War and Peace

De: Leo Tolstoy

Narrado por: Frederick Davidson

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

What an awful performer...

What did you love best about War and Peace?

I bought this more than a 3 years ago and have not been able to complete the story because of the narrator effeminate accent... Arrrghhh!

Very Well Done!

This is an outstanding work by Tolstoy, and an excellent performance of the reader. The reader, though now deceased, has done great work for historic works as I can attest from his reading of "The History of the World" also in Audible. Believe me, this is well worth the time and cost even for those that don't usually use audiobooks.

Epic Proportions

Tolstoy uses the setting of the Napoleonic wars in Russia as the platform for a story heavy on philosophy, the philosophy of history and military history. Pierre is the heart and soul of the story and the sections about him are truly wonderful, such as the chapters covering his introduction to and induction into Russian freemasonry. Other characters are less well-developed, especially the female protagonist, Natasha, who tends to come across as silly and frivolous throughout most of the book. She is less of a character than a stand-in for what Tolstoy considers a sort of vital life-force, in contrast to the more thoughtful and broodingly introspective men around her. In fact, women in general tend to be fairly one-dimensional in this work.

Davidson's narration is quite dry and his foreign accents, especially French, and his rendition of women leave much to be desired, making this very long book seem even longer. This is one of those books I enjoyed more in print since that format allowed me to skim through the long sections on military strategy and philosophy of history and concentrate on the central story.

Over Embellished

Tolstoy's writing is wonderfully rich, ironic and born of a deep appreciation for human contradictions. Yet, the overly dramatic and fey voice of the narrator interferes with the listener appreciating the subtleties inherent in Tolstoy. It is very distracting.

Surprised that I felt sadness for it to end.

Would you listen to War and Peace again? Why?

Yes, it was a very good story that I did not expect to like so much. The second half of the epilogue was difficult to get through as it is 2 hours of Tolstoy's views on how history is written. In short, I loved it and am sad it's over.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like Marya because I feel I can relate somewhat to her.

Which character – as performed by Frederick Davidson – was your favorite?

Natasha is the obvious choice but Pierre's voice was the most different from the other characters.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A surprise love story.

Any additional comments?

The narration only gets 3 stars out of me. Davidson did very well with the characters but there were more than a few spots where the recording skipped or I could hear background noise. It by no means ruined the book but those are mistakes that could have been easily fixed and should have been caught.