The Big Read: War and Peace

Share this post
The Most Popular Translations of War and Peace (And My Personal Favorite)
thebigread.substack.com

The Most Popular Translations of War and Peace (And My Personal Favorite)

Jeremy Anderberg
Nov 21, 2021
Comment2
Share

Before we kick off in 2022, I’ll be sending five free introductory emails to set some context for the book, provide some tips on reading big books in general, and a few housekeeping items. 

Starting in January, paid subscribers will get a weekly recap of the reading, as well as access to the lively comments and discussions features. 

If you’re sure you want to join in, you can sign up now for an annual plan and get 20% off (I’ll make sure you have access through the entirety of 2022):

Sign Up Now!


Most Popular Translations

This week we’re covering translations, which is the first question I always get when it comes to reading old Russian literature—choosing a translation is definitely an important consideration. Let’s take a look at the few of the most common ones, as well as my go-to recommendation.

Constance Garnett (Dover Thrift edition; most free editions)

Published in 1904, this edition was the standard in the early 20th century, but it’s not the easiest to read for us modern folks. As a general note, I also don’t love the paper/fonts of physical Dover Thrift editions. There are other editions of this translation though. 

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (Vintage Classics)

This is the teal-colored translation you’ll find at most bookstores. This husband and wife team are the rockstars of the Russian translation game (if there is such a thing). It was published in 2007 and it’s certainly the best seller of this group, but I’ve not heard great things about it. The word-by-word approach, versus phrase by phrase, can render it too precise. 

This version retains the French dialogue in the body of the text, with the translation to English in the footnotes. Speaking French was rather in vogue among Russian aristocrats, so Tolstoy included a lot of it (about 10% of all dialogue). This translation choice makes reading somewhat of a challenge, though you do get used to it after a bit. 

Aylmer and Louise Maude (AmazonClassics; Oxford World Classics)

The Maudes knew Tolstoy personally and he approved of their work. Published in the early 1920s, critics both old and new have generally concurred on this being the best translation, but opinions abound on that, and critics/scholars aren’t the same as your average readers. That said, after testing a few translations, I went with this one for my first read-through back in May 2020. The Oxford edition also retains the French dialogue in the body of the text with the translation to English in the footnotes. 

Anthony Briggs (Viking; Penguin Clothbound Classics)

A new favorite on the block among Tolstoy fans, this translation was first published in 2005. Briggs is British and the only real complaint with this one is that it includes some Britishisms, especially in the soldiers’ dialogue. It generally has great reviews though, and the beautiful Penguin Clothbound edition is easy to look at over the course of the year. This is the edition that I would recommend.

The reading calendar we’ll use (coming in a couple of weeks) is based on the Briggs, Maude, and Pevear translations—different translations use a different Part/Chapter organization. 


Sign Up Now!


4 Tips for Choosing a Translation/Edition of War and Peace

So what should we know about books that have been translated? Translating older books can be a really tricky endeavor, but Tolstoy has a few things in his favor. Here are some tips and things to keep in mind regarding War and Peace translations:

1) Tolstoy is an easy author to translate.

I’m not a translator myself, but this is something I’ve read in a few different places. Tolstoy writes with language that isn’t flowery or overly complex or heavy on metaphor. It’s much like how Hemingway writes—clear and simple language that tells a potent and powerful story. It’s certainly not a knock, just a writing style. 

Dostoyevsky, for instance—that other titanic Russian—is far harder to translate, which is why one translating team (Pevear and Volokhonsky) gets by far the most attention for reading his works in English.

2) My preferred tactic for choosing any book: test the thing out and read a bit of it.

Read the same handful of pages from a few different versions (Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature is helpful here) and see what sticks with you best. With War and Peace, there truly is no accepted “best” translation. Read the first couple chapters and simply pick your favorite. This book—this reading project—is for your benefit; read the one you like the most.

3) Don’t neglect the aesthetics.

When you’re spending a lot of time with a book, how it looks (both the cover and the text itself) and how it feels in your hands can make a big difference. That’s not a hard and fast rule, but I’ve found it to generally be true that I enjoy the experience more when it's a nice font with decent spacing rather than a dark, squished font that takes up the entire page.

4) I recommend getting both a paper version and an ebook version.

My own routine, which I’ve done with a number of large books, is to read mostly from the paper edition, but then have it on my phone/Kindle as well. That way, if I’m away from the massive book for any reason, or need some easy one-handed reading (with young kids at home, this is nearly a guarantee), it’s right there.

One final note on editions: I don’t know anything about audio versions of W&P; I’ve tried audiobooks on numerous occasions and it has just never worked for me. My apologies, but I’d love to hear your feedback if you go that route. (And if you’re already sampled some audio, shoot me a note and I can share it with the wider group here.)


If you have questions or comments about The Big Read, don’t hesitate to email me back!

-Jeremy

Sign Up Now!

Comment2
ShareShare

Create your profile

0 subscriptions will be displayed on your profile (edit)

Skip for now

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.

Levi Rogers
Writes Levi’s Lost Thoughts ·Feb 27Liked by Jeremy Anderberg

I started with the Volokhonsky translation, (normally some dialogue with footnotes wouldn’t bother me) but I found it to be quite a bit distracting for the first 100 pages, especially as you’re dropped into a world with multiple characters and similar last names, confusing family genealogy, etc. I switched to the Briggs versión and love how smooth it reads, so thanks!

Expand full comment
Reply
1 reply by Jeremy Anderberg
1 more comments…
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2022 Jeremy Anderberg
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Publish on Substack Get the app
Substack is the home for great writing