War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy REVIEW

[@TheBookchemist]

The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/thebookchemist09211

[@aggelos8256]

Giusto una curiosità, in che città abiti?

[@atw-me1xy]

Finished War and Peace when I was 25, and I intimately think about it multiple times a week to this day. It can honestly say for my own personal opinion it is by far one of the greatest forms of art I have ever experienced.

[@ayesha36]

I'm almost 25 and I feel like your comment is a sign I should finally start...

[@bhavnabhatt9318]

I finished this book when i was 14 year old yeah i am a complete weirdo

[@todesque]

Agreed. I read it at 30 for the first time, and re-read it every 2 or 3 years. It's always hovering in the back of my mind ... It's not the kind of book you read once, and put away, never to touch again. It's a book that really lives in you, grows in you, and rewards multiple readings.

[@theKRUGMEISTER]

I’ve been binge-watching War and Peace reviews as I waited for my copy to arrive in the mail, so this video was absolutely perfect timing for me

[@todesque]

Excellent review. Totally agree with you in recommending Anthony Briggs' translation. It's absolutely magnificent. 10/10. And I say this as someone who has read all five or so of the major English translations, and can follow along in the original Russian reasonably well. (Steer far, far away from P&V, friends.) Briggs, like Tolstoy, writes very simply yet beautifully. His sentences flow with such smoothness -- a pure joy to read. I think most newcomers will be pleasantly surprised at how reader-friendly War & Peace really is (apart from the essays, of course, which I generally skip nowadays).

[@bjwnashe5589]

Pierre, Natasha, and Andrei are three of the greatest characters in literature. To say they come to life on the page is an understatement. Pierre's storyline in particular--the arc of his narrative, and what he learns and how he changes--is pure genius on Tolstoy's part. Each of these three characters undergo a deep and meaningful journey in this novel.

[@vanishing_girl]

amen

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

If one doesn't care much for Philosophy and War Strategy then War and Peace will be boring to read

[@kaiftintoiwala6414]

I have read this book and can't define the greatness inside of it

[@alexusbratva878]

Yes! I am excited to hear this review

[@jimlang7461]

I was amazed at how easy a read it was. A real page-turner. I was actually the first book I ever read on my phone.

[@agilman]

If you are curious to explore Russian literature, I would strongly recommend starting with Dead Souls. Then, at some point, check out Notes from the Underground, followed by The Brothers Karamazov.

[@frankshrew2852]

I agree, Deal Souls is surprisingly modern and enjoyable to read. Great intro and one my favourites of any era. However I wouldn’t recommend Part Two of Dead Souls as it takes steps away from the original and is unfinished, only served to diminish my love of the 1st part somewhat.Crime and Punishment is also very compelling reads to start with, got me hooked…Gogol’s plays and short stories are stellar as well. One of the most unique voices in world literature.

[@TheBookchemist]

Thank you for the recommendations!

[@DimitrisRebelYell]

Happy Birthday Mattia!!! That was a fantastic review.

[@zahirahza]

what great timing! my doorstopper book club is starting war and peace next week!

[@vins1979]

I plan to read this in 2022, as now I've just started reading À la recherche du temps perdu!

[@warlockofwordsreturnsrb4358]

Congrats on completing Tolstoy's utter masterpiece, and before turning turning 30! I turn 40 in December and have a few books I want to knock off the list, including Against The Day, House of Leaves and Dune. I'll manage one or two of them.

[@Matt-nj4tt]

Against the day goes hard

[@warlockofwordsreturnsrb4358]

@@Matt-nj4tt Absolutely! Just as good as Gravity's Rainbow.

[@TheBookchemist]

Good luck with catching up with those before turning 40 - I hope you have fun with them!!

[@frankshrew2852]

I highly recommend reading Petersburg by Andrei Bely. Nabokov considered it one of the greatest masterpieces of the twentieth century and it foreshadows modernism and post modernism while being written in a truly unique symbolist style that contains powerful themes while remaining a wonderfully Russian book. One of my all time favourites.

[@deborajohnson5717]

I just read War and Peace and I agree it is a must read! Great review!!

[@acrylicrainbow1326]

Sorry but I really have to disagree with you on this one. It's a known fact that the Complete Peanuts collection from 1969-1970 is the greatest art medium ever created.

[@MrArgman]

EC Segar Popeye is superior

[@janedough2963]

Pardon me, but I beg to differ. It's a known fact that the Adventures of Tintin is even more magnificent than Popeye and Snoopy together.

[@ThePortjumper]

I was going back and forth on reading this much lauded masterpiece recently, and I think I'll finally decide upon watching this review, whether I should or not. Also, Happy Birthday, man. I think you're one of the most insightful and well-informed book reviewers on this platform. I hope your thirties are immeasurably productive.

[@TheBookchemist]

:D thank you!

[@weirddingus4620]

War and Peace basically let me experience the ups and downs of an entire life without living an entire life. This was both a privilege and very depressing. Also, it's fucking long lmao and Tolstoy's hyper-detailed dissections of his character's mental / emotional states get's tiring but it's also what make his writing so engaging.

[@darktower74]

I'm a happy subscriber and was wondering if you are an advocate of any other KZbin book reviewers. What I appreciate the most is not necessarily the book lists, but your comments and opinions about the books you talk about. Keep up the great work.

[@TheBookchemist]

Climb the Stacks is my favorite reviewer on KZbin!

[@vedantmate1506]

This is by far the best review of War and Peace in stipulated time. You are an interesting guy. I've posted about your KZbin channel in every relevant social media group that I'm part of. I would love to have a conversation with you over lunch if and when I come to Italy or you come to India. P.S- I like your way of speaking; especially the way your body language personifies the words that u are speaking. You can be a good theater artist too. And wish you a belated happy birthday.

[@travelthroughstories]

Great review! I just finished Nino Haratischwili's The Eighth Life and now I'm really tempted to go and read War and Peace as it's clearly in conversation with Tolstoy's epics... your review is convincing me that I should..

[@cornsyruptrucker]

Your intros are fantastic 😂 im glad I happened to find your channel today

[@nellsea8086]

I have 1/4 of it left and this review is just on time

[@themetalhead92g]

A really great review! Your phd is showing :P I think you make some of the most interesting and worth to hear reviews out there... Also, i am starting to make a hobby out of searching for changes in the background shelves!

[@TheBookchemist]

:D

[@mrl9418]

Buon Compleanno!

[@MikeWiest]

Thank you! This is very helpful... Also--I just finished Middlemarch lol 😂you said "what was it even about?" ...I'd say it was about how to lead a good life and see yourself as contributing to the the good in the world even when we make devastating mistakes, and face unfair prejudices, and when the world we live in doesn't offer us any heroic role to play... cheers!

[@Matt_Kole]

Nice review, and I’m glad you went with Anthony Briggs over P&V!

[@zan8152]

recently fell in love with Tolstoy's short stories, and plan on reading Anna K. with Codex Cantina and crew coming up soon... but boy, this sounds wonderful, maybe I need to just keep on with Tolstoy

[@troytradup]

Hey, a fellow Leo -- happy birthday! I've read a couple different translations of W&P, but never the Briggs. He's on my list. I would love to buy more of the Penguin cloth classics but so many of them I find in local stores have misaligned spines. Annoys me that they go to the trouble of designing such beautiful books, but then can't take the time to do a little quality control at the binder.

[@charlesbukowski9752]

Hi, which translation do you find best? I've only read garnett translation and i'm curious about other ones. Thanks in advance.

[@troytradup]

@@charlesbukowski9752 I think I prefer the Ann Dunnigan (available as a very fat Signet Classic mass market paperback), but that may be because it's the one I read first. It's very smooth and unfussy. The Pevear/Volokhonsky retains the original French, and I was annoyed every time I had to refer to a footnote for a translation. I'm looking forward to the Briggs -- maybe this December. Cheers!

[@TheBookchemist]

@@troytradup (Hilariously/annoyingly, I have an Italian edition of War & Peace that does the same - it retains the French passages in French - and I don't think mine even offers any kind of footnote translation!!)

[@ratherrapid]

Great insight as always! Perhaps we rate books because we r unable to read them all and so need to decide where to spend our time. None other than Harold Bloom certainly was other than shy about rating the great books. My third reading of Warr and Peace and many years apart. My one rat opinion--certainly Tolstoy belongs in Bloom's top 26, but falls well short of the top ten. Doestevsky was a master at relating his books through the conversations of his characters. Tolstoy's conversations to me throughout this book range from the silly to the downright dumb. With thousands of dead and wounded on the battlefield Napoleon stands above the wounded Prince Andre. Pynchon wouldd precede this with a dissertaion on the laws of probability. Musil would give a sophisticated brilliant acccount of the psychology, philosophy, and politics of the event. Tolstoy, meh, blah. Too much of that in W & P by my account.

[@BriantWebster]

"Literature is not a competition as much as a conversation." I totally agree. Still hoping one day I can publish something that you can review 🤞

[@TheBookchemist]

Best of luck with your writing!

[@dariostevens250]

I think that a book that is comparable (for me the best) with W&P is The brothers Karamazov

[@karenbird6727]

I think my favorite passage in War and Peace is the battle scene.

[@FHK1817]

Belated happy birthday

[@jimmygownley9573]

Seeing the Complete Peanuts volume warmed my heart

[@TheBookchemist]

Slowly making my way through the series :) I believe I read all (definitely most) of the strips in Italian when I was a kid, and it's amazing to revist them in the original!

[@jimmygownley9573]

@@TheBookchemist Nice! Don’t give up in the 80’s, the 90’s are a monster comeback!

[@realredemptiom]

Hey man, you should read Leave Society by Tao Lin. I would be interested on your thoughts about it. Have you read any books by him?

[@TheBookchemist]

I can't say that I've heard of him - but thank you for the recommendation!

[@GeorgeMillerUSA]

Please do more DeLillo and Barth.

[@havefunbesafe]

Do you prefer the yellow books more than the red books?

[@bronzedisease]

it's the kind of book every person can read and come away thinking hm that was me, that was my struggle .

[@gaznawiali]

Where would you rank Lord of the Rings?

[@aliprcdmrn19]

a medium dose lamb slaying session, done with skill btw! regards!! ))))

[@wnJhntn]

Would you recommend I read this or some other more focused books first? I'm only 13 so I don't want my first time reading this to be spoiled by ignorance

[@TheBookchemist]

I would read a few pages (either in a bookshop or from a library copy) or see if you find it interesting, or if it doesn't really pull you in!

[@AkamiChannel]

Crime and Punishment is more accessible.

[@burke9497]

Thanks for this review. I love War and Peace! I couldn’t tell if you said you liked or didn’t like Middlemarch?

[@TheBookchemist]

I really liked Middlemarch when I read it (about six years ago), but I must confess that I haven't retained much of it - even the basic plot has mostly gone! I possibly read it too fast at the time, and I often wonder whether I should re-read it one day, and give it a second chance!

[@rubeng9092]

now read Hamlet

[@vanishing_girl]

lol totally agree with his portrayal of Napoleon being the obvious flaw, it just doesn't fit with all the other characters' portrayals. He clearly just hated him because of his stance as the "great man" of the 19th Century, and because he was salty about the past war with France.

[@k.e.1760]

Stoner by John Williams?

[@gobbagu]

Read this shit on the bus and at work, the Natasha chapters throughout the 400-600 pages or so lost me. Napoleon pov was good but then I stopped caring. The aristocrats are iliad heroes, except more realistic. He lets the one young boy die. It’s like a 7/10 if I’m being honest

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

Does War and Peace have a lot of boring Parts?

[@TheBookchemist]

Not a lot! Just a handful (with the main one actually coming very close to the end, so that by then you won't mind wading through it ;) )

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

@@TheBookchemist Im going to read shorter works of Tolstoy first to see if I like him.

[@manchro8672]

anna karenina is definitely the better of the two for me.

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

That's good to hear cause it's much shorter than W&P.

[@Ismailisabeastboss]

@thebookchemist Anatole is by far the worst character! Far worse than Prince Andrei

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

War and Peace was so underwhelming for me. Sorry if I sound contrarian, but I really don't think it's that great of a book today. All the characters are whiny and pathetic or otherwise unlikable, and Tolstoy's philosophical insights are shallow by modern standards. Its acclaim lies more in what it did than in what it does, I think. I understand why it was important for its time, but I honestly don't think it has that much to offer the modern reader. Just my thoughts. Great review though!

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

@@CRM-114 I said shallow by modern standards. Tolstoy's assertion that everyone, not just a few select "greats" contributes to the motions of history was, I'm sure, stunning and revolutionary for its time, but it's laughably obvious now. War and Peace is an important book, don't get me wrong, but I really do think it hasn't aged that well. Its observations are just common knowledge nowadays; it doesn't offer that much insight to the modern reader, at least I don't think it does. And the characters are all insufferable to boot. Again, I think the acclaim it garners is a result of what it did, but not what it does, because it doesn't really do that much now. That is to say, it's not as timeless as other classic works of literature. But again, that's just how it impacted me.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

@@CRM-114 Yes, I've read the book. And it's really more concerned about the movements of history and the directions it takes, and the causes behind those movements, rather than just the militaristic aspects of the story. Yes, soldiers determine the outcomes of battles just as much if not more so than commanders. That's so obvious it's painful; even back then. The "Great Man" theory of history that Tolstoy wanted to debunk is so irrelevant now that the book's central commentary is rendered obsolete. And no, my contempt for Tolstoy as a thinker is not unjustified in the slightest, considering that virtually every ideological viewpoint he championed in both his personal life and his writings have been almost completely abandoned and/or are viewed now as either deranged or absurd. He really wasn't the greatest philosopher. He ardently extolled the virtues of living a life of poverty and abstinence, yet practiced neither of those things himself. He was also ridiculously misogynistic, and War and Peace drips with such sentiments. Again, I'm not saying that War and Peace isn't an important book; it totally was. All I'm saying is that in comparison with other classic novels, it's value has diminished greatly. I hold, at least.

[@dariostevens250]

@@TH3F4LC0Nx Are you talking also compared to Dostoevskij for example?

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

@@dariostevens250 Dostoyevsky is far superior to Tolstoy. Much better philosophical insight, and still relevant and valuable to today's audience. Not nearly as judgmental and preachy as Tolstoy too. Dostoyevsky is the real greatest Russian author; not Tolstoy.

[@shmizzleshmazzle9830]

@@TH3F4LC0Nx Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky are both more valuable for their influence in literature than their actual output in my opinion.