That's a beautiful Easton edition. I read War and Peace a few years back. It took 3 or 5 months to read but it turned out to be one of my favorites of the classics. Many genres in one. Amazing characters!
Michael, your video list of great books and other booktubers' lists have convinced me that I have a gap in my reading of classic literature. So, I have a stack of Dickens, Melville, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Dumas, Cervantes, Eliot, etc., sitting on my bed to read. It is a worthy task....
War and Peace was an astonishing book. I read it in March and April. I actually liked Tolstoy’s philosophy chapters. I have a Penguin hardcover but found the digital version easier to read.
Wow...I'm shocked with how pretty that copy looks. The Easton Press make the more beautiful copies. Though for me it's not just the copy, it's the translation, so I'd be curious to see if I like this particular translation of War and Peace.
I requested for Easton Press to do a deluxe edition of War and Peace on their FB page, and whoever runs it said they would pass the info along. I own and read this edition of W&P but I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one to buy the deluxe edition.
I'm going to read it this year. Have the Pevear translation all ready to go. Just got to finish moby-Dick, and then read Monte Cristo first. And of course, I'm also reading a few other things simultaneously. You know how it is.
That’s a gorgeous copy! Red and gold on every surface and illustrations too. I read it for the first time this year and read the Maude translation. I found it easy to read and appreciated the short chapters. I raced through it.
02:17 kudos! One cannot go wrong with Easton Press providing s/he has a very deep pocket. But, yes, some books deserve the extra attention/investment, especially in times where we're flooded by cheap and horrible editions printed by small companies or--even worse--by demand. Traps for bookworms. On a different note, I've been watching many channels made by avid book-readers, and I must admit I highly respect your presentations: humble, coherent and cohesive and full of surprises. Hats off.
I read War and the Peace sometime during summer break during high school. When I finished I was real proud of myself until I saw it was the abridged version. It was still big. I think they cut out all the philosophy. I do remember enjoying it. I need to reread it.
If I want an aristocrat to lecture me in out-dated terms, Tolstoy's just the martinet for the job. I'm a Dickens guy, though. Riff-raff with brains. Much tastier.
I was disappointed in their Count of Monte Christo translation, so I’ve kept my Penguin black spine, too. But the Easton Press sure looks cool on the shelf.
Funny that Easton Press made W&P shorter than normal when it's already so chunky. I agree -- W&P is way more accessible than people think it's going to be. But, I also think the appendices have the same problem as "The Custom House" in The Scarlet Letter. At least these are at the end rather than the beginning!
Great choice Michael, top notch! For a lower budget but gorgeous edition I can advise the B&N leather-bound edition which has a great cover design and a superb colour choice. As a companion I recommend the biography of Napoleon by Castelot in the Easton Press edition. One of the best books I've ever read (mind, I get bored quite easily with biographies)!
I have to correct myself: the translation is by Constance Garnett. I made some research, as it is not stated in the copyright page. I don't know why I had in mind Briggs..
This is a nice edition, but have you seen the Franklin Library one? I once saw both side-by-side at a bookshop, and at least to my eye, the Franklin is even more stunning.
I just started a book review channel and this book War and Peace is one of the books on my second haul for May video. I am excited to have it. I don’t think my copy matches yours. Yours is a nice looking book but mine is as well. I am so lucky I got my copy for three bucks. See you next video.
Curious if The Phantom of the Opera is one of the books on your "one fancy copy" list. If so, check out the Folio Society's crazy beautiful version if you haven't seen it already. All books should be so garishly gorgeous!
Hello Micahel, I committed to myself that if I finished Brigg's and Maude's War and Peace, I would buy the Easter Press as my reward. I want to ask you as someone who owns the Eastern Press edition: if I want to enjoy the great novel by reading from the Eastern Press edition will it be a good companion?
Since I don't feel like rewatching your top 100 list right now, is this your favorite Tolstoy book, or your favorite Piece of Russian Literature? I ask as someone who's read nothing from that county, though I have the Cossacks, Happy Ever After, Ivan Ilyich and Anna Karenina.
You have to add Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" to that list. And also his book "Crime and Punishment". Both masterpieces. Michael claims in his genre-ly tag video that the "The Brothers Karamazov" is the greatest book ever written.
Does the edition you have contain the Preface by Clifton Fadiman ? It was rather long, well over a 100 pages. And then there were two appendixes. Although I am glad I read War and Peace in my youth--I was 16, I had just graduated high school and was waiting to start college in the fall, there might be some advantage to reading it later in life. War and Peace became the gold standard against which I measured every novel I read after that. Is this work good ? Is it great ? Is it as great as War and Peace ? No. More than 60 years later I still haven't changed my mind. Yet in some way it was a disappointment. Like most Americans I expected the hero to get the girl. Poor Prince Andre dies and Natasha ends up with Pierre who is a very decent man but hardly heroic in the usual sense. He never quite seems to know what to do. He's a man of great physical strength which occasionally comes out when he is angry. He means well but he's rather clumsy and his efforts --for example his plan to assassinate Napoleon--come to nothing. Not that he wouldn't do it, but the opportunity escapes him. Anyway, I agree with you that the Maude translation is good; I had no trouble with it. It was an easy read. I couldn't put the book down once I got started and read it 5-10 days. I'm not sure exactly. I've read much shorter books that were harder to read. You get so interested in the lives of the people that you cannot stop. The ending may trouble some. The war has impacted everyone and they are trying to put their lives back together again. But there's no living happily ever after. There's a good critical article on War and Peace in the New Criterion on line. A very good read. I'd like to post it with your permission.
A few lifetimes ago or regenerations I attempted to read this book; I failed. I am more a Chekhov reader than Tolstoy; but I will think about another attempt at reading "War And Peace."
That's a beautiful Easton edition. I read War and Peace a few years back. It took 3 or 5 months to read but it turned out to be one of my favorites of the classics. Many genres in one. Amazing characters!
It’s certainly worth the time it takes to read.
The quality of that edition is genuinely superb.
It is really nice.
Michael, your video list of great books and other booktubers' lists have convinced me that I have a gap in my reading of classic literature. So, I have a stack of Dickens, Melville, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Dumas, Cervantes, Eliot, etc., sitting on my bed to read. It is a worthy task....
War and Peace was an astonishing book. I read it in March and April. I actually liked Tolstoy’s philosophy chapters. I have a Penguin hardcover but found the digital version easier to read.
Yes, the digital version would be much easier to deal with!
I want to read War and Peace....Right now I'm reading Anna Karenina
That’s a great book but I prefer War and Peace.
I will buckle down and read this book. Maybe before this year is over.
Wow...I'm shocked with how pretty that copy looks. The Easton Press make the more beautiful copies. Though for me it's not just the copy, it's the translation, so I'd be curious to see if I like this particular translation of War and Peace.
It’s supposed to be a good transition. I’ll be reading it next year to find out for sure.
I requested for Easton Press to do a deluxe edition of War and Peace on their FB page, and whoever runs it said they would pass the info along.
I own and read this edition of W&P but I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one to buy the deluxe edition.
I'm going to read it this year. Have the Pevear translation all ready to go.
Just got to finish moby-Dick, and then read Monte Cristo first.
And of course, I'm also reading a few other things simultaneously. You know how it is.
I do.
The Anna Karenina Easton Press edition matches.
I didn’t know that. Fantastic!
That’s a gorgeous copy! Red and gold on every surface and illustrations too. I read it for the first time this year and read the Maude translation. I found it easy to read and appreciated the short chapters. I raced through it.
Excellent! I’m glad to hear that about the translation.
02:17 kudos!
One cannot go wrong with Easton Press providing s/he has a very deep pocket. But, yes, some books deserve the extra attention/investment, especially in times where we're flooded by cheap and horrible editions printed by small companies or--even worse--by demand. Traps for bookworms.
On a different note, I've been watching many channels made by avid book-readers, and I must admit I highly respect your presentations: humble, coherent and cohesive and full of surprises. Hats off.
I’m not sure about the coherent part, but thanks!
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 You're doing a splendid job.
I read War and the Peace sometime during summer break during high school. When I finished I was real proud of myself until I saw it was the abridged version. It was still big. I think they cut out all the philosophy. I do remember enjoying it. I need to reread it.
Yeah, this would be a pretty big book even without the philosophy.
If I want an aristocrat to lecture me in out-dated terms, Tolstoy's just the martinet for the job. I'm a Dickens guy, though. Riff-raff with brains. Much tastier.
Sigh of relief… I thought you meant me for a second there! Yes, Dickens is great.
I was disappointed in their Count of Monte Christo translation, so I’ve kept my Penguin black spine, too. But the Easton Press sure looks cool on the shelf.
I’m not sure what edition I should get for The Count.
Oh nice, you get two in one: war and peace! :)
Ha! Yes!
Funny that Easton Press made W&P shorter than normal when it's already so chunky. I agree -- W&P is way more accessible than people think it's going to be. But, I also think the appendices have the same problem as "The Custom House" in The Scarlet Letter. At least these are at the end rather than the beginning!
Yes, you have already read the whole book before you are annoyed by them!
I think we need a War and Peace read along. The times demand it. You know you wanna do it 😇 Nominate a month and I'm in.
I honestly don’t know when I could fit it in. January?
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Yeh why not. It'll take that long for it to be delivered down here so I'm easy. ☺
Hannah from Hannah’s Books is doing a read along. Still time to get in on it. Also, check out How To Eat An Elephant podcast.
Great choice Michael, top notch! For a lower budget but gorgeous edition I can advise the B&N leather-bound edition which has a great cover design and a superb colour choice. As a companion I recommend the biography of Napoleon by Castelot in the Easton Press edition. One of the best books I've ever read (mind, I get bored quite easily with biographies)!
I wonder what translation is used in that Barnes and Noble volume?
Anthony Briggs
I have to correct myself: the translation is by Constance Garnett. I made some research, as it is not stated in the copyright page. I don't know why I had in mind Briggs..
This is a nice edition, but have you seen the Franklin Library one? I once saw both side-by-side at a bookshop, and at least to my eye, the Franklin is even more stunning.
I haven’t seen the Franklin. I’m not surprised though because they made great books.
I just started a book review channel and this book War and Peace is one of the books on my second haul for May video. I am excited to have it. I don’t think my copy matches yours. Yours is a nice looking book but mine is as well. I am so lucky I got my copy for three bucks. See you next video.
Three bucks is a great deal. I subscribed to your channel. I hope you enjoy doing this as much as I do.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 you awesome as you are stylish!
Curious if The Phantom of the Opera is one of the books on your "one fancy copy" list. If so, check out the Folio Society's crazy beautiful version if you haven't seen it already. All books should be so garishly gorgeous!
It’s not but probably should be. I really like that book.
Hello Micahel, I committed to myself that if I finished Brigg's and Maude's War and Peace, I would buy the Easter Press as my reward. I want to ask you as someone who owns the Eastern Press edition: if I want to enjoy the great novel by reading from the Eastern Press edition will it be a good companion?
Yes, it’s a lovely book.
Since I don't feel like rewatching your top 100 list right now, is this your favorite Tolstoy book, or your favorite Piece of Russian Literature? I ask as someone who's read nothing from that county, though I have the Cossacks, Happy Ever After, Ivan Ilyich and Anna Karenina.
You have to add Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" to that list. And also his book "Crime and Punishment". Both masterpieces. Michael claims in his genre-ly tag video that the "The Brothers Karamazov" is the greatest book ever written.
It definitely is my favorite Tolstoy.
Does the edition you have contain the Preface by Clifton Fadiman ? It was rather long, well over a 100 pages. And then there were two appendixes.
Although I am glad I read War and Peace in my youth--I was 16, I had just graduated high school and was waiting to start college in the fall, there might be some advantage to reading it later in life. War and Peace became the gold standard against which I measured every novel I read after that. Is this work good ? Is it great ? Is it as great as War and Peace ? No. More than 60 years later I still haven't changed my mind. Yet in some way it was a disappointment. Like most Americans I expected the hero to get the girl. Poor Prince Andre dies and Natasha ends up with Pierre who is a very decent man but hardly heroic in the usual sense. He never quite seems to know what to do. He's a man of great physical strength which occasionally comes out when he is angry. He means well but he's rather clumsy and his efforts --for example his plan to assassinate Napoleon--come to nothing. Not that he wouldn't do it, but the opportunity escapes him.
Anyway, I agree with you that the Maude translation is good; I had no trouble with it. It was an easy read. I couldn't put the book down once I got started and read it 5-10 days. I'm not sure exactly. I've read much shorter books that were harder to read. You get so interested in the lives of the people that you cannot stop. The ending may trouble some. The war has impacted everyone and they are trying to put their lives back together again. But there's no living happily ever after.
There's a good critical article on War and Peace in the New Criterion on line. A very good read. I'd like to post it with your permission.
Is this Easton Press edition the unabridged version of the novel?
Thanks!
Yes.
Hi Michael. Thanks for the excellent review. I wonder if the Easton Edition of War and Peace leaves the French sentences untranslated? I hope it does.
I haven’t really gone through it yet, so I’m not sure actually. I guess I’ll find out the next time I read War and Peace!
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks
A few lifetimes ago or regenerations I attempted to read this book; I failed. I am more a Chekhov reader than Tolstoy; but I will think about another attempt at reading "War And Peace."
You can do it!
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Yes, probably, but it's soooooooooo long!.......lol.
If War 'n' Peace was written by Robert E. Howard, it woulda been way, way better.
I can’t argue that. If Conan had been in this book he would have had everything sorted in 60 pages.
How can you copyright (1981) "War and Peace"? I would think it is in the free domain by now.
I think that was for this particular edition with the illustrations.