War and Peace, Volume 2

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Neville Jason

Length: 31 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

War and Peace is one of the greatest monuments in world literature. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, it examines the relationship between the individual and the relentless march of history. Here are the universal themes of love and hate, ambition and despair, youth and age, expressed with a swirling vitality which makes the book as accessible today as it was when it was first published in 1869.

In addition it is, famously, one of the longest books in Western literature and therefore a remarkable challenge for any reader. Neville Jason read the abridged version of War and Peace and proved his marathon powers with his outstanding performance of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. These make him the ideal narrator to essay Tolstoy's epic.

War and Peace was translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude.

© and (P) Naxos Rights International

Critic reviews

"War and Peace presents us with a complete picture of human life; a complete picture of the Russia of those days; a complete historic picture of the struggle of nations; and a complete picture of the things in which men set their happiness and greatness, their sorrow and their shame." (A.V. Knowles, Tolstoy: The Critical Heritage)
"There remains the greatest of all novelists - for what else can we call the author of War and Peace?" (Virginia Woolf)

Definitely worth a listen...

I love listening to audiobooks as I make my commute through LA traffic. It makes the time pass and eases the anxiety of people who shouldn't have a license.

Tolstoy's War & Peace gives a fairly accurate portrayal of life among the upper class Russian society during the Napoleonic Wars. It gives a historical account of the war between Napolean and Alexander, all the while set behind the facade of several interwoven upper class Russian families. It's a very entertaining, and classic work, from one of Russia's greatest novelists. It doesn't however touch upon the poverty stricken serfs who made up the majority of the population of Russia at the time. In this case, I've always felt Dostoyevsky does a much better job in capturing a more realistic portrayal of Russian society. Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamozov both give you a better look at the social climate of the period, if that's what you're looking for.

In other words. It's kind of a cool story about rich people during a war. It can be a little boring in places, but if you like history, you'll probably like the book. And it takes a good chunk of time out of a commute of a long car trip!!! LOL

Pleasure continues

The pleasure I had in Neville Jason's reading of Volume 1 continued unabated through Volume 2. His rendition is intelligent and sensitive and his ability to produce a variety of voices and stay in character with them is a tremendous help to the listener. A great reading of a great novel

great classic!

I can see why this is such a classic. Intelligent insights into history. Great storytelling and character development. And the narration was absolutely amazing.

Narrator! AWESOME

Narrator! AWESOME Narrator! AWESOME Narrator! AWESOME Narrator! AWESOME Narrator! AWESOME Narrator! AWESOME Narrator! AWESOME Narrator! was quite stupendously super very AWESOME.

Time consuming epic

If you like history, society and love, this is a must. Just hang in there till you get to know the characters

Remarkable Reading

I listened while reading the Maude translation, revised by George Gibian (Norton Crotical Edition, 2nd ed.). Jason's brilliant reading helped me through some of the difficult parts of the book, which is deserving of all its accolades.

The most significant literature master piece

Where does War and Peace, Volume 2 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

What other book might you compare War and Peace, Volume 2 to and why?

Have you listened to any of Neville Jason’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Neville Jason is doing a terrific job narrating these 60 hours book

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Any additional comments?

Excellent book, but could be trimmed down

The book is excellent, really, but I give only my very very favorites 5 stars. War and Peace has very well-developed characters, but it is a super-long book. Since the narration was superb (really tops), I didn't really mind, but if I were reading it from a book, I might find that certain passages would be too drawn out. So what could he have trimmed down? We get to see too much of the "life of the Russian nobility", which Tolstoy depicts in other books, as well. You know it well, I bet: the balls, the seeming endless leisure, hunting, drinking, gambling, social clubs, the ones who overspend, in spite of how much money they have, the connections they have to get positions. No wonder they had a revolution. (But, we won't see that here.) Tolstoy uses all of this to introduce us to the characters, but it could have been done a bit more compactly. The same is true for some of the war scenes. But what really should be taken out, and have been published as separate essays, are portions that are truly very fine discussions of history, how history is presented, how people become powerful, was Napoleon a hero or a tyrant, what makes a man great, do great men shape history or do other factors shape history - all very articulate, very intelligent, with lovely metaphors, but this is fiction, after all. Why discuss why Napoleon is admired by so many in spite of the evil he perpetrated in a book of fiction? If it's fiction, he can depict Napoleon however he likes. He could have a brief introduction stating: this is a work of fiction, though some of the characters are actual historical characters. Nevertheless, we take liberty in their fictional representation. I did find Tolstoy's ideas on all these subjects quite interesting, but they do not add to the story "War and Peace", and they belong elsewhere. Interestingly, Dostoyevsky raises the same question about Napoleon as what is perhaps the main theme of Crime and Punishment - Raskolnikov posits that if a man like Napoleon is perceived as great, then he can get away with murder. Well, that's putting it too simply in just a few words, but one could compare Tolstoy's discussion of Napoleon and his tyranny with the whole premise of Raskolnikov's act and thinking in Crime and Punishment.
There is no doubt that War and Peace is a book to make you think, to consider events in history, to consider what the French thought (and think) about Napoleon (I couldn't help but think of the Paris train station called Austerlitz, for example), to consider other leaders who made some improvements in their countries but were tyrants. Indeed, this book is certainly worth your time. One of my favorite passages is very brief, when Pierre is visiting with Natasha after he returns from the war and he hears her tell of Andrei's death. I referred someone to this passage to demonstrate what I consider a beautiful depiction of apathy:
"Pierre listened to her with lips parted and eyes fixed upon her full of tears. As he listened he did not think of Prince Andrei, nor of death, nor of what she was telling. He listened to her and felt only pity for her, for what she was suffering now while she was speaking." I find it so sad that Tolstoy did not have any of that empathy for his own wife.

decent

i’d give this performance a 2 out of 3. his narration was solid, but his inflection and voices during the dialogues did not do it for me. the voices he gave were often annoying. especially the peasants, giving them a working class british accent. GODS THAT STARTED TO PISS ME OFF AFTER A WHILE. and the internal dialogue he gave many of the men was wispy and frail sounding. this narrator is clearly skilled and seemed like a nice enough guy, but i think we need a russian with hair on his chest and a thick russian accent to read this book.

war and peace as a story is long but overall pretty good. not among my most favorite pieces of fiction, but an important piece of literature and worth reading. in many ways it’s essentially a revisionist history of the napoleonic wars.

I'm glad I gave it a try.

Honestly, I wouldn't even have tried to get through this epic novel if I hadn't seen that the narrator was Neville Jason. He has managed to convey all the wit and compassion the author must have felt when writing this novel. I laughed and cried and learned a lot. I've never written a review before and I've listened to hundreds of audio books, I just wanted to thank Neville Jason for making this classic so enjoyable.