I went into war and peace expecting to understand why so many people give up on it, but I found it to be one of the greatest books I've ever read. So maybe going into it with low expectations is the best way to read it.

@Tolstoy111

5 ай бұрын

People avoid it because of length but once you start it’s extremely readable and engrossing.

@cereal_qilla

9 күн бұрын

so which translation did you go with?

If you would like a film version that follows the novel the closest, please consider Sergei Bondarchuk's 1966 Soviet film. Yes, it does have subtitles but it is a masterpiece...the actors look almost exactly as I imagined them, and the costumes and set design are gorgeous. The movie was filmed in Russia over a five-year period. The cinematography of the battle scenes, using the 120,000 members of the Red Army, is breathtaking considering the scope of those scenes. It's available for free on Modfilm's KZread channel, Modfilm, in a four-part series.

I audibly screamed when you said you liked the war scenes better because that’s how I feel but every time I read someone else’s thoughts on it they also say they liked the peace scenes better. Personally I loved this book. Read it earlier this year using the P&V translation which I think was amazing and now I’m currently rereading it using the Briggs translation which I’m also enjoying. Best of luck with it.

@danielcarpenter4107

5 ай бұрын

When Oprah said in her book club to "leave out the war scenes" to make the book easier I couldn't believe it

I have the Anthony Briggs translation and yes, I found it made the novel easier to read, but I haven't tried other ones. I haven't finished, but so far I like it. I think it's unfair that some assume that people don't genuinely enjoy War & Peace, just they feel like its a classic they only like to say they conquered it. Tolstoy feels easier to read than Dostoevsky.

I could spend a whole evening trying to pick a translation, and often have lol. I read and loved the older Maude version. I'm interested in the recent revised edition. Garnett is great for Chekhov.

I read the Rosemary Edmonds translation of War and Peace and thoroughly enjoyed it.

it can be worth getting your hands on the Rosemary Edmonds translations. Penguin used those translations in the 90s,. i wasn't a big fan of the P&V translation from another book they translated (The Master and Margarita)

When I read War and Peace, one did not have an embarrassment of riches in translations. You took what you could get and for me that was the Alymer Maude translation with an introduction by Clifton Fadiman who was sort of a public intellectual. I had no trouble with it and I read the entire book from cover to cover and , if I recall correctly, in 4 and a half days averaging about 250 pages per day. It was the Summer between graduating from High School and entering college. It was touted as the greatest novel ever written and I concurred then and have measured all the novels I've read since by that standard. I've never re-read it, though I have reread short parts of the book when I translated a French stage adaptation by Bienstock who had also translated the novel into French. As a translator, I think the best translation is the one which works best for you. I believe that at all times and all places people used slang. But you have to be careful translating it because it may soundvery inauthentic. And strangely enough people often think they know how folks talked in Russia or elsewhere centuries ago. My agent thought that Peter the Great's son would have called him "the governor" rather than "Papa". But the term "governor" was an Americanism used by children sent to elite private schools in the United States. (And this wasn't even a translation.) I also translated a play from French based on Anna Karenina and was told that Ana, being a lady, wouldn't have said "shut up" . In the end there's' no arguing with people like this. I think you will like it. It's a great story. At the time, I had difficulty with Pierre (who is modelled on Tolstoi himself) because I kept expecting him to do something decisive. He never could seem to make a firm decision. That's because I'm an American and expect the hero to "take charge" but Russians are more comfortable with a hero like this. People might also like the Audrey Hepburn version of War and Peace or the Russian epic version which takes longer to watch than the book does to read.

I listened to the audible production read by actress Thandiewe Newton and it is fabulous because she acts out the characters. It is the Maude translation but done so well that is easy to listen to. The French phrases are spoken in French but translated. The Briggs translation is also an excellent one if you don’t want to deal with the French phrases. Happy reading or listening.😊

@DebMcDonald

10 ай бұрын

I was going to read W&P but stumbled across the audiobook by Newton and it was excellent. I grabbed every minute I could to listen. I thought it was very readable and the short chapters and changes of scenes made it fly by. Pierre was annoying after a while but then I found Levin annoying in Anna K.

I read the Maud version and really like it, but I’ve heard great things about P&V. That one was my second choice! I paired my reading with a book called Tolstoy Together by Yiyun Li, which was a War and Peace read along held during the pandemic that she later put into a book! A lot of great insights - really helped with my reading of the novel!

@amylynnm324

10 ай бұрын

I’m so glad to hear that Tolstoy Together helped! I also purchased it in hopes that it would encourage me along, but haven’t gotten around to opening it up yet. Cheers.

I read the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of War and Peace earlier this year. I chose this version for most of the reasons you have. Pevear's Introduction also convinced me I chose the right version to try. I read the book as a "goal" and ended up really enjoying my time with it!

I did my research on this some years ago. As you said, the contrast between Russian and French is an integral part of W&P, so I looked for English translations that preserved all, and not just some of, the French and found there are only two: Leo Wiener’s (1904, the same year as Garnett’s translation) and Volokhonsky-Pevear’s. I discarded the latter because I’m a little wary of their MO: Volokhonsky (a Russian) writes a first draft, which Pevear (American) polishes. Apparently neither has a full command of the other language, while I prefer that a single person has it all in their head. As it turned out, Wiener wrote BEAUTIFUL, not at all cumbersome English. A true language genius, he was a Russian who emigrated to America as a young man.

Super helpful! Thanks! 2024 is my year to tackle this classic, and I do think choosing the right translation can make a difference. I randomly have the Garnett version on my shelves, but after listening to your video, I compared the opening scene of it with the P and V version on amazon. The latter does seem better, if only because I really appreciate having the original French included, which Garnett does not do (something I hadn't realized before your video). Thanks for sharing your knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm! Time to take a deep breath and start "War and Peace"!

I tackled War And Peace this year. I was so afraid of it but I figured that if I could tackle and LOVE George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Dickens’ David Copperfield then I could do this. I read the Constance Garnett translation and I was absolutely thrilled that I did. So understandable and easy to read. I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. An absolutely extraordinary novel. Right at the very top of my favorite classic books. I so hope you stick with it and enjoy it Jenny😊

Thank you for the discussion about this book in several translations. I never gave the translators much thought until I saw this video. Not going to tackle this now because I have plenty of books to read that I am working on.

I'm reading War And Peace for the first time. I chose the Constance Garnett translation published by The Modern Library Classics. She translates The French In the text and sprinkles some occasional French idioms here and there. 😊

Great video! I’m interested in reading War and Peace, but haven’t been able to commit to starting it. I have the Garnett edition and also purchased the ebook of Tolstoy Together by Yiyun Li in hopes that it will give me a bit of encouragement along the way. I was sad to miss out on that group read that the Li book is about-I think it was done over social media, but I had deleted all of my accounts at the time because I was struggling with all the online negativity. Good luck with your third attempt!!

Nice video. I recently finished War and Peace. The two translations I considered were Briggs and P&V. Ultimately I read Briggs - what did it for me was that the French was translated in line instead of in footnotes as P&V did so it flowed much better for me. Happy reading! It was a very good read. Read AK shortly after, that was P&V, and I just didn't connect with it as much - wouldn't say its the translation, just something was missing for me in the way Anna's character was explored and the fact that more than a third of the book was about Levin (and Kitty) whom I didn't care about didn't help either! 🙈

Yay congrats on starting (or continuing) this journey and I hope you end up liking it more this time around! I read it over the course of 2-3 months earlier this year with a bookclub, and I chose the Oxford Maude translation that you held up. I have enjoyed Garnett translations for Dostoyevsky but wanted to try someone different for Tolstoy. I did not care for the Briggs version for the same reasons you stated - the application of modern language took me out of the story. I have not tried the P&V but my friend liked that translation. Ultimately I loved my experience with the Maude; I thought many passages were beautifully rendered, and I cannot imagine some of my favorite lines being said any other way. That said, I will treat myself to another translation when I reread and I think I'll go with P&V. Reading and finishing this book was one of the most fulfilling experiences in recent memory and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it very much! Agree that the BBC adaptation was stunning; but do yourself a favor and stay away from the Henry Fonda/Audrey Hepburn film version - it was horrible and took too many liberties with storyline. Maybe you can do a miniseries of you making your way through W&P. Not sure if that's too much pressure but you can leverage this community for motivation, support, and dialogue :) for me, it would have been tough to get to the end on my own. In any case, you totally got this and it'll be a fun ride!

Excellent points! Translating Latin in college made me appreciate the process--knowing the language is not enough!🧡

I read Constance Garnett's translation and the Briggs. I loved them both! Thank you

Very helpful. Thank you

This video was helpful - thanks! I’m yet to read War and Peace. Maybe your annotation is contributing to your DNFing. I read a helpful book called ‘How to Read a Book’ - lol, from which the most helpful bit of reading advice I’ve ever had came: Stay in the reading flow - especially with longer or more complicated texts. This means do not stop to check the dictionary, or to annotate; have faith in yourself to get the gist of a text’s overall meaning without stopping. However, I know what you mean by only expecting to read War and Peace once, so wanting to make the most of the experience through annotations. Good luck! 😊

I finished the first chapter of Briggs’ translation, and I didn’t love it as much as I hoped. I read Anna Karenina about ten years ago and loved it, and I have wanted to read more Tolstoy ever since. I think I’ll try the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation!

Reading the Peaver & Wife translation, I stumbled over the princess with a moustache! I thought something was amiss. A chapter later the moustache is mentioned a second time. Apparently the princess is beautiful, but she sports a moustache. There was no explanation for this. I googled it. There is no etymology to give a reason. Maybe the proto indo-european root for upper lip is the same root for moustache, and in Russian they indeed say moustache but it means something completely different as worlds stemming from the same source change? Alas, no! The translators seriously described the princess having a moustache. Now I'm no translator, but if Tolstoy used the Russian word, and the translator isn't confident to tell her English husband about the subtle meaning of the word and so they write an incomprehensible thing in their translation, then why should we trust them with the rest of War and Peace? The Briggs translation takes the moustache away.

I've have read the Rosemary Edmonds translation a couple of times but I have the Pevear translation so it will be interesting to see how they compare.

Completely agree with you on ultra-modernized translations of classics. It just pulls me right out of the story. I prefer translations that have a similar vibe to other writings from the original story’s time period. I read Constance Garnett’s translation of Anna Karenina and really enjoyed it. I will probably read her W&P version when I finally take the plunge, but this translation overview was really helpful!

Yes, translation is so important. Anthony Briggs is my favorite between him and P&V. In P&V transition there is so much French it kept taking me out of the story. I haven’t read the other two translators work. I’m looking forward to trying them out. I’m wanting to reread the Anthony Briggs translation again. I’d say Les Miserables is the best novel ever written but War and Peace is up there. I hope you enjoy your read. I’m starting the P&V transition The Brothers Karamazov.

@AndreiDoiev

10 ай бұрын

I'd like to say that the French parts in W&P are kind of meant to do exactly that. Although back when it was published I suppose most of Russian readers were capable of reading it without footnote translations, they were still written in French by Tolstoy for a very specific reason - to show and ridicule how much Russian upper-class and aristocratic circles were enamoured with and dependant of the French culture to a point where some of the characters are told to be unable to speak Russian. For what it's worth, almost all of the modern Russian editions keep the French parts intact.

I just reread W&P last year and having read the P/V and Maudes previously, went with Ann Dunnigan this time and very much enjoyed it! I think P/V really get to the heart of him at the expense of prose smoothness, but I think Dunnigan does fairly well and reads very easily.

You can do it Jennifer 🎉Would love a vlog around your war and peace experience.. Totally agree with you about Briggs. I've read W&P twice, first time with the Anne Dunnigan translation by Signet Classics and then Maude.. I Loved Both but prefer Maude

Very interesting and thorough discussion, Jennifer. I read the P&V translation in 2011 and enjoyed it, although stopping to read the French translation took some getting used to. I had tried the Garnett (my mom had it in the house) years before, but it didn't engage me (or maybe I wasn't ready to be engaged😏). Anyway, with a long list of the characters by my side, I generally enjoyed the P&V translation and yes, the war scenes were some of the best in the book, and I'm not a fan of war books AT ALL. And I totally agree that modern slang in a classic translation completely turns me off, just as any sort of modern language turns me off in historical fiction. I want the translation in a classic or the language & dialogue in historical fiction to be of the period, even if it makes it a little more difficult. Finally, good luck with your project--you can do it!

Vladimir Nabokov, who was a great writer and natively bilingual in both Russian and English, once said that Constance Garnett translations are "dry crap". As a Russian speaker I could not agree more for they are indeed quite lacking stylewise. Funny and cunning Gogol, Tolstoy - clever and straightforward, Dostoevsky... they all become this prudent and chaste well-spoken English lady from the Victorian era. They are however very well written (I do enjoy her style) and if you don't mind reading HER (rather than the author of the original book), her translations should be a solid choice.

@Amy-vr5yt

10 ай бұрын

do you know what translation Nabokov liked? or what would you recommend?

I have a small hard back copy that is from the 1950s I think, it's the Maude translation, I read it a few years ago, rushed through it, anxious to tick it off. I have just started it again, this time I will take it slower. Like you, I like the beautiful prose in these old books, so a modern translation with 'mate' etc in it would annoy me. I don't know if I would try another translation. Happy new year!

I read War and Peace about six years ago. I was reading the Constance Garnett translation, but then a man tríed to mug me in a cab. I managed to escape, but I left my copy of War and Peace in the cab. I then bought myself the Maude translation. Honestly, I enjoyed both translations and loved War and Peace. The BBC film adaptation was awful. You have to watch the 1966 Russian adaptation by Sergey Bondarchuk.

Actually the translations that keep the original French or occasional German dialogue (with the English translation at the footnote) are not only more authentic but also more enchanting if you only read them like magical words that would charm and fascinate you even if you don't understand them at first! Aside from that, Pevear and Volokhonsky’s translation of War and Peace is the closest to Tolstoy's style.

I read the Briggs version and I liked it very much.

dude: I am going for the Maude, with a back up of the Briggs. If I am confused about something in Maude, I read the Briggs to clarify and then go back to Maude.

Hi, Jennifer! Thanks for your discussion. I just saw a comparison of Anna Karenina translations, where she read from three translations, which included the Maude and Garnett, as well as a more modern one. She read the beginning, as well as her favorite scene, and I firmly liked the Maude translation the best. The modern one, like you mention here, seemed to be out of step with the era of Tolstoy, which makes it garbage for me. I found a three volume hard cover volume with just the Maudes’ translation. It is an Everyman’s Library (which I’ve heard good things about and wanted to try one of their books) that was done in three volumes in a slipcase. This will allow me to enjoy the reading without either a weightlifting trophy or an eye strain nightmare with small fonts and/or tight line spacing. I went ahead and ordered it, though it won’t be my next read. When I do get to it, I’ll try to come back and give you my appraisal. Thanks again!

It would be great to see a reading vlog if you ever felt like it!. 👩🏼‍🏫

I just read this last month. Started with the Briggs and switched to Maude 150 pages in then back to Briggs for the last section 😂. I liked both. I wanted the French in French which is why I switched. I have the P&V one. I want to reread it at some point and might read the P&V. 🙂

Clive James in his review of the BBC War and Peace from 2016 stated that long ago he taught himself Russian by reading a Soviet four-volume edition ( 1962) with a dictionary alongside. I've done about 200 pages of the Maude- which he says is is the translation he's happy with.

You can do it! I just read it this year for the first time, and read that maud translation. I read it cause I liked Anna Karenina I that one. The writing in war and peace had some beautifully written sections. So far I like P&V for Dostoyevsky. I read crime and punishment and brothers k in that.

The _only_ Russian novel I've read is Fathers & Sons. 😬 I have Anna Karinina, Crime & Punishment (2 different translations) and The Brothers Karamazov (2 different translations) but have yet to read them. They kinda scare me. 😂 More than once, I have had my hands on P&V's War and Peace in my local bookstore, but always put it back. I'm excited to hear what you think. 🤓 Thanks for sharing.

I've been through the same journey as you with Anna Karenina and went with Maude. We actually owned a digital and orint copy if the P& V translation and just couldn't get into it. I found it very clunky and stiff. I just found it hard to believe that Tolstoy was so awkward in native Russian as they expressed him in English, especially compared to Englush contemporaries, Dickens, Eliot, and Trollope. I hold the translators responsible. I read Garnett's W&P years ago and while I found it a little hard to get into initially I ended up really enjoying it. I do plan on rereading it in the revised Maude.

🤗🧐; 9/10 times i prefer translations (which i find fascinating too) to have the lyrical tone of the period & actually i like what i've sampled of CG, (wish i'd chosen her for C&Punishment *but* i had a feeling she'd somewhat gentrified D's writing). W&P is the only T'y i've read & i got the strong sense he was *not* an overly lyrical writer. I sampled P&V, CG, & Briggs- the latter (as you know) despite its modernism just *worked* flowed & felt like the pacey vibrant super lively book i sensed that at heart it originally was (i loved the war parts too). I hope you enjoy Jenny.. that edition is beautiful💕🤓 Rosamund Bartlett is another T translator i'm interested to try! 😊

Thanks for this video, I was going to get briggs but I don’t like the idea of modernising the language. I found Garnett amazing for Dostoyevsky by the way.

I haven't read War and Peace yet, but I'm a native Russian speaker so I will read the original. I've never compared English translations to originals, that would be an interesting experiment to do in the future. I just looked up the Maude translation on Project Gutenberg and I agree that I don't like that parts of the conversation that are in French aren't in French in the translation.

My read through was on the older Maude with the French translated in line and Angliconized names. I really enjoyed that version and have tried to stick with Maude for other Russian classics. However, when trying to find a physical copy my choices were limited to Briggs or Pevear and I went Briggs. I hope the British slang doesn't ruin it for me

I read W&P for the first time this year, in the Briggs translation. I enjoyed it very much, but I was put off by some of the British expressions used occasionally especially in dialogue. Now I’m 750 pages into the P&V translation. I admit the Briggs may be easier to understand in spots, but I like seeing the French and the more literal translation. I also have been dipping into an old Maude as I go (it has great maps). I think it’s a great book in all three translations. I recommended the Briggs to a friend because I think it’s the most accessible to a modern reader, and it is really good… Except for the occasional moments where I was distracted by the British expressions. They were rare, but still kind of annoying.

😊

I really like the P&V translation of Dostoevsky's work!

I read the Garnett translation three times and I really liked it.However, Nabokov,when asked about it said "Well, it's really great but it' s not Tolstoy ."Consequently,if I read again, I' ll read the Edmonds or maybe the Volkonsky.Obviously,I really like Tolstoy.I never found it an effort to read.

I'm not a big fan of P&V translations, but overall they aren't super different from any of the others. I don't find theirs flow as well for me. I like Constance Garnett a lot but I've read Briggs for this. I did Edmunds for Resurrection and really liked her translation. There's a Russian man I watch who likes Garnett because he said he thinks hers reads similar in style to the original (since she was translating closer to their release). I like trying multiple versions of things. I hope this goes well for you!

Heart of Kentucky. Hi JENNIFER. Is your WAR AND PEACE unabridged? Barnes and Noble doesn't have any unabridged classics anymore. They are watered down. I've got the PEVEAR, VOLOKHONSKY translation. I have not read it yet. It does not say , complete and unabridged? The front of your copy looks like mine? It has over a thousand pages. I'm having to look for these books on the internet. It would be great to hear from you. Katie.

Tolstoy is really straightforward and easier to read vs eg Dostoyevsky. Just print out a list of characters to refer to as you read.

I read the Garnett, I enjoyed the story BUT the translation was annoying. I'll be re-reading it in the Maude.

its funny...you DNF' d the book...so did i ...now you started again...so did i....its like you said...its very easy and readable...i will be strong and finish it...i hope haha

I mean if you know French, the parts that are in French arent that bad, theyre actually very interesting because French at that time is a bit different and interesting than the modern one but also a bit harder because modern French people are lazy to use the language correctly with all the verb tenses

Briggs didn't overdo it with the slang too much. I'll admit the 6 or so times he used the word nonplussed, it took me out of the narrative. Overall I enjoyed his translation.

The book and the movie that will come later this year do seem a bit off to N's personality and I dont understand whyyy... although War and Peace got him better but hes way too chaotic for the actual person