be glad of those first hundred pages as you move more deeply into the plot and action.
    Third, my usual habit when reading a book is to have two or three going at once. I began reading War and Peace as I read two other books. I found that doing that made it more difficult to read War and Peace, harder to follow its storyline and to keep the characters straight and more likely to set the book aside.. So, drop anything else and read War and Peace all the way through and let the other books wait. (Anyway, the other books cannot possibly be a good as War and Peace and reading them along side W & P will make you less fond of them; they simply will not hold up to comparison).
    Fourth, read the Wikipedia article about Napoleon before you get too far into the novel. This will help understand the actual historical timeline and give you a basis for how historians view Napoleon compared to Tolstoy's views. Frankly, I think Tolstoy's views are the better of the two.
    Finally, underline, highlight, write marginal notes and keep some notes. This book is not a good one to check out from the library or attempt on an reader. And anyway, you'll want to read it again sometime later in your life. (It is one of only a half dozen that I have read three or more times, excluding, of course, the Dr. Seuss books).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've finally finished War and Peace (and I only skipped about 150 pages total). The last quarter of this novel was a serious struggle to finish. Especially the two part epilogue, of which only about 20% focused on the primary novel characters (Rostovs, Bolkonskys, Bezukhovs, etc). I'm glad to have read this and I did value the read, but I will never embark on War and Peace again. I wouldn't recommend the novel to the average reader, it's more for an enthusiast of Russian history or literature. I think that any of the various TV and/or film adaptations provide a more interesting, primarily character driven look at the overall text.

    The text focuses on several families and their experience through Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 (although this was a 5 year-long war, the text covers only the 1st year up to and slightly after the burning of Moscow). The most interesting story line (arguably, of course) is that of the love between Natasha Rostov and Andrei Bolkonsky (she eventually marries another main character). Most TV/film adaptations focus on this part of the story. The romance is interspersed with long (LONG) descriptions of major battles, heroes of battle, military and political leaders, and troop movements. Tolstoy said that he hoped to prove that there are no great men in history, that all is a matter largely of chance and the right circumstances. I'm not sure how effectively he proves this in a novel that most people cannot finish, but the focus is there.

    Overall, a great, classic, canon novel. But like many canon texts, I find it hard to recommend to a modern reader. I enjoyed Anne Karenina much more and would say start with that before trying War and Peace - so that you have a sense of Tolstoy's style before trying to complete the longer text.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Took me a month to read, but definitely a masterpiece. It took a notebook to keep all the characters straight for the first half of the book. There was a bit too much about battle techniques contained, but all in all I can see why Tolstoy is considered a master as he can amuse, horrify, entertain, and make one weep during the very same story line. I especially liked seeing how Tolstoy developed his characters and then transformed then or their circumstances. One of the story's main characters, Pierre Bezukhov has his epiphany while being held captive by the French as he befriends Platen, a peasant, and learns to be happy, no matter the situation. The author certainly raises/discusses issues such as ideas of free will, fate, and providence Tolstoy has certainly nailed Napoleon, if other historians are correct.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I like Neville Jason's reading very much. After 30 hours, onward to part II!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent narrator. The writing style was good, just not my preferred genre. It was on my “classics bucket list”
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    todo esplendor da sociedade russa do sec xix enquanto se desenrolam as guerras napoleónicas. Diálogos refinados, confiança aristocrática e a paixão russa pela cultura francesa. A cultura do enemigo.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I finally read this in the space of 26 days after it had been sitting on my bookshelf for a decade. For the most part, War and Peace is simply brilliant. The main characters are wonderfully drawn, and I loved getting inside their heads and rooting for them all the way through. I also felt that I got a good sense of what it was like to be in (or on the edges of) the upper echelons of Russian society in the early 19th century through the descriptions of various social scenes and the viewpoints of minor characters. I also enjoyed the war scenes involving the main characters.However, I didn't quite get on with some of the other war parts and the various passages ruminating on history in general, especially towards the end. I was also a little let down by some of the main characters' fates as described in the first epilogue (mainly the way in which the female characters are depicted), but I recognise that this is partly due to the era in which the novel is set/was written.Despite that, I'm really glad I finally read War and Peace, and will be looking up some of Tolstoy's other works in the future.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In 1805 Pierre Bezukhov returns to Saint Petersburg to the bedside of his dying father, and ends up inheriting Count Bezukhov’s title and all of his assets. Suddenly, he’s the most eligible (and most socially-awkward) bachelor in all of Russia. All the ladies are after him, and he is very confused, so ends up ill-advisedly marrying the seductive and manipulative Helene Kuragin, who is probably sleeping with her equally debauched brother. Whoops! Meanwhile, war is about to break out between Tsar Alexander and Emperor Napoleon, and all the young men want in on it. Pierre’s friend Prince Andrei Bolkonsky wants to go to war to get away from his very amiable, very pregnant wife. 20-year-old Nikolai Rostov of Moscow wants to go to war to prove he is an adult (and he has a huge platonic crush on Tsar Alexander). Nikolai’s best friend Boris wants to go to war because he’s broke, and in love with Nikolai’s 13-year-old sister Natasha. As is everyone else. These men are all very rich and they think war is very glamorous. Turns out, it is not.The inter-personal plot of this epic tale is quite excellent, but boy is it bogged down by both detailed descriptions of troop movements and battles, as well as Tolstoy’s personal axe-grinding against his contemporaries. It’s possible that it was insightful at the time of publication, but now, not so much. These characters though! The main characters (especially Pierre and Natasha) are mostly boring and insufferable and deserve each other. But the villains and minor characters are so delightful. Boris’ eventual wife Julie (who is only in about 10 pages of the book) is SUPER GOTH - Boris woos her by writing poetry about death and drawing her a picture of a grave. Pierre’s wife Helene is an awful person but boy does she know how to work with what she’s given. She sleeps with EVERYONE – her brother (a great villain), Pierre’s houseguest Dolokov (also a great villain), Boris (boring except for his great taste in women), a government official and a Catholic priest (playing them against each other in an elaborate plot to divorce Pierre), and dies in a botched abortion. Truly a legend. Tolstoy is not particularly great at writing women, certainly not by today’s standards, but just due to the fact that there are 600 named characters in this book, by default some of the female characters have to be unique and interesting. Good job! On the flip side from the villains is sweet Denisov, Nikolai’s mentor and Natasha’s first suitor. His only characteristics are that he is nice to everyone and he talks with a lisp and he likes to eat sausages while writing letters.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've had this book on my shelf for a long time, but have always been intimidated by the length and the reputation of this epic story. I finally armed myself with the audio book, print copy of the book, and a copy of the character map from Wikipedia and began. After 4 weeks (1200 pages and 64 hours of narration), I finished the book... and I loved it.

    The book is really two parallel stories. The first is about 4 different Russian aristocratic families, the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, the Kuragins and the Bezukhovs. The book opens in 1805, when many of the main characters are on the brink of adulthood. Spanning 8 years, the characters grow from idealistic young aristocrats to mature adults who have experienced sacrifice and loss. The second story is about the Napoleonic War in Russia and features not only the main fictional characters, but also many historical figures of the time, such as Napoleon and Alexander I. Covering the complicated relationship between these 2 emperors, the epic story unfolds, from the initial war between France and Russia, to an uneasy alliance between the 2 countries, and finishes with the Napoleon's invasion that leads to his ultimate defeat.

    Although the book is LONG, I found the writing descriptive and not overly wordy. I loved the descriptions of Tsarist Russia and the social strata between the aristocracy and the serfs. Even simple events, like a wolf hunt, were captivating and beautifully written. Although many people criticize Tolstoy for his preachy style when he discusses his views on history and the war, I found these diversions from the story very interesting. His philosophy on whether major events are caused by people (like Napoleon), the environment at that time in history, or society was fascinating.

    I alternated between listening and reading. The audio version I had was narrated by Neville Jason, and it was superb. Overall, a great experience.

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I cannot say I thought highly of this book. It was very 1860ish and I simply don't appreciate the style and mood of those type books. I cannot say I thought the book as good as The Forsyte Saga, e.g., though War and Peace has a much greater reputation. Yet I would be a hypocrite if I said I liked it better. [I started the book in 1953 and then not till March of 1955 did I resume reading in it. I should have read it from beginning to end without such a big gap in the time I spent reading ir.]