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/lit/ - Literature

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7102054 No.7102054 [Reply] [Original]

We all agree that this is the best novel of all time right?

>> No.7102061

thats not the bible

>> No.7102063

Convince me.

>> No.7102067

>>7102063
Read it and convince yourself.

>> No.7102071

is war and peace the best novel of all time?
possibly
is the pevear and volokhonsky translation of war and peace the best novel of all time?
no

>> No.7102074

>>7102054
no

pale fire obv

>> No.7102081

>>7102074
That's not even the best Nabokov.

>> No.7102089

>>7102067
You say it's the best novel, why is it the best novel?

>> No.7102097

>>7102054

I didn't finish it. Made it halfway through. Don't kill me.

I do intend to finish it at some point, but calling it the greatest novel of all time seems a stretch to me.

The very concept of the greatest novel of all time rests on a ridiculous premise too.

>> No.7102108

>>7102089
Because it is better than any other novel.

>> No.7102112

Don Quixote

>> No.7102115

>>7102097
>I'm too much of a pleb to finish this book
>I'm incapable of spotting the genius that went into every page

>LMAO DUDE IT'S NOT EVEN THAT GOOD

opinion discarded.

>> No.7102116

>>7102108
How did you manage to read all novels in existence?

>> No.7102123

>>7102116
I've read War and Peace.

It's all I need.

>> No.7102141

>>7102115

I do so love this board for its reasonable discussions.

That's not what I wrote. At all. Or implied. Or believe.

Sure, it's a work of genius, one of the greatest, but the greatest? Why don't you tell us why?

Seriously, there's shitposting and casual hate on all the other boards, why can't we just go there if that's what we're feeling like.

>> No.7102160

Anyone have recommendations for good English translations of this? I'm looking to buy it so I can finally finish it, but would rather not end up like >>7102071

>> No.7102221

Reading Anna Karenina at the moment, and I'm loving it. How does war and peace compare?

>> No.7102243

>>7102160
i read the opening few chapters of a bunch and settled on rosemary edmonds, but i'm not sure if she's /lit/ approved. she writes very beautifully, and translates all the french into english (whilst indicating that they're talking in french in the text) but i'm not sure it's that accurate. but it is readable as fuck and i'd recommend it on its own merits as one of the most enjoyable reads i've ever experienced

for the record my friend read p & v and hated it but refuses to acknowledge that his lack of enjoyment might be down to their translation

>> No.7102310

Always go Maude for Tolstoy. They knew Tolstoy and he called them the best translators an author could wish for.

Also, regardless of whether 19th-century English is anything like 19th-century Russian, I prefer an old novel to sound like an old novel rather than like it was written today.

>> No.7102414

>>7102160
Louise and Alymer Maude. They were personal friends and Tolstoy approved of them, as has already been said. The translation is also very good.

>Aylmer Maude met Tolstoy in 1888, introduced to him by Peter Alekseyev,[6] a doctor married to Maude's sister Lucy.[7] Maude was a frequent visitor, an admirer and friend, playing tennis and chess, enjoying long discussions, but not always agreeing with the great writer 30 years his senior. Tolstoy made return visits, getting to know Louise and the family, even showing the boys how to make "paper cockerels."[8] After the Maudes settled in England, Tolstoy and Aylmer Maude kept up a regular correspondence, with Maude making occasional trips to Russia to see Tolstoy at his Yasnaya Polyana estate. During his 1902 visit Tolstoy authorized Maude to write his biography.

>> No.7102477

>>7102221
Reading it too. I'm about 450 pages.

In the translation of my copy the translator for some reason felt it was cool to include what I presume is the biggest spoiler possible in the foreword. I guess she figured everybody must already know the story by now.
But what about us who haven't and really would like to read it, you fucking bitch?

It really put me off reading it for the longest time.

>> No.7102495

>>7102477
>reading forewords before the book
we all learn that lesson once

>> No.7102532
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7102532

>you fucking bitch

>> No.7103051

>>7102477
The foreword of my edition spoiled it too, but I honestly don't feel like it's taking anything away from the experience. The greatest thing about the book are the characters. Simple yet complex people with both sympathetic and unflattering characteristics. The way Tolstoy uses these characters to display situations from various angles is highly interesting.

>> No.7103100

>>7102054
I prefer anna karenina.

>> No.7103712

>>7102221
Anna Karenina is great but War and Peace is another level.

>> No.7104179

I would agree with only OP only if we exclude Don Quixote by virtue of it having invented the novel.

You can't really compare anything to DQ but because of that it doesn't make much sense to talk about whether a novel is better then DQ or not. So yes, leaving DQ aside W&P is probably the greatest.

>you will never serve in the glorious Russian army as a dashing Calvary officer and help defend your country against Napoleon and then go home to St. Petersburg and marry a 16y.o. QT3.14 Russian daughter of some rich aristocrats.

>> No.7104226

>>7102160
Fam, havent read it but id try out the revised Maude. Think its Norton edition and they put the French back in.

Though after typing this I may recall a review that said it uses pevear style foreignization

>> No.7104261

Bleak House is better in structure and prose, but no one here reads Dickens.

>> No.7104263 [DELETED] 

>>7102112
/thread

>> No.7104390

>>7102054
That's not The Wretched.

>> No.7104473

>>7103051
>>7102495
>>7102477
FUCK FUCK FUCK!
That happened when I was reading The Idiot by Dostoevsky. The introduction spoiled the entire climax and ending of the book.

I was like "what the fuck?!" and almost gave up right there.

I have never, nor will ever, read a forward/introduction to a book ever again.

>> No.7104494
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7104494

Not even the best 19th century Russian novel

>> No.7104532

>>7104473
Russian here. We do actually know how the classical stories go, even those of us who haven't read them. No one reads that stuff these days but everyone knows how Anna Karenina ends for example. It has become something like a meme here.

>> No.7104565

Currently reading anna karenina and really enjoying it. The prose is lovely, and the character development is unreal.

>>7102116
>implying you need to

>>7102495

Yep. I always save introductions and forwards after I've read the book.

>> No.7104574

>>7104532
>everyone knows how Anna Karenina ends

I choo choo choose you!

>> No.7104659

les miserables

>> No.7105590

>>7104494
>abridge audio cd

>> No.7105804

>>7104659
>>7104390
these guys know

>> No.7105874

>>7102108
If you had actually read it, you'd be able to give an actual opinion.

>> No.7105886

>>7105804
>>7104659
>>7104390
haven't read this, what translation do you recommend?

>> No.7105904

>>7105886
>traaaaaaaaaaaaaaanslation

>> No.7106728

>>7105904
life is too short to learn languages for every classic