I gave myself almost seven weeks to read this book, but I probably would have given myself maybe a week or two longer just so I could enjoy it more. I felt like I perpetually asked myself this question….’am I really only this far? I’ve read like 500 pages and haven’t even made a dent?!’. I went through several stages while reading this book, which I documented on my Goodreads status updates.

It’s a stunning cover and an edition that I proudly have displayed on my bookshelf, so why not give it a read? Coralie Bickford-Smith (I reviewed one of her children’s books last year and I proudly display it in my nursery!) designed the new cover for Penguin Classics. So what changed? As lame as this sounds, I have to admit, the cover got me. Like maybe it would be too had and what if I didn’t like it or understand anything? I would feel like an absolute disgrace to my literature degree! I struggled with Anna Karenina at times and honestly felt like War and Peace was just too high above me. A Russian writer in the Victorian era is anything but easy to read.

Tolstoy’s writing is complex and tedious as are parts of the story. So why avoid this book? Well I’ll be honest, even with all my reading and lengthy epics under my belt, this book scared me. I’ve also read other works by Tolstoy (Anna Karenina) that are lengthy and wordy, so I am familiar with his writing style. Let’s not forget Les Miserables, another long tedious book that I’ve read. So, why haven’t I read this book up until now? I mean, I’ve read massive books before, I mean the A Song of Ice and Fire books are just as long as this book so I’ve clearly read long books. This book is big and intimidating but it’s often the crown jewel for readers, why? Because it’s arguably the greatest novel ever written, so naturally if you’ve read it you must be part of the ‘in crowd’ or elite readers of the literary world.

War and Peace or more commonly known as “the book most people have lied about reading” is the definition of epic.

War and peace penguin clothbound