At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed for ever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants to soldiers a...
At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed for ever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants to soldiers and Napoleon himself. In War and Peace (1863-9), Tolstoy entwines grand themes - conflict and love, birth and death, free will and fate - with unforgettable scenes of nineteenth-century Russia, to create a magnificent epic of human life in all its imperfection and grandeur.
Anthony Briggs's superb translation combines stirring, accessible prose with fidelity to Tolstoy's original, while Orlando Figes's afterword discusses the novel's vast scope and depiction of Russian identity. This edition also includes appendices, notes, a list of prominent characters and maps.
Count Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. Orphaned at nine, he was brought up by an elderly aunt and educated by French tutors until he matriculated at Kazan University in 1844. In 1847, he gave up his studies and, after several aimless years, volunteered for military duty, serving as a junior officer in the Crimean War before retiring in 185...
Count Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. Orphaned at nine, he was brought up by an elderly aunt and educated by French tutors until he matriculated at Kazan University in 1844. In 1847, he gave up his studies and, after several aimless years, volunteered for military duty, serving as a junior officer in the Crimean War before retiring in 1857. In 1862, Tolstoy married Sophie Behrs, a marriage that was to become, for him, bitterly unhappy. His diary, started in 1847, was used for self-study and self-criticism; it served as the source from which he drew much of the material that appeared not only in his great novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), but also in his shorter works. Seeking religious justification for his life, Tolstoy evolved a new Christianity based upon his own interpretation of the Gospels. Yasnaya Polyana became a mecca for his many converts. At the age of eighty-two, the writer’s health failed him in Astapovo, Russia, where he died on November 20, 1910.
Antony Briggs has translated widely from the Russian, especially Pushkin, and is the author of several critical books on Russian literature. Orlando Figes is the author of A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891-1924 and, most recently, Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia.
Penguin Classics(共1244册),
这套丛书还有
《Sidney's The Defence of Poesy' and Selected Renaissance Literary Criticism》《Selected Poems》《An Apology for Raymond Sebond》《The Playboy of the Western World and Two Other Irish Plays》《The Conquest of New Spain》
等
。
“Taking a wide view of history we are indubitably convinced of a sempiternal law by which events occur. Looking at it from a personal point of view we are convinced of the opposite.”
1 有用 Terri 2023-04-21 21:29:36 北京
断断续续,中间几度放弃,读了一年多,终于读完了这本巨著,1358页。最后两个美好女性婚姻生活真是让人无语,算是烂尾吗?后记/尾声更是啰哩啰嗦,长篇大论,让人不忍卒读,减掉一颗星。
0 有用 John 2025-11-30 14:02:02 辽宁
“Taking a wide view of history we are indubitably convinced of a sempiternal law by which events occur. Looking at it from a personal point of view we are convinced of the opposite.”
0 有用 小小 2022-09-25 08:38:45 福建
终于看完了巨作,第二部分后记讨论时代背景的哲学思辨实在看不下去就没勉强了。后记总共150页的话我有大概一半没读,那就是读了1300多页,这是迄今为止读过最厚最厚的英文了(其实中文也没读过这么厚的),这让我觉得很有成就感。读了一个多月,两次都停在了10%左右就停下了,可是又想挑战自己,就又强迫自己捡了回来。看得不是书,告诉自己就当学习英文,很长的句子就去挑主谓宾这样就能很好的理解。很多生单词,每次都... 终于看完了巨作,第二部分后记讨论时代背景的哲学思辨实在看不下去就没勉强了。后记总共150页的话我有大概一半没读,那就是读了1300多页,这是迄今为止读过最厚最厚的英文了(其实中文也没读过这么厚的),这让我觉得很有成就感。读了一个多月,两次都停在了10%左右就停下了,可是又想挑战自己,就又强迫自己捡了回来。看得不是书,告诉自己就当学习英文,很长的句子就去挑主谓宾这样就能很好的理解。很多生单词,每次都感慨什么时候可以不怎么查单词全部看懂呢?比如carriage, wagon, cart, (还有一个单词忘记掉怎么拼了)我现在也不明白他们的区别在哪里?为了完成这周看完的任务,周末有时候真的会除了吃饭都在看书,好像把看书当成了逃避现实的方式,有时候也不懂自己是真的喜欢看书还是在逃避现实? (展开)
0 有用 芮欧 2025-02-20 13:35:51 广东
读大部头确实需要耐心,即使是出自托翁的巨著。我个人的心得是越是大部头越不能拖拉着读,尤其是现在可以分神碎片的东西太多了,自从强迫自己提高阅读密度之后,渐进佳境。 战争的分析有些枯燥,可能太过于克制且冷静,但是情节的推动和更宏观的视角却入木三分又醍醐灌顶。 两个主角安德烈和皮埃尔都很喜欢,一个冷冽一个和煦,一个奔腾一个潺潺,两种截然不同的鲜明个性,却都生动而闪耀。 也许是时代的局限,女性即使是娜塔莎... 读大部头确实需要耐心,即使是出自托翁的巨著。我个人的心得是越是大部头越不能拖拉着读,尤其是现在可以分神碎片的东西太多了,自从强迫自己提高阅读密度之后,渐进佳境。 战争的分析有些枯燥,可能太过于克制且冷静,但是情节的推动和更宏观的视角却入木三分又醍醐灌顶。 两个主角安德烈和皮埃尔都很喜欢,一个冷冽一个和煦,一个奔腾一个潺潺,两种截然不同的鲜明个性,却都生动而闪耀。 也许是时代的局限,女性即使是娜塔莎这样的大女主,感觉在书中也只是为了衬托两位男性而存在,读完全书没有一个女性给我鲜明的印象。 尽管如此,如此史诗版的大砖块还是值得啃的。 因为我们这些成长在和平年代的人,是无法想像战争对人肉体和精神的伤害,而更无法想像人的生命力是有多旺盛和顽强,在一次次伤害中破碎,又在一次次痛苦中重生… (展开)
1 有用 唤我陶渊明 2022-11-06 20:26:13 湖北
暑假计划:儿子读完哈利波特,我读完战争与和平。终于完成任务。