Well, today is the day we officially get going with our reading of “War and Peace”, but I have to confess that I’ve been dipping my toe in already. I decided to read the first few chapters (they’re short!) of each of my editions to see which one I would read.

The translations I have, as I mentioned, are by the Maudes and Rosemary Edmonds, and to be honest there isn’t much to choose between them. The French sections are rendered in English, which is a relief to me as I can’t read in French and I don’t want to have to keep checking notes – I want to go with the flow and just immerse myself.

My two available options

And so far, both versions seem very readable; several of the major characters have already made an entrance; and I’m feeling a little more confident about coping with the length as I seem to have read through these parts quite quickly.

So it may come down to something as simple as the physical ease of reading the book; because it *is* big, and the little hardback Maude I have flops open quite nicely, and the paper is very thin India paper, so it’s really manageable. That may be the decider – I’ll let you know in the next update! 🙂

Onward and upward!