War and Peace

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 61 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Often called the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is at once an epic of the Napoleonic wars, a philosophical study, and a celebration of the Russian spirit. Tolstoy's genius is clearly seen in the multitude of characters in this massive chronicle, all of them fully realized and equally memorable. Out of this complex narrative emerges a profound examination of the individual's place in the historical process, one that makes it clear why Thomas Mann praised Tolstoy for his Homeric powers and placed War and Peace in the same category as The Iliad.

War and Peace was translated by Constance Garnett.

Public Domain (P)2009 Blackstone Audio

It was long.

Glad I listened to it, but Leo diving a bit more into the relationships of those on the battlefield, as well as those at home would have made this 147+ y.o. novel more satisfying.
His writing style in this story was superficial on the relationships, and had depth on philosophical matters.

phil·o·soph·i·cal
ˌfiləˈsäfək(ə)l/
adjective
1. relating or devoted to the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence.

Great read

enjoyed immensely. whould recommend to all. captures the essence of humanity in many diverse characters

Indeed a great novel

This is a book of many facets: family histories, romance, world history, drama, war theory and battles… it’s got it all.

Many questions will be forever unanswered: how critical was the author towards Tsarism? What would he have made of the Bolshevik Revolution? How would the Bolshevik have gotten along with him, gad he still been alive then?

An epic novel in the true meaning of the word.

Three attempts from the beginning over a 12 year period such it the length of this novel to get through it.
Thank you Leo Tolstoy

Effective conveyance of moral philosophy

We've all heard of great leaders such as Napoleon, but Tolstoy calls into question the historians who like to paint him (and other great leaders as well), as the puppeteer of world events. However N- as well as you and me are all subjects of events and circumstance. Try as you might your own nobility and reason may hinder your effectiveness, and to be effective is on occasion at the expense of your own humanity. What is rightness if it leads to ruin. These are questions we must ask ourselves in war and also in peace.

Audible & Pevear’s versions have different number of total chapters

Book One, Part One of Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky’s Kindle version has 25 chapters. This Audible version has 24 chapters, merging chapters 24 and 25 of Pevear’s version. Not sure which is right, but would be helpful if this Audible version at least included the Book and Part numbers so one could quickly jump from Audible to print versions and not need to work it out oneself needing to reconcile the differences of total number of chapters.

Milestone Achieved

In the beginning this book was difficult, too slow and uninterestintg to me, however I stuck to it, and I am glad I did. After about the 10th hour the book became interesting and after I had become familiar with it, I enjoyed listening to it very much. It is amazing to think that one man could have put so much thought and time and research into one book. As a bonus, the reader is absolutely phenomenal!

I loved this!

I never had the courage to attempt reading W&P so I was pleasantly surprised how much I loved every bit of the book and this reading.

free will vs physical laws

enjoyed the book, story, and characters. deep thinking at the end worth the read

Excellent Book, Worthy Performance

I tried listening to this book before, and i thought it was impossible. Listening to this performance, I was captivated from the beginning and practically finished it in three days. I knew this was a must-read, and so i expected to clench my teeth and get through it, but the wonderful performance by Davidson and the excellent prose left me speechless.