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War and Peace

Penguin Classics

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War and Peace

By: Leo Tolstoy, Anthony Briggs, Orlando Figes
Narrated by: Chloe Pirrie, Sam Woolf, Michael Fox, Olivia Darnley, Terence Wilton
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by Chloe Pirrie, Sam Woolf, Michael Fox, Olivia Darnley and Terence Wilton.

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 forever. 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 (1868-69), Tolstoy entwines grand themes - conflict and love, birth and death, free will and fate - with unforgettable scenes of 19th-century Russia, to create a magnificent epic of human life in all its imperfection and grandeur.

©2005 Anthony Briggs (translation) (P)2020 Penguin Audio Classics Historical Fiction
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The biggest, most epic tale ever assembled. I feel my life is better for having listened to this. I loved the multiple narrators and the pace and relevance of the translation. However, the story itself is so vast, so deep, so human — I laughed, I cried and felt more alive than at any point in my life. Can’t recommend this enough.

Not enough superlatives to describe how good this is

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I loved this story. Obviously the lives and loves of the families was more appealing than the battle scenes but even they were not too brutal until the retreat . this was a welcome change to radio listening while working.

terrific listening

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Two distinct areas of review arise out of Audible’s interface: a) the text itself, and b) the narrative performance(s).
I came to this reading having never previously read the novel. Overall, I found the text itself to be much better than I had ever expected. Typically, I tend to find that the majority of the most classic and canonical “long” narratives tend to do nothing more than make the same point over and over and over again; the authors having deluded themselves into thinking that they could only impart their ‘brilliant’ insight onto the rest of us via a novel when they could just as easily have done so via a novella or short story. I was therefore more than pleasantly surprised to learn that one of the longest novels ever written does not comply with that.
However… The first and fifth narrators on this performance are very nearly unbearable. The three in the middle are more than pleasant, and do a fantastic, highly professional job. I ended up speeding up the first narrator to at least 1.2x, sometimes faster, because he inexplicably reads at a pace that is headache-inducing. I am writing this review as I struggle to listen to the Epilogue, but I definitely think I’m about to bow out and read the rest on Kindle. I don’t know why this man is screaming at me, but it is so unpleasant and so distracting that I genuinely cannot concentrate on what he is saying. I’ve had to turn the volume down markedly from where it was at, and I just cannot see any way to put up with this for the 6h that’s left. In fact - I’ve just turned it off. I can’t handle “last-ten-minutes-of-the-final-act” voice for an extended period of time. That’s just awful.

Let down by two poor narrative performances

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Anyone who manages to make this tome into an audiobook should be applauded, no matter what. Each of the 5 narrators is clear and consistent.

However, publishers should note that in volume 3 part 1 there are some editing mistakes - quite a few times in this section lines are repeated. It happens more than 10 times, sometimes a few within a single chapter.

This audiobook is the only reason I finished

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A society novel, a family story, a coming of age story, a historical chronicle, and a mighty epic spanning 15 years from 1805 to 1850. This novel explores the meaning of happiness and the many turns life can take with the choices we make. That our experiences are what make us who we are. Therefore, the strength in War and Peace is in the weakness of its characters, who are not guaranteed happy endings.

It has humour, spirituality, despair, and many intertwining stories that had me completely invested in the outcome. I would recommend the reader research the different translations available as this can impact how enjoyable the text is. I read the Anthony Briggs translation as it is a combination between a literal translation and dynamic translation.

The narrators were different across the different parts of the novel.

Intertwining social narrative

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I will probably be criticised as a Philistine but wouldn’t have through this without the audio version. The interminable love chapters, the anguishing and the twists and terms of emotions drove me crazy. The Epilogue explains much of what the novel- whatever you call it- is about is great. The production was ok, but why switch from male to female narrators escapes me. I did it, but I don’t think that I am a great fan of the 19th century Russian novelist. Give me A Suitable Boy any day if you want to read a magnum opus. Next I have Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman; am I up to it? Surely it can’t be as turgid as War and Peace?!!’ One positive outcome was the lowering of my estimation of Napoleon as a great leader or general. I never have understood why Churchill thought so highly of him.

Interesting, but not the greatest Novel written

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