Sunday, October 23, 2011

In Which I Offer a Preparatory Note

It just occured to me the other day that one of my resolutions for 2011 was to read War and Peace. So this seems a lickety-split time to get cracking. It's quite a tome to digest: over 1,000 pages. And I have to confess, the book-- bigger than a brick-- has been gathering dust on a table in my office for over a year.

I did get started several months ago but the book is so heavy I couldn't travel with it, and since I had to travel... Solution? An ebook! Nope, that didn't work. I tried, but reading something as truffle-rich as Tolstoy's War and Peace on a screen is like trying to slice prime rib in gravy on a paper plate. Well, maybe that's not the most apt analogy. The thing is, I needed to be able to leaf back and forth, rereading here and there to make sense of these first opening pages and with an electronic version, that was a hassle. So back to the humungous paperback version it is. And if I have to travel? This time, I will get a razorblade and slice a chunk out of the book and take it with me. Ayyy.

Which translation to read? As a translator myself (from the Spanish) I know there can be huge differences from one version to the next, so I threw the question to my literary translators' litserv. Several different translators recommended several different versions. Fur flew. Were I to quote, I would make enemies for life. Ayyy. With appreciation to all for both honest opinions and encouragement, I hereby opt for the version I already own, that by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.

---> The book's official website.

So why this blog?

First, it's just a log (with a modernizing "b" to make it a blog), that is, a way of giving myself some focussing structure. Second, I am a novelist, so I imagine that my reactions will inform my own writing, and my thinking about writing. Third, it can be a long and lonely journey to read a novel of this length, so perhaps some readers/ fellow traveler's in other times and places may find sustenance here.

My goal is to read the book thoughtfully but at a steady clip so I can finish by December 31. That's approximately 15 pages a day (including a couple of days off).

P.S. I thought I was tewwibly clever to think of blogging about reading War and Peace but, of course, someone else has already done it. Last night, with a google search, I found the very good and inspiring blog by a New Yorker named Jerry D. Parra. He digested the whole enchilada in 118 days.

Next post: Wednesday.

7 comments:

  1. I've been part of an online group that's been reading W&P all year (conveniently, it has 365 chapters, so a chapter a day). It's a wonderful experience. Just make sure you find one of the character "cheat sheets" that are all over the place--it'll really help keep track of the various characters, since many of them have similar names.

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  2. Amy, thanks for that tip. You are so right about that crowd of characters. This is actually my third attempt to get cracking with W + P. What a brilliant idea, one chapter a day with a reading group!

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  3. I read your book, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, on my kindle. I regret not buying the book. Reading it on the Kindle was a bit dissatisfying. It's a good thing I loved the book so much or I might have given up on reading the whole thing. I suppose if I commit myself to reading War and Peace, I'll have to accommodate the book by carrying a very big bag.

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  4. Hi Kendra, Thanks for your kind words about The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. Gosh, on a Kindle! Well, I actually got out the kitchen scissors and cut my humungous paperback copy of War and Peace in half and then mailed the second half to where I am going for Thanksgiving. OK, book lovers, I know that sounds too awful, cutting a book in half!!! But it was (1) scissors (2) Kindle or (3) 2012. Scissors totally won. More anon.

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  5. I think it's genius. I just told my mother to do the same thing the other day. She really cannot read what I sent w/out some discomfort. (They are technically magazines but they are very nice ones.)

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  6. Thought I'd throw this in--I read War and Peace last year and I truly enjoyed it...my very short blog post on W&P on my blog, jennyredbug, is here:
    http://www.jennyredbug.com/2010/11/tolstoy-tolstoy-tolstoy.html

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  7. Hi Jennifer, I enjoyed reading your take on W & P http://www.jennyredbug.com/2010/11/tolstoy-tolstoy-tolstoy.html

    The editing... I can understand that (and I'm only on page 30 now)

    You've reminded me that I need to go see the movie with Plummer and Mirren...

    Blog on!

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