Leo Tolstoy wrote one of the world’s greatest novels, War and Peace, between 1861-63. The backstory goes like this: He toyed with several versions [with pen and paper – remember, no computers back then!] until 1866. He began a massive revision he did not complete until 1869, when it was finally published. It is at once a story of an aristocratic family, the invasion of Russia by Napoleon, a romance, a tragedy, an attempt by a novelist to set history right. In short, it’s one of the world’s great stories, fiction or nonfiction.
You love to read. We love to read. This is a great book, but one you might not tackle on your own. Let’s read it together. Just in case you’re on the fence about reading a novel over 1,200 pages in length, check out what others have said on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace
We, David Bond and Jack Rochester, have created a private War and Peace reading group on Goodreads, and we invite you to join us. Our goal is to spend the winter of 2014-15 reading this rather long novel in one of the finerst translations available by Louise and Aylmer Maude, who knew Tolstoy personally. It’s available in hardcover, paperback and various e-book formats.
Would you like to join us? We’re limiting the group to ten members. Our plan is for all to start reading on December 1, 2014, and, allowing for the fact that everyone reads at different paces, join together online at agreed-upon times to share our thoughts. At this point, we’re thinking those times might be at the end of each of the fourteen Books and lastly after reading the two-part Epilogue.
To participate, please join Goodreads if you aren’t already a member, then reply to this invitation with your Goodreads logon name [our email addresses are below – write to either or both of us] and we’ll add you to the group. Again, launch date to begin reading is December 1, 2014, so be sure to order your book soon.
Here’s to a good read!