Tag Archives: Leo Tolstoy

Dramatization of Tolstoy’s War and Peace

I never new there was a theatre version of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy before, but I just came across an announcement about the Prague German Language Theatre Festival – and apparently there is – though it’s in German. I wonder if anyone would do an English version. Somehow I can’t quite see it coming to the West End of London – they’d have to do a musical version of it for that to happen!

With 12 actors playing 80 roles it does sound like they must have managed to capture quite a lot of the novel.

Although I have read War and Peace a few times, I have never seen any of the film versions. I think compared to some other great big books, I’m thinking Lord of the Rings here, War and Peace may be even harder to convey in dramatic form.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – new Page on Praeter Naturam (marklord.info)
An Examination of The Presence of War and Peace in Today’s World (socyberty.com)
War and Peace (yukihime03.wordpress.com)
What is Leo Tolstoy’s contribution to English prose (wiki.answers.com)

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – new Page on Praeter Naturam

November 6, 2011 Mark Leave a comment

Following on from my posting of information about Leo Tolstoy’s The Cossacks, I have now created a new page about one of Tolstoy’s greatest classics: War and Peace.

War and Peace is one of those novels that a lot of people think about reading, but never get round to, probably being put off by the sheer size of the thing. But it’s really a page-turner in my opinion. If you have any interest in either human relationships, warfare or history, then War and Peace I would say is a must read for you.

On my War and Peace page I provide a bit more information about the book, and links to the first chapter, a list of characters and a bibliography for further reading.

A number of eBook editions of War and Peace are available as well asprinted versions. I’ll leave it to you take your choice.

The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy (marklord.info)
What is Leo Tolstoy’s contribution to English prose (wiki.answers.com)
The wisdom of Kutuzov (davidrajakovich.wordpress.com)
An Examination of The Presence of War and Peace in Today’s World (socyberty.com)

Leo Tolstoy

The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy

November 4, 2011 Mark Leave a comment

As well as Science Fiction and Fantasy I also love many works of classic literature, and probably my favourite author is Leo Tolstoy – specifically his great works like War and Peace and Anna Karenina, but also some of his lesser known fiction like The Cossacks.

To that end I have started populating some information about these books on the site. I’ll soon be putting up some information about War and Peace, but for now why not go and find out more about The Cossacks? It’s a delightful novella and a great introduction to what Tolstoy is all about.

The wisdom of Kutuzov (davidrajakovich.wordpress.com)
The Same Tolstoy and Hegel (slog.thestranger.com)
Families Are Like Oak Trees (myshoeboxlife.com)
Breathing Leo Tolstoy’s air in Moscow (rt.com)
Keira Knightley and Jude Law to star in Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina remake (guardian.co.uk)

Book Review

Top 5 Favourite Historical Novels

August 8, 2010 Mark 1 Comment

Cover of "The Last English King" — Cover of The Last English King

These are my top 5 “Straight” Historical Novels. That means there’s no alternate version of history or any fantasy element to them. I might do a couple more favourite lists to cover alternate history and historical fantasy another time. They do of course feature characters that are fictional in some cases rather than historical.

1. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The classic medieval mystery. Eco does a remarkable job of showing off his knowledge of the period without being boring and creating a clever mystery as well.

2. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

One of my favourite adventure stories, this is told at a rattling pace and features some excellent historical characters such as the Cardinal and the King, as well as memorable fictional ones as well.

3. Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian

Like Eco O’Brian does not shy away from a wealth of detail in his setting, which I think really enhances the story he has to tell.

4. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

One of my all time favourite novels. Written about 60 years after the events it describes, it’s perhaps easy to not think of this as historical fiction in some ways – one might imagine that Tolstoy is relating a story that is nearly contemporary. However, the events of 1812 in particular, were symbolically essential to the idea of Russian nationality, and Tolstoy writing on the nature of history and great men is essential reading. But the heart of War and Peace is a very human story.

5. The Last English King by Julian Rathbone

1066 from the viewpoint of the English. This is an excellent interpretation of the events of the Norman invasion.