It’s a long and relatively slow read of you, like me, have to look up a lot of the older terms, but I really enjoyed it when I read it. I will definitely reread it later in life.
Russian names are generally pronounced with every letter said. People are formally known by their first name and patronymic. Example, Nicolai Alexandrovich, Nicholas son of Alexander. Also, Russians are found of diminutives. Common ones are, Sasha for Alexander, Kolya for Nicholas, Petra for Peter, etc. Marsha is a common girl’s diminutive for Marie or Maria. Women’s patriotic are formed differently. For example, Anna Pavlovna is Anne daughter of Paul (Pavel). Hope this helps. War and Peace is my favorite Russian novel.
Yes. I love Russian Lit. Really great book, but may need a notebook to keep track of all the people. Similar names and nicknames and patronymics can confuse some
Those that have read it, do you know which translation you read? I don’t speak French, so the P&V translation may be out. I’m leaning more towards the Louise an Maude translation.
I confess I skimmed through most of the battle scenes. But to help keep the characters and plot straight you might first watch the BBC series that came out a few years ago.
Jerry Freitag ? I took a Joyce class in college. The prof had 2 Ulysses study guides on the syllabus – said we’d get much more out of it if we had the assistance. So I am okay with it! And it was a 400-level majors-only class.
I’m trying to read Anna Karenina at the moment-it’s good so far! It is not a short read though-I imagine it will take me a few months to finish it (so I am reading some shorter reads in between). I think I will try War and Peace when I finish reading Anna Karenina! ?
I read it at the beginning of the summer: apart from a plot twist I wasn’t a fan of towards the end (not giving any spoilers, though), I enjoyed the story. I had a few issues with parts of the writing but I think it was due to the bad translation – very pedantic, and fairly long bits were left in French, which didn’t help. You might want to look for a good translation to avoid the same problem.
I read it earlier this year. Here’s my review on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2385131798
Following
It’s a long and relatively slow read of you, like me, have to look up a lot of the older terms, but I really enjoyed it when I read it. I will definitely reread it later in life.
Following
have tried several times, but i was younger and less familiar with russian name want to try one more time
Mesmerizing, vast Russian soap opera. I couldn’t put it down.
Russian names are generally pronounced with every letter said. People are formally known by their first name and patronymic. Example, Nicolai Alexandrovich, Nicholas son of Alexander. Also, Russians are found of diminutives. Common ones are, Sasha for Alexander, Kolya for Nicholas, Petra for Peter, etc. Marsha is a common girl’s diminutive for Marie or Maria. Women’s patriotic are formed differently. For example, Anna Pavlovna is Anne daughter of Paul (Pavel). Hope this helps. War and Peace is my favorite Russian novel.
Yes. I love Russian Lit. Really great book, but may need a notebook to keep track of all the people. Similar names and nicknames and patronymics can confuse some
I loved it. I started by making myself read 10 pages a night. Soon I was hooked
Following. War and peace is my everest. I will read it one day 🙂
Read it in my 20’s and loved it. Anna Karenina too.
Those that have read it, do you know which translation you read? I don’t speak French, so the P&V translation may be out. I’m leaning more towards the Louise an Maude translation.
https://www.amazon.com/War-Peace-Signet-Classics-Tolstoy/dp/0451532112
This is the one I read. I hope the link works well. It was a cheap buy so I’m not sure how great of a translation it was, but I still enjoyed it.
I confess I skimmed through most of the battle scenes. But to help keep the characters and plot straight you might first watch the BBC series that came out a few years ago.
isn’t that cheating 🙂
Jerry Freitag ? I took a Joyce class in college. The prof had 2 Ulysses study guides on the syllabus – said we’d get much more out of it if we had the assistance. So I am okay with it! And it was a 400-level majors-only class.
On top 5 list of all-time favoriates.
Following as I’m toying with reading this and Anna Karenina x
I’m trying to read Anna Karenina at the moment-it’s good so far! It is not a short read though-I imagine it will take me a few months to finish it (so I am reading some shorter reads in between). I think I will try War and Peace when I finish reading Anna Karenina! ?
I read multiple books in between Anna, definitely worth finishing!
@Becky that’s what my plan was too. I feel they are books I should have read x
@Amy good tip, thank you x
I LOVE Anna Karenina. Much more readable than W&P. Get the Pevear & Volokhonsky translation.
Brilliant
working my way through it. Loving it so far
I read it at the beginning of the summer: apart from a plot twist I wasn’t a fan of towards the end (not giving any spoilers, though), I enjoyed the story. I had a few issues with parts of the writing but I think it was due to the bad translation – very pedantic, and fairly long bits were left in French, which didn’t help. You might want to look for a good translation to avoid the same problem.
The translation is important. And I say that as someone who has tried to finish it a few times but got about a 1/3 in. Going to try it again soon.