/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13286067]

Finally finished this long anticipated book after 2 months of enjoyable and mind-nourishing reading, and could straight out and freely say that this is one of the best pieces of literature work I've ever read in my life - everything about it is flawlessly achieved: from character development not only on outward, but as well as on inward (spiritual) level, to the sublime interconnection between the big landmark, point-turning events on a massive scale (battles, over-spread calamities and such) and those on individual, (seemingly) insignificant scale, that, in my opinion, is the main unique soaring element of the book that bears crucial importance to the structural build-up of it; it also has that special influence on the reader that he can't help but just simply experience and immerse himself into the lives of the main characters, like making him part of them and their everyday struggles and bursts of elated happiness. And last, but not least, the prose (noteworthy to be mentioned is that I read it in Maude's translation): Tolstoy's writing here is so well-mastered and adroitly handled that even the longest of the sentences flow seamlessly through one's mind, which for me is another of the adorations about the book.

TL;DR: One of the best literary achievements in human history

[Anonymous No.13286073]

the twilight series was better

[Anonymous No.13286078]

>>13286067
>whole 2 months for something high schoolers finish in 2 weeks
how much of a brainlet are you?

[Anonymous No.13286081]

>>13286067
Have you read Anna Karenina yet? If so which do you prefer?

[Anonymous No.13286083]

>>13286067
This is now a Jane Jacobs Thread

[Anonymous No.13286134]

>>13286078
lurk moar

>>13286081
I haven't read it yet, as in fact War and Peace is my first Tolstoy book, but I will be looking forward to engaging myself with his second major project after giving a little break from the author to 'rid myself' of his stylistic writing and eventually starting afresh with it

[Anonymous No.13286281]

>>13286134
Get a good collection of his short stories after you finish AK. You won't be disappointed.

[Anonymous No.13286424]

>>13286067
Andrei or Pierre?

[Anonymous No.13286439]

Should I get P&V or Oxford's revised Maude? Heard the P&V one changes Andrei to "Andrew xD". I wouldn't like that.

[Anonymous No.13286450]

One of my favorite parts was when Pierre decided to try assassinating Napoleon but when he was on his way he kept running into situations where he was saving people, like the girl from the burning house or the woman being attacked by the soldiers. I wonder if that was some intentional irony with him setting out to take a life but circumstances forcing him to save them.

[Anonymous No.13286715]

>>13286439
OP here. The edition of the book I read was Everyman's and there Andrei was anglicised as Andrew. I also now checked Oxford's just out of curiosity, and contrary to it there Andrei is used instead. Dunno why the difference, considering it's the same translation.

>>13286450
Well, I read that for many critics Pierre is actually the most important character in the book, serving as the hidden central chain between all the main characters, i.e. like some sort of mediator in-between, being that even he himself isn't aware of this but is always there, his presence being felt throughout the entire book.

[Anonymous No.13286730]

>>13286067
>everything about it is flawlessly achieved
I love the book but Natasha's betrayal felt rushed and her change in the epilogue only made sense because there's no way the real Natasha would have married Pierre. It's also weird how Nikolai is basically the main character of the first half and then disappears almost completely until the epilogue.

[Anonymous No.13286745]

>>13286715
>Dunno why the difference, considering it's the same translation.
Well yes, but actually no. Oxford revised the Maude translation.
>>13286730
Use the spoiler label next time, you fucking asshole.

[Anonymous No.13286762]

Hey don't mind me, I'm just being the superior novel.

[Anonymous No.13287226]

>>13286424
Andrei

[Anonymous No.13287287]

>>13287226
Based.

[Anonymous No.13287328]

>>13286083
Who is she

[Anonymous No.13288218]

>>13286439
>Should I get P&V
Please don't.

[Anonymous No.13289463]

>>13287328
Based urban planner

[Anonymous No.13289559]

>>13286067
>two months
Lmfao do you read like 20 pages a day? Get the fuck off this board pseud.

[Anonymous No.13289572]

Andrei best boy Natasha a shit

[Anonymous No.13289623]

>>13286715
>Well, I read that for many critics Pierre is actually the most important character in the book
Isn't this super obvious to anyone who's read the book?

I loved the cast of characters. So many immense and beautiful characters. All the Bezukhovs bring a smile to my face. The scene where Andrei leaves his pregnant wife to go fight in 1805 is such a beautiful farewell scene. That second epilogue hurt but the first one was incredible. Surprisingly, the massive spiel about Kutuzov being some sort of divine embodiment of the Russian will to defend herself was one of the best moments for me.

>“Well, now, good-bye!” He gave his son his hand to kiss, and embraced him. “Remember this, Prince Andrew, if they kill you it will hurt me, your old father…” he paused unexpectedly, and then in a querulous voice suddenly shrieked “but if I hear that you have not behaved like a son of Nicholas Bolkonski, I shall be ashamed!”
> “You need not have said that to me, father,” said the son with a smile.
> The Old man was silent
> “I also wanted to ask you,” continued >Prince Andrew, “if I’m killed and if I have a son do not let him be taken away from you- as I said yesterday… let him grow up with you. Please.”
> “Not let the wife have him?” said the old man, and laughed.
> They stood silent, facing one another. The old man’s sharp eyes were fixed straight on his son’s. Something twitched in the lower part of the old prince’s face.
> “We’ve said good-bye. Go!” he suddenly shouted in a loud, angry voice, opening his door.

>>13289559
I took like 3 or 4 months to read it. It felt right to make it a long journey. I read about ~15-20 other books alongside it during those few months.

[Anonymous No.13289624]

>>13289559
Not all of us are filthy repugnant NEETS like you, like, we have exams and finals to study for, you know? Besides, my daily quota is about 30-35 pages, I just had days when I simply skipped reading for reasons I mentioned above. Now off with you, faggot

[Anonymous No.13289641]

>>13289624
>exams

What are you? Still in school or something? Get the fuck off here.

[Anonymous No.13289642]

>>13286067
>2 months
Come on man, I'm a slow reader and yet I finished this book in 18 days. Although I guess I do read faster if the book is really interesting.

[Anonymous No.13289649]

>>13289624
>30-35
>not between 50 and 100
Never gonna make it

[Anonymous No.13289653]

Nobody gives a fuck out fast or slow you read the book. You're all a bunch of fucking dullards.

[Anonymous No.13289661]

>>13289641
I'm a university student, idiot

[Anonymous No.13289666]

>>13289653
This, I mainly read a chapter or two a day when taking my morning shit and no one cares how long that adds up

[Anonymous No.13289703]

>>13286424
For me personally it's Andrei, but at the same time recognize that the characterization of Nikolai is one of the book's supreme miracles.

[Anonymous No.13289713]

>>13289661
>I'm a university student
>calls others idiots
i can feel the irony

[Anonymous No.13289719]

>>13289624
>Besides, my daily quota is about 30-35 pages
Hahahaha you think that's a lot? Get off my board right now.

[Anonymous No.13289799]

>>13289623
I hope you're right about that thing with Pierre; the interesting thing is that I personally didn't grasp fully the significance of Pierre's part in the book till the final parts, where he starts getting paranoid about numerical prophecies and such and meets Platon Karataev for the cornerstone of his final spiritual formation; until then you have the feeling (at least for me) that every character has their own equal importance and contribution to it, but in the end you get to realize how impactful are his spiritual 'wanderings', fancies and epiphanies.
As for the characters, they are indeed beautiful in their own way. My favourites are Pierre, the old Bolkonsky and Denisov, especially Andrei's father where you don't know whether to hate him or love him until his very death when he confesses that he never stopped loving Mary.

>>13289713
I too have my own prejudices about today's academic education, but getting a degree won't hurt anybody and you never know when you'll going to need it. (university education in my country is cheap so I can't care less about it)

[Anonymous No.13289815]

>>13289799
>I too have my own prejudices about today's academic education, but getting a degree won't hurt anybody and you never know when you'll going to need it. (university education in my country is cheap so I can't care less about it)
i was just joking man, dog bless

[Anonymous No.13290234]

>>13286424
Andrei.
Pierre was just a lucky gifted man overall. He didnt have something that made him"remarkable" like Andreis solid personality and decision. In fact Pierre was scared so much of having to deal with responsabilities the whole book it seemed it was Elene who carried on the fortune and Bezujov's name. He event went to war as a goddamn child thirsty for curiosity becoming a real stubborn.

[Anonymous No.13290245]

>>13289799
I felt like Pierre was just driven by life all along. He was more of a thinker, but lacking of action to actually do something about it.

[Anonymous No.13291628]

I think maybe my favourite character was Nikolai Rostov. One the one hand you got Kutuzov, Andrei, Napoleon etc., who show you the historical events from a grander perspective, while Nikolai's perspective is more that of a common soldier, generally speaking.

Particularily rememberable for me was when he and the army was inspected by the emperor and all those patriotic feelings stirred up in him. Also that time when he had the opportunity to kill an enemy, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

I also loved the scene when Petya was in the crowd by the emperor's mansion, I think, and a crust broke off from the cookie Alexander was holding and the crowd went completely wild, trying all to snatch it.

[Anonymous No.13291648]

I so preferred Anna Karenina, but that’s because I find war boring.

[Anonymous No.13291939]

>one shot at life
>not born to become a napoleonic era hussar
I wish we could go back

[Anonymous No.13291981]

>>13289653
This

[Anonymous No.13291989]

>>13291648
>I find war boring.
What kind of homosexual are you? lmao

[Anonymous No.13292000]

>>13286745
So is Everyman or the revised translation better?

[Anonymous No.13291999]

>>13286067
I Remember starting to read an English translation that kept the French parts in French (with a translated version below). Do you think this is worth the extra paper space?

[Anonymous No.13292028]

>>13291999
It's necessary on some level because they're not always speaking French. It also communicates to the reader certain things about the people speaking, like their level of education and sophistication, and depending the time or place, their level of naivety because there is a point where it becomes a faux pas to speak French openly.

[Anonymous No.13292053]

>>13286081
I just finished Anna Karenina, hands down my favorite book, what should I read to prepare myself for War and Peace?

[Anonymous No.13292090]

>>13292053
The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin

[Anonymous No.13292106]

>>13292053
If you have read AK you are quite prepared. The only thing I'd suggest is reading about or watching a documentary about Napoleon first. War and Peace isn't as difficult to read as often led to believe either, it's just long.

[Anonymous No.13292177]

Moby Dick is better

[Anonymous No.13292364]

Natasha is so endearing, lads

[Anonymous No.13292983]

>>13292364
Yes, but I can't forgive what she did to Andrei.

>Prince Andrei now smiled the same joyful smile that he had smiled then, looking in her eyes. “I understood her,” thought Prince Andrei. “I not only understood her, but it was that inner force, that sincerity, that inner openness, that soul of hers, which was as if bound by her body, it was that soul that I loved…loved so strongly, so happily…” And suddenly he remembered what his love had ended with. “[Anatole] didn’t need any of that. He saw none of it and understood none of it. He saw in her a pretty and fresh girl, with whom he did not deign to join his fate. While I?…And to this day he’s alive and cheerful.”

That part always gets me.

[Anonymous No.13292994]

>>13286078
Are you fucking retarded?

[Anonymous No.13293000]

>>13289642
It’s not a race fuckface, you instant gratification seeking faggots.

[Anonymous No.13294161]

I wanted to hatefuck Hélène tbhfam

[Anonymous No.13294179]

>>13294161
>tbhfam
what sorcery is this

[Anonymous No.13294186]

tbhfam

[Anonymous No.13294190]

>>13294186
desu senpai

tbhfam

WE DID IT

WE BROKE THE CONDITIONING

[Anonymous No.13294197]

>>13294190
desu

[Anonymous No.13294500]

>>13292000
The revised translation is better.

[Anonymous No.13295179]

>>13294190
baka

[Anonymous No.13296267]

>>13293000
It's about having the time to read more books. Also, I haven't rushed it at all during those 18 days. You mustn't race (like those extremist speedreading faggots which can " read" books in a ludicrous amount of time and not absorb anything from it), but you mustn't be too slow either. Two months is too much, even if it's a book like W&P in question.

[Anonymous No.13296284]

>>13286134
>looking forward to engaging myself with his second major project
many consider karenina better than W&P

[Anonymous No.13296368]

>>13296267
>Also, I haven't rushed it at all during those 18 days.
>proceeds to read +-80 pages a day and this somewhat isn't called 'rushed'

[Anonymous No.13297880]

>>13296368
>he thinks ~80 pages a day is rushing
Seriously now? How many pages do you think someone should read a day? Imagining all the great writers who were inspired by the copious amounts of books they've read instead reading at what you consider a normal pace makes me shudder, as they would never have written what they had, since they wouldn't have almost any material under their belt. Not to mention how tragic it would be if people read at such a snail's pace, as they wouldn't experience many great books.
On the other hand, I saw a blog in which a guy posted his one of his yearly reports related to books, and he had (I shit you not) over 500 books there. Now that is rushing it way too much. There's just no way you could read 500 books in a year, especially when you consider the fact that he has a solid amount of long books on there.

[Anonymous No.13298207]

>>13297880
How many pages should one read a day is an extremely relative variable - there are a lot of factors out there that determine the capability of the number of potential words to be read, the main of which are:
1.The type of literature - some genres like romance/erotical romance are an easy read due to their oversimplified prose, unlike philosophical/scientific works where you are dealing with constant processing of valuable precise information which, in most cases, is new to you and you have to often stop at the end of a sentence/passage and ponder over it since lots of new words, theories, laws, postulates etc. are directly presented to you and (especially of theories) you have to interpret them in your own way
2.Life occupation - whether you are a student, have a job, don't have a job, or simultaneously attend school/university and work, that greatly affects your physical and mental strength needed for the reading activity
3.Experience and time-span between book A and book B read - if you are a fresh reader and/or don't have a self-established consistent routine of reading, you can either, in the beginning, when you haven't engaged your mind for a long time in exclusive reading of a book, read like a madman 200 pages a day till your strength gradually weakens and you find yourself at 20 pages, or have an established quota of X number of pages that you keep with for over a long period of time
4.And lastly, the reason you read - be it enjoyment, enriching your vocabulary, or self-learning, it all depends on it and the number of pages can vastly differ

It's your opinion to think whether X pages can be seen as 'tragic' and 'snail-like' or not; in the end, one decides best for themselves how many pages a day are sufficient for them and what is the most optimal approach for 'digesting' a book.

[Anonymous No.13299137]

>>13291628
>I think maybe my favourite character was Nikolai Rostov.

the fuck

Nikolai is a pampered crybaby with a low IQ who does nothing in war and yet likes to imagine himself as big and important, while looking down on people who are superior to him. He is also a boot-licker for the Emperor and most authority figures.

He is a mediocre person.