War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

[BurtWorm]

Poll question: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

[bryant69]

1. Why should run read War and Peace?

What void would it fill?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Demit]

4. Hah! You'd know that Henry Fonda was no Pierre.

[BurtWorm]

5. The Great Novel drive is in all of us.

And War and Peace is indeed a great novel. (I think. I'm reading it now for the first time.)

PS: It's one of those "bucket list" things to do before you die, isn't it?

[Carnea]

2. I saw a Seinfeld episode that mentioned it. That has to count for something nt

[ProdigalJunkMail]

19. War...What is it Good For???

great episode...now what is that infernal BEEPING...

sP

[dipsydoodle]

3. Good film

with brilliant non computer generated battle scenes - just thousands of extras. Cast list here : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049934/

Trailer here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK2LSTYrwoY

[Radical Activist]

6. Have you read Tolstoy's, The Kingdom of God is Within You?

Much shorter and maybe a bigger impact.

[skooooo]

8. I've always thought Tolstoy's short stories...

...were absolutely essential (and easier) reads than his novels.

[Radical Activist]

25. This one isn't a story.

Its about his political and religious philosophy.

[BurtWorm]

22. I personally haven't.

I've read "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," which is also much shorter.

[papapi]

7. We've all seen what war looks like, now how 'bout some peace.

[Tesha]

9. I turned all the pages, probably read most of the words, and have...

...exactly *ZIP* recollection of any of it. ;(

o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Peace

I've always suspected that everything I needed to know
about that novel (and any other damned Russian Epic
Novels) was parodied by Woody Allen in his wonderful
move Love and Death.

o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_and_Death

Tesha

[InkAddict]

10. Not only have I read it once and portions more than once,

but our headboard bookcase reflects both the title of that book and our night time relationship in that

and on his side sits the gut-slashing inner ball-shaped perforated core of steel destined to become the inside of a grenade-type ordnance. It was made as a sample for a government contract at the stamping plant where FIL worked.

on my side sits a perfume bottle with a pink dove-shaped topper.

[BurtWorm]

11. Mere coincidence?

Or was that intentional?

[ThatsMyBarack]

12. Had I been forced to read it in school....

I would have just read the Cliffs Notes.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. Voyna i mir

in english and in russian...

sP

[BurtWorm]

14. Well

:applause:

O4eH xopowo!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

15. nah...

was a task that i would never undertake again...i would say i spent as much time in a grammar book/dictionary as i did in the text...rough...just crying about it actually...someone told me i had to read in russian to get the real feel for the book...yeah...i felt it ok :-)

sP

[BurtWorm]

18. So you hadn't even studied Russian before then?

I'm reading Madame Bovary in French now (as well as the new translation of War and Peace and some other books :crazy:) and it's very slow going. But enjoyable!

:toast:

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. no...i had as a part of being an idiot

(translation : i put way to much work on myself) learned some of the language and had been working with a person who lives near me (Russian Orthodox church just down the road)...it took a while...and the color WAS richer in the parts i could understand well...the others i had to ask about.

French is not on my radar for now...Spanish is what I am working on now...for my daughters will need to know it.

sP

[redqueen]

16. Oooh I'd love to learn to speak Russian...

just to be able to read some of the greats in their native language.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

17. it has been a task that while beneficial,

may have been better directed at some language i might actually end up speaking...spanish...german...japanese...

and because i don't get to use it often...it suffers badly...

sP

[zauberflote]

21. movie vs novel

How could anyone even compare a one thousand whatever-page literary masterpiece to what was essentially a three-hour Spaghetti Eastern?
But, Audrey Hepburn. Sigh.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. The Russian version is very good. The Brit version is even better.

But, the novel itself is a masterpiece beyond compare.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. I've read it several times. Once aloud, to my wife. Tolstoy was a great writer and anarchist.

It's not known as the greatest novel ever written for no reason.

Done the same with "Anna Karenina".

[trackfan]

26. I read it earlier this year.

I now think Tolstoy is one of the greatest literary geniuses the world has seen.

[Retrograde]

27. halfway through my second read

my book discussion group is currently reading it (we're a pretentious bunch: we started with A La Recherche du Temps Perdue - the whole thing: it took a year). I had read in in high school c. 1969, and there seems to be a lot more in it this time around. It's disconcerting to read the major characters refer to the size of their estates in souls, like they were counting head of cattle. The Illuminati make an appearance - I kid you not.