War and Peace

[fox-c.livejournal.com]

So, I've been in something of a Napoleonic kick recently, and thought I would finally attempt to slag through War and Peace. My question - Is it worth it to try to do it in Russian? I've read a bit of Tolstoy (short stories mostly) and some other classic authors in Russian already, so I'm sure I could do it, but the book is seriously massive, so I'm afraid it would be a bit too big of an undertaking.

Would I be better off reading the majority of it in English and only doing certain bits in Russian? If so, which passages should I pick out? Is there a "reader" out there for students of Russian trying to tackle the infamous tome?

Comments

[aldanur.livejournal.com]

I had to read the whole thing twice at school, and I still think it's not worth reading. Ony one idea being expressed along all the storyline is not enough to attract the reader's attention. And IMHO this book has nothing else but Tolstoy's contemplations on the role of a single person in history. That's probably why it was so widely introduced in soviet schools, where the children were taught that it wasn't king *** or general ** who won some war, but the people of country **** at the times of king ***.
Though probably I'm wrong. Many people told me that as they grew older they really wanted to reread that book, and they enjoyed it.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

I have re-read it twice after school (approx. once in ten years :))) and I would love to admit that I've enjoyed it, despite of Tolstoy's hard'n'heavy style.