Is it possible to consider oneself a truly educated person without reading “war and peace”? – I think the answer to this question is obvious. It is considered one of Tolstoy’s greatest literary achievements and remains an internationally acclaimed classic of world literature. Dole)įor further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording.įor more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader, visit and Peace is a novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published serially and then in full in 16699. Here the old law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, repudiated by Count Tolstoi, ought to have a new application. One may be sometimes tempted to substitute the curved line of beauty for the straight line of duty, or soften a harsh silhouette, but beyond certain unavoidable issues of the sort necessary for reproducing the impression given by the original, the translator ought to be as faithful as possible. Tolstoi has been felicitously called “the Russian Rembrandt.” It is not fair to reproduce Rembrandt as a Teniers. The present translation has been made from the original Russian. There is no arguing in it about the waste, and the demoralization, and the cruelty, and the unmanliness of it, but, like all Russian argument, it is by vivid pictures such as no one can resist. “War and Peace,” like all of Count Tolstoi’s works, is a mighty protest against war. What landscapes you pass through, what populous towns, what gruesome defiles, what rapids, what cataracts! The water may be turbid, or it may flow translucent and pure, – but still it rushes on. Once embark upon it, and it is impossible to escape the onward force that moves you so relentlessly. These floating straws, insignificant in themselves, tell the current. On its surface, float swiftly by logs and stumps, cakes of ice, perhaps drowned cattle or men from regions far above. It always reminds the translator of a broad and mighty river flowing onward with all the majesty of Fate. “War and Peace” is a panoramic novel: It is its own justification, and perhaps needs no introduction. LibriVox recording of War and Peace, Volume 1, by Leo Tolstoy.

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