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

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by MSWallack

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.

Thanks for the explanation I've studied and followed many (Russian) chess grandmasters in the past, and read some books about them, so I do know a bit about naming conventions, customs, and culture; but I'm certain I will encounter whole bunches of stuff that I've never seen before if I decide to start reading Tostoy (and others).

[HarryT]

One thing that's perhaps worth adding about W&P is that it has a fair amount of French dialogue in it. If your French isn't up to scratch you may find it useful to get an edition which has footnotes that translate it.

[llcj]

Are there any particular translators or translations of Tolstoy's work that people would recommend?

[drofgnal]

Yes, this one.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Peace-Vint...=war+and+peace

It's a translation by Pevear and Volokhonksy. All the french is tranlated. In addition there are many footnoes describing various idiosyncracies of Russian society and culture.

[Katsunami]

I already have the Feedbooks version. It has a lot of footnotes with translations and descriptions.

[Namekuseijin]

you wuss

not quite War and Peace, but I'm going at a steady pace over the 4 first books of A Song of Ice and Fire.

this reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone where a guy never finds time to read all the books he ever wanted... until he does.

[samhy]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

not quite War and Peace, but I'm going at a steady pace over the 4 first books of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Same here. Regarding the four first books of A Song of Ice and Fire we're talking around 4,400 pages according to Calibre I think I'll be done with book #3 by the end of the month.
But this thread made me consider War and Peace in the future (after loads of shorter books in which the authors decide to go crazy and keep some characters alive). I'll have to decide on the language and translation first.

[Sefiriot]

I might just decide to start in on War and Peace at this rate: I read very fast, so I'm tempted to see how fast I can get without confusing myself thoroughly on the details.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Sefiriot

I might just decide to start in on War and Peace at this rate: I read very fast, so I'm tempted to see how fast I can get without confusing myself thoroughly on the details.

You reminded me of that old Woody Allen joke: "I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in 20 minutes. It involves Russia."

[Rizla]

Tolstoy loathed Shakespeare. 'Nuff said.

[Katsunami]

Uh...

And you love or hate Tolstoy for that or something?

[BenG]

Perhaps he hates Shakepeare.

[Katsunami]

And that's a reason to like Tolstoy? Nah. Not for me.

I've been looking through my Calibre library and some old paper books. I have quite some series that consist of 3 to 6 books each, where the series is effectively one story. You can't just pick up book 3 and start reading because it won't make any sense. Some of those series are either comparable to, or longer than War and Peace.

I think I'll just look at each part as a "book" in a series and read it as such. Piece of cake

[Chi Cygni]

Dammit, you framed me. Until 30 min ago I had it only on paper, old books with pages falling out, 4 volumes. Now I have 2 mobi files for 6€ in total.

[Katsunami]

Hehe.

Feedbooks has a very nice EPUB version with footnotes that translate the French and explain the Russion stuff. I think that'll do for me.

Maybe I'll even use EPUBSplit and make several books out of it. Then I can claim to have read more books in a year