Group read: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Mary (Storeetllr) and I have decided to try and read War and Peace this year. I'd like to do so in manageable chunks, but I have no idea how to achieve this! I also have no idea how to keep the characters straight in my head so I'm hopeful that discussing it a bit will assist with that.

I doubt this will be a very literary discussion, but more to do with enjoying it and keeping up the momentum for reading it. If anyone else has any ideas about how to race through it, I'd love to hear them, and if you'd like to join in with either the read or the discussion, please do!

I've added this to the group wiki and posted announcements on the general group read discussion thread and the message board thread.

The Serial Reader app separates War and Peace into 235 issues. That's about 8 months of reading. How long do you intend on taking?

And if you don't mind reading on a tablet or phone I highly suggest the Serial Reader app for something like this. They have already done the hard part of finding good stopping points and everything. You just sign up and they deliver a new issue to you every day. I've found it's a really good way to keep a steady momentum. Only problem is you can't skip ahead an issue without paying a one-time fee - I think it's like $3.

No advice on how to race through though!

No advice, but I read it last year and would be interested to hear your thoughts as you start to read.

It does tend to get more and more "philosophical" towards the end (notoriously in the epilogues). If you don't find that aspect interesting, it can be a tough slog.

There is a thread in the category challenge for last year. There are also links there to an older thread.

Oh, that sounds really interesting.

I haven't read a group read in ages (I've meant to but it hasn't worked out) and I've been wanting to read W&P for years but it's so daunting. I watched the BBC mini-series last year and my interest was reignited.

>2 drneutron: Thanks Jim, I'll be interested to see who else fancies it.

>3 The_Hibernator: & >4 The_Hibernator: That sounds great, except I think I'd get frustrated by not being able to read ahead! Also, I have the book downloaded to my kindle so I think chopping and changing might get confusing. However, if I'm struggling then it might be the way forward.

>5 March-Hare: Most people have said to avoid the second epilogue, so I might not get as far as the philosophical bits! So far, I'm simply annoyed with myself that I keep getting the characters muddled.

>6 PawsforThought: I'm definitely keen to make it as undaunting (dauntless) as possible while still staying interested in the plot and being able to remember who everyone is. Just not sure how to go about it!

>7 lunacat: The Russian naming conventions don't help matters either.

There are some character lists and charts online but they often contain spoilers.

It does get better though.

By the way, here's Wikipedia's character index, including a family tree. I didn't look at it very much, so can't comment on spoiler potential. Use at your own risk! :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_War_and_Peace_characters

You could use the thread to create a list as you ho along.

I started it last year with the Category Challenge group but I lost moment. This will give me an incentive to crack on with it this year!

Thanks for setting this up, Jenny! I read eight chapters last night - I think I kept most of the characters straight so far, at least the ones who have actually been introduced. I just find his writing style confusing and the dialogue stilted. I hope as we go along it will get easier to read.

I already dislike all the characters. LOL

>8 March-Hare: The multitude of Russian names drove me crazy when I was reading Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter. That's part of why I've been so hesitant to read more Russian lit.

>12 Storeetllr: could the stiltedness be the translation?

How long are people planning on taking to read this. I could do the Serial Reader, but it would take 8 months.

I'm interested but I don't plan to rush and it will be a few days before I can start.

Yes, I'm thinking we can all read at our own pace, but I plan my pace to be relatively slow and can foresee this taking at least 6 months. I've never done a group read before, so I don't know how it's handled when some people are reading faster than others. Perhaps we could label our post Chapter X at the start and hide any obvious spoilers. Any ideas?

>14 The_Hibernator: It's possible, of course. If I continue to find it confusing and stilted, I may try another translation.

ETA I just tried to find who the translator was for the edition I'm reading (on Kindle), but that info isn't available! Weird.

It depends a lot on the book and the readers, really. The only time I've joined a group read that was longer than a month I ended up not reading the book at all. But usually there is a general timeline set up and people who read faster than others will hide spoilers with codes/tags (just put "spoiler" in angle brackets and it'll hide the text for anyone who doesn't choose to click and read.

>16 Storeetllr: I think that's a good way to deal with it (marking which chapter we're on).

Marking the posts with the chapter works for me, and I'm happy to hide any spoilers :). I'm sure I'll be around the six month mark as I'll get distracted and wander off onto other books.

I'll be over the moon if I actually manage to finish it at all so I won't set any time frames whatsoever.

I hope that with a group read, you can stay inspired then. We'll be sure to cheer each other on!

I think I'm going to watch the first episode of the recent BBC adaptation of War and Peace in order to get to know some of the characters. I don't want to watch too much as I'd rather learn the plot through reading than watching, but I'm hopeful it will help me get some of the characters straight, as it has for others.

I would read along if I wasn't already having a go at Proust. I will take a run at Tolstoy: Resident and Stranger. It might inspire me to post some thoughts.

Last night read Chapters 9-12. The characters are still unlikeable, and their strange/unpleasant behaviors are exasperating.

>14 The_Hibernator: I probably should have said the dialogue was "bombastic" rather than "stilted." I've requested a different translation from the library, so we'll see.

Agreed. Mostly they just seem like brats! I've watched half of the first episode of the 2016 BBC adaptation and it has helped me settle some of the characters, but I don't like any of them. Not sure how I'm going to make it through if there isn't a single appealing one among them, but I've got the bit between my teeth for now, so I'm determined to at least give it a chance.

Wow! Last night I read through Chapter 21 without even realizing it! And enjoyed it.

I'm up to 24 and not hating it. It's so much easier now I've watched half of the first episode of the tv adaptation and can place characters. I've never had such trouble before!

Anyone who has read any of the book and also seen any of the 2016 BBC mini series - how well do you think they cast Pierre? The actor is nothing as I'd imagined the character to be!

I wasn't thrilled with the BBC series. I prefer the Bondarchuk version. Bondurchuk plays Pierre and he seems to fit the descriptions in the novel better.

Unfortunately, I've decided I don't have time to invest in War and Peace at the moment, but might do so later in the year when I've finished all the Serial Reader books that fit in my PopSugar challenge.

>25 lunacat: I've not started reading the book yet but I've seen the mini-series and liked Paul Dano in the part, but can't compare him to the book version just yet.

I worked at the parrot shelter yesterday and was too tired at the end of the day to tackle W&P, so I went to bed and listened to Turbo Twenty-Three, the latest Stephanie Plum, instead until I fell asleep, which didn't take long. I'm sure I'll make up for it today, since I actually am thinking about W&P and wondering what happens next.

So many princes and princesses!

>25 lunacat: The image of Pierre from the mini-series has completely vanished after reading the book.

I 'read' the audiobook a couple of years ago (took many months of just an hour or two a week) and only a couple of weeks ago watched the BBC adaptation which I recorded last January. So I'm interested to follow the discussion here though I don't plan a reread at thus moment! I remember it took me several goes at the first chapter because of the host of characters introduced all at once. Plunging the reader headfirst into a gossiping society gathering is a bit unfair of Tolstoy!

But once the main characters emerge it does get much easier, and I grew very fond of most of them even when they behaved badly! Pierre as played in the TV adaptation seemed to fit very well with my memory of him from the book.

I've started it a few times but never seem to get very far in it.

Well, I am still reading it but haven't gotten far. I am going to try to read at least one chapter a day - more if the spirit moves me - which means it could take years.

Last night, I read a chapter that actually made me chuckle. It was about a regiment whose commander received a message from the head of the entire army that he was going to be there to inspect the regimental troops the next morning. So after a full day's march, the men had to stay up all night polishing their uniform buttons and weapons and getting ready for the inspection. The next morning, another message came that the head of the army wanted the troops to stay in the uniforms they had been marching in and not polish anything, because, for some reason, he wanted his Austrian counterpart to think the Russian army was doing badly so wanted them to look like they were in bad shape.

Oh, well, I guess you had to read it. (Tolstoy said it a lot better.)