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

Epically extensive experience of 1800's Russia

Mr. Davidson's narration brought to life the words of Tolstoy with great enthusiasm and depth.

Parts mixed up

What about Frederick Davidson’s performance did you like?

The reading was really good and entertaining

Any additional comments?

The part numbering was not correct on my downloads. For example a part was labelled as "Part 4" but when it started the narrator announced "Part 5". Then "Part 5" had the narrator announced "Part 7" Also as each part starts from Chapter 1 I can not tell where I am up to in the book.

Fabulous vocabulary et al.

The reading was excellent in that the story was told by a narrator who was well-versed in many languages, keeping true to form the accents and tempo (male and female interchanges alike), not unlike performing all the parts of a complex play. Bravo!

Great book!

Loved this book —the narration was fantastic. Tolstoy does get philosophical but it is a great read.

So worth reading

This book is looong, really long. It meanders and its not clear why it is describing everything it does in such amusing and colorful detail. But it all comes together at the end to deliver Tolstoy's thesis of history and critique of historians. Very powerful. The characters are fun to follow and the description of that era is fascinating.

Excellent

A great experience. I fully enjoyed the book and the narrator. After reading some negative reviews of the narration I was pleased to listen for hours at a time to this narrator.

great book

though areas i'l n this book are difficult to make it through, this book is a must read. I have great appreciation for the narrator, as well as for the depth of this book.

I love this great American classic!

I love this story! From the characters to the plot to the historical aspect it was fully captivating. I had thought about it even after I had stopped listening. Worth the time it takes to get through this lengthy classic, you won't regret it!

Splendid characters and storytelling.

Tolstoy really shines when weaving together the stories of all of these characters, developing those characters, and making his points through them. The story is epic, the ending is satisfying, and the transformations of the various characters ended up feeling satisfying, heartwarming, and real. (though I'm like... Can someone make a match for Sonya please? Poor girl...) I had a little more trouble getting into some of the "war" sections, but I really did learn a lot and am glad I stuck through.

That being said, I could have done with less lecture. Some of Tolstoy's writings about the context of the times gave me a good historical overview to understand the story within, but he REALLY lost me on the huge section on free will near the end. I love discussing this sort of thing, but the writing becomes so incredibly dry when he stops writing through his characters. From a writing and editing standpoint, his points in the essay at the end could have landed with much greater impact with a much, much shorter length. Especially if some feeling and drama were added to his explanations of his ideas, rather than approaching it like a school lecture endlessly reproaching historians. Frankly, he comes off as arrogant and I rolled my eyes several times in this last section.

But still... Worth it. I really fell in love with the characters, and the story and its telling was often gorgeous.

And I don't get why so many people disliked the narrator. He was awesome! So expressive and amusing!

Bad narration

I couldn't stand the narrator on this one. I liked the story overall, but the performance left much to be desired.