If Laura @ Reading in Bed is like “hey, come read this mammoth book with me this summer” I seem to be unable to say no. This summer, she is hosting a read-a-long of War and Peace!
If you’ve always meant to read it but haven’t found a reason to, maybe this is your reason? This read-a-long is geared towards Tolstoy newbs, so don’t be intimidated. There’s totally still time to join – reading officially started July 1st! Check out Laura’s blog post for the schedule to get started.
Before we start to get into the nitty-gritty reading, Laura set up a short little book tag to introduce ourselves. So here we go:
- Have you read (or attempted) War and Peace?
Sure have. I even wrote about how that went (spoiler: not good). I haven’t ever finished it though!
- What edition and translation are you reading?
Vintage Pevear & Volokhonsy translation, physical book only (I already regret this, mofo is heavy!)
- How much do you know about War and Peace (plot, characters, etc)?
It’s funny, even though I read most of it that one time, not much! I clearly retained almost nothing and even the 70 or so pages I’ve read this weekend, haven’t made much of an impression on me.
- How are you preparing (watching adaptations, background reading, etc.)?
I am doing absolutely nothing? Maybe the more that I get into it, the more I will want to learn about the War and Peace universe. For now, I’m content to just read it.
- What do you hope to get out of reading War and Peace?
Finally getting it actually read all the way through! This book has haunted me for years because I couldn’t finish it. And then of course, the bragging rights that come with having actually read War and Peace. I look forward to the days of casually dropping into conversation my having read War and Peace (like an a-hole).
- What are you intimidated by?
The sheer length of this book! I do appreciate the schedule – I’m hoping that breaking it up will make it more manageable. I’m also having a hard time keeping the characters and their relationships straight…
- Do you think it’s okay to skip the “war” parts?
No, but if it gets really boring, I just might. I remember that I was actually pretty invested in some of the war parts the first time I tried to read this. And I totally skipped like 80 pages of farming in Anna Karenina and I feel really OK about it.
There we have it. All set to finally read this monster. Anyone else joining in? Thanks to Laura for hosting!
The Paperback Princess 