[Turbo Dragon]

Can anybody who has honestly read it recommend it?

I picked up a copy at a book fair, as it regularly on the list of 'Books you must read' etc...

I see why it has its reputation for length

Aside from the length is it a reasonably easy read, or a bit tough going?

Is it one for the shelf to look impressive and never read?

Opinions anybody.....
Thank you

Si

[Matt W]

It's tough, but it's awesome.

[GBDG1]

haha was thinking of posting a W&P thread the other day. I bought it after reading 4-5 books in a week. I though that I was ready to have a crack, I bought it, and then didn't even start.

My girlfriend is watching a Tv programme about Jordan so tonight may be the night I start it

[Turbo Dragon]

Its almost a 1000 pages of teeny tiny text definately not one to take on lightly.....

Dont know what kind of modd i need to be in to read it really, but Im going to give it a shot at some point.

Thumbed through it and the language doesnt seem too bad actually

[BraveTyger]

I spent a whole summer reading it a few years ago, partly just so i could truthfully claim to have read it!

I agree with Matt, it is actually really good, but it does take time to get moving. I would say give it a good 100 pages before deciding it's not for you - it's almost like one of those hefty fantasy tomes where you have to immerse yourself in the world it creates before you get hooked.

Best of luck with Mr Tolstoy - if you start now you could be finished by Xmas!

[Geofbob]

I've certainly read it, but so long ago that I know more about it from references to it I've read since, than from the reading experience itself. Personally, I would say that if you want to spend some time on a great, long Russian novel, then Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment may have more relevance to today's world than W & P.

[deardai]

W & P is great and quite easy to read, although I read it in Russian which is my native. Dostoevsky is also great and I would recommend The Possessed, which is my favourite book of Dostoevsky if not a favourite book of all.

[bosque]

War and Peace is a long leisurely read but the sheer length of it is obviously off-putting, you'll be on page 800 and realise dauntingly that you've still got almost as long again to get through. One suggestion is to skip the pages when Tolstoy is discussing historical determinism which are mainly in the last quarter or so of the book and to completely ignore the last 50 pages which add nothing to the story. I often think books of this length would benefit from being published in 200 page parts - I'm sure we could get through them with more ease than a massive, cramp-inducing door stopper !

[FruitBat]

I decided to have a crack at this after reading this thread.
Finally finished it.

In general, I found it to be a much easier read than I had anticipated. There were, however, a couple of things hampering progress.

The start was a little bit confusing. There are so many characters introduced (most of them having alternative names) that I lost track of who was who. Also, the similarity of some of the names didn't help (Kuragin/Karagin). I found that at the end of Book 1/Part 1, I had to go back and start again, just to get a clearer picture of who everyone was.

The first 1400 pages were fine, but the last 40 took me about a month to get through. I thought that skipping this last chunk would be cheating.

[Turbo Dragon]

Yay

Well done. I have not startedit yet, I got the complete Inspector Morse bookset at a fair and have been ploughing my way through that instead

Congratulations

Si