Tolstoy's War and Peace... I just became scared out of my mind - Page 2

Katsunami · 09-22-2013, 03:32 PM

Thanks, I've seen some good advice here. I see that War and Peace has several parts. I think I'm going to make this tree a project, and read it part-wise, reading a smaller book after each part. Estimating the time I'd need to read this, using IT and Shogun as a benchmark, it would take me 40-45 hours of leisurely reading to finish this book; maybe 30 or so if I start speed-reading, but I don't really like to do that.

OT: Plugin problems...

Spoiler:

Barty · 09-22-2013, 08:57 PM

Try Anna Karenina first.

Katsunami · 09-22-2013, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barty

Try Anna Karenina first.

Thanks for the suggestion, but do you also have any insights on why I should try that book first, apart from the fact that it is (probably) shorter?

xendula · 09-22-2013, 10:43 PM

If you do end up reading Anna Karenina first, save this crazy family tree. I wish I had had somethung like that when I attempted to read it.

Andrew H. · 09-22-2013, 11:44 PM

War and Peace is better than Anna Karenina, though. Read it first.

I read it over Christmas vacation when I was in college...in a mass market paperback with tiny print. :-(
But just think of it as like reading 5 300 page novels.

Barty · 09-22-2013, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Thanks for the suggestion, but do you also have any insights on why I should try that book first, apart from the fact that it is (probably) shorter?

Sorry, let me backtrack a bit. You can't go wrong with either. W&P was written first, so if you care about reading chronologically, then go with W&P. Ditto if you have an interest in history, specifically the Napoleonic wars. AK deals more with family and society. You may even say it's soap opera. Certainly the movie adaptations tend to treat it as a love story. But really, it's about what constitutes a meaningful life.

Despite the length, Tolstoy is actually very readable. He's not difficult, although he does into long discursions about various subjects. Do read the introduction (or find one on the web) to give you a bit of background on the period and a handle on what those long Russian names are about.

Read the classics. You'll find yourself thinking "you know what, this is pretty damn great. I guess that's why it's a classic."

drofgnal · 09-23-2013, 12:16 PM

I'd recommend the latest translation available on amazon. About 8 bucks if I recall. Yea, it's not free, but there are numerous footnotes to help you understand idiosyncracies of Russian Society and Culture. It helped me enjoy it that much more.

Katsunami · 09-23-2013, 12:31 PM

Thanks for your suggestions

I'll definitely be reading this, someday.

pendragginp · 09-23-2013, 12:53 PM

Question I have to ask - why is it important to you to count pages over and over instead of using the time to read? You have a bit of a mathematical mind?

Katsunami · 09-23-2013, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pendragginp

Question I have to ask - why is it important to you to count pages over and over instead of using the time to read? You have a bit of a mathematical mind?

The differing page count was just a quirk I happened upon, and I can't let that be without knowning why it happens that way. That's just me.

And if you want to know how I found out about that quirk:

Spoiler:

HarryT · 09-23-2013, 01:32 PM

Does the fact that you can't read every book you might want to honestly make you "scared out of your mind"?

Katsunami · 09-23-2013, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Does the fact that you can't read every book you might want to honestly make you "scared out of your mind"?

No, being scared out of my mind was just about the size of War and Peace.

The "not enough time"-part only scares me a little bit, because there are many other things I already know I'll never achieve. However, those would require much more effort than just reading

cortman · 09-23-2013, 02:24 PM

Lol, you wouldn't be the only person to be scared out of their mind by the size of W&P. It is definitely the longest book to date that I have read.
I agree with the others that in spite of its length it is quite readable; the sheer size of it is the only thing that makes it difficult. Just take your time with it.
I recently figured I'd probably only be able to read about 4,000 books in my lifetime if I keep reading large ones that take a week to read. That's a little sad.

MSWallack · 09-23-2013, 04:00 PM

War and Peace is a fabulous book, but it is daunting both in size and scope. One recommendation, especially if you're not well-versed in Russian literature: Make a list of characters as they're introduced and then update your list with the patronymic and/or diminutive as it/they is/are given. This will keep you from going crazy or thinking mistaking a single character for two.

An example? OK (though it's been a long, long time, since I've studied Russian lit or naming conventions, so you might look some of this up on your own). Anyway, let's say that a character is Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky. Usually, that character will be referred to as Vladimir (if in dialogue) or Vysotsky (if in a description, like "Vysotsky put the book on the table."). But sometimes, in dialogue the character will be called "Vladimir Semyonovich" or, occassionally, just "Semyonovich". And, to make things a bit more confusing, much as we shorten names (Michael to Mike, Robert to Bob, and so forth), most Russian names also have a diminutive, but to a foreign reader, they're not obvious. For example, diminutives for Vladimir include Volodya and Vova (just as Michael could be Mike or Mickey). For a little more help, this Wikipedia page isn't bad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern...naming_customs.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Most women, while they have their father's or husband's surname, include an a at the end (surnames are gender specific). Thus, when Natalya marries Ivan Romanov, she becomes Natalya Romanova. Usually.

When I took a Russian lit class in college, I was lucky to have a professor who spent part of a class working through these sorts of things so that the reading process was smoother and we could spend more time with the story and less time banging our heads against the first wall we could find.

Chi Cygni · 09-23-2013, 04:01 PM

I read War and Peace and Anna Karenina three times by now. Ok, 2,5 for War and Peace as one time I skipped all the war in vol 3 and 4

I love long books. 300 pages is a short story for me.

09-22-2013, 03:32 PM	#16
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	Thanks, I've seen some good advice here. I see that War and Peace has several parts. I think I'm going to make this tree a project, and read it part-wise, reading a smaller book after each part. Estimating the time I'd need to read this, using IT and Shogun as a benchmark, it would take me 40-45 hours of leisurely reading to finish this book; maybe 30 or so if I start speed-reading, but I don't really like to do that. OT: Plugin problems... Spoiler: Edit: Strange. After I fiddled with the FRE option yesterday, my page counts became different. I deleted the FRE-column I created, and re-counted all books in my library. Some are now longer: Noble House now even exceeds 1300, topping out at 1308. When I first did the count, I only had EPUB books in my library. Can it be that Count Pages supports AZW3 and prefers this format, because I have a Kindle connected, and that AZW3 books are "longer"? I'll look into that. Edit 2: Very strange. I removed all AZW3 books from the library, recounted, and still many books are longer now than they were before. Most aren't. Edit 3: Problem solved. I've been updating my library, and doing things like putting high-res covers in books, and such. When Sigil saves an EPUB, it becomes larger in page numbers. I think it's because Sigil uses "Tidy" to layout the HTML code, and so you uses more characters. The plugin probably counts all characters in the file, not only those inside the <p> tags, to determine the number of pages. Last edited by Katsunami; 09-22-2013 at 09:23 PM.

09-23-2013, 04:00 PM	#29
MSWallack Right, Except When Wrong Posts: 363 Karma: 4323767 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Indianapolis Device: Kindle Oasis 3 (sometimes iPad Mini).	War and Peace is a fabulous book, but it is daunting both in size and scope. One recommendation, especially if you're not well-versed in Russian literature: Make a list of characters as they're introduced and then update your list with the patronymic and/or diminutive as it/they is/are given. This will keep you from going crazy or thinking mistaking a single character for two. An example? OK (though it's been a long, long time, since I've studied Russian lit or naming conventions, so you might look some of this up on your own). Anyway, let's say that a character is Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky. Usually, that character will be referred to as Vladimir (if in dialogue) or Vysotsky (if in a description, like "Vysotsky put the book on the table."). But sometimes, in dialogue the character will be called "Vladimir Semyonovich" or, occassionally, just "Semyonovich". And, to make things a bit more confusing, much as we shorten names (Michael to Mike, Robert to Bob, and so forth), most Russian names also have a diminutive, but to a foreign reader, they're not obvious. For example, diminutives for Vladimir include Volodya and Vova (just as Michael could be Mike or Mickey). For a little more help, this Wikipedia page isn't bad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern...naming_customs. Oh, and I almost forgot. Most women, while they have their father's or husband's surname, include an a at the end (surnames are gender specific). Thus, when Natalya marries Ivan Romanov, she becomes Natalya Romanova. Usually. When I took a Russian lit class in college, I was lucky to have a professor who spent part of a class working through these sorts of things so that the reading process was smoother and we could spend more time with the story and less time banging our heads against the first wall we could find. Last edited by MSWallack; 09-23-2013 at 04:03 PM. Reason: Type and additional information.

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09-22-2013, 08:57 PM	#17
Barty doofus Posts: 2,550 Karma: 13089041 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Voyage	Try Anna Karenina first.

09-22-2013, 10:43 PM	#19
xendula eBookworm Posts: 2,300 Karma: 4525746 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: East Coast brrrrr Device: Kindle 4B/K ~ Nexus 7 ~ Kindle Paperwhite 1&2 ~ iPad Air	If you do end up reading Anna Karenina first, save this crazy family tree. I wish I had had somethung like that when I attempted to read it.

09-22-2013, 11:44 PM	#20
Andrew H. Grand Master of Flowers Posts: 2,201 Karma: 8389072 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Naptown Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)	War and Peace is better than Anna Karenina, though. Read it first. I read it over Christmas vacation when I was in college...in a mass market paperback with tiny print. :-( But just think of it as like reading 5 300 page novels.

09-23-2013, 12:16 PM	#22
drofgnal Wizard Posts: 1,402 Karma: 10519918 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Ipad Pro/Kindle Oasis 3/iPhone 13 Pro Max	I'd recommend the latest translation available on amazon. About 8 bucks if I recall. Yea, it's not free, but there are numerous footnotes to help you understand idiosyncracies of Russian Society and Culture. It helped me enjoy it that much more.

09-23-2013, 12:31 PM	#23
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	Thanks for your suggestions I'll definitely be reading this, someday.

09-23-2013, 12:53 PM	#24
pendragginp Guru Posts: 985 Karma: 4567263 Join Date: May 2009 Location: The End Of The Earth Device: Several	Question I have to ask - why is it important to you to count pages over and over instead of using the time to read? You have a bit of a mathematical mind?

09-23-2013, 01:32 PM	#26
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,547 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Does the fact that you can't read every book you might want to honestly make you "scared out of your mind"?

09-23-2013, 02:24 PM	#28
cortman Zealot Posts: 138 Karma: 1025658 Join Date: Jun 2013 Device: Kobo Glo, Kindle 3 3g, Nook HD+, Nexus 4 (Mantano)	Lol, you wouldn't be the only person to be scared out of their mind by the size of W&P. It is definitely the longest book to date that I have read. I agree with the others that in spite of its length it is quite readable; the sheer size of it is the only thing that makes it difficult. Just take your time with it. I recently figured I'd probably only be able to read about 4,000 books in my lifetime if I keep reading large ones that take a week to read. That's a little sad.

09-23-2013, 04:01 PM	#30
Chi Cygni 秋子 permanently lurking Posts: 844 Karma: 6590735 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Europe Device: Oasis 3, Pocketbook Era	I read War and Peace and Anna Karenina three times by now. Ok, 2,5 for War and Peace as one time I skipped all the war in vol 3 and 4 I love long books. 300 pages is a short story for me.