July 01, 2015

War and Peace: 7 Fun Facts


War and Peace: 7 Fun Facts

A century and a half ago, on July 1, 1865, the first installment of Leo Tolstoy’s epic War and Peace was published in the newspaper Russkiy Vestnik (the novel was titled The Year 1805 in the serialization, which ran through 1867. Whether you’re a Tolstoy aficionado or you tend to steer clear of his lengthy works, check out some fascinating facts about this classic of Russian literature.

 

  1. When Russian spelling was reformed in 1918 and several useless letters were removed – the ъ in particular – the novel ended up about 11 pages shorter.
  2. Don’t worry if the novel is not your cup of tea – Tolstoy himself was not a fan of War and Peace. As early as 1870 he wrote to a fellow author that he was glad he would never write anything as ridiculously verbose as War and Peace again. In 1908 he made a particularly dismissive entry in his diary: “People love me for the trifles – War and Peace and so on – that they think are important.”
  3. The narrative mentions 559 different characters, of which about 200 are historical figures. Tolstoy tried to get everyone into his novel: emperors, generals, nobility, peasants, soldiers, all with their own mannerisms and speech patterns.
  4. Russians like to claim that the title of the book could be a clever play on words. The Russian word for ‘peace,’mir, can also mean ‘world,’ so really, the claim goes, Tolstoy was writing about the relationship between war and the world we live in. But was that really his intent? In pre-Revolutionary Russian, there were two ways of writing this word, with миръ meaning ‘peace’ and мiръ meaning ‘world.’ Only once did Tolstoy himself use the second spelling, not necessarily on purpose, but several editions, including the first printing of the entire novel, used it by mistake. To contribute to the confusion, a 1916 poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky, with the same title as Tolstoy’s novel, used the play on words that Tolstoy passed up.
  5. Tolstoy's notes from the ninth draft of War and Peace, 1864
    The novel took six years to write. During that time, Tolstoy is said to have rewritten the entire manuscript by hand at least 8 times, and individual scenes up to 26 times.
  6. The first full version of the novel was supposed to have been published in 1866, on the heels of the few excerpts published in Russkiy Vestnik. That manuscript was significantly shorter, as it skipped many of Tolstoy’s philosophical discussions and presented French conversations in Russian (the author’s translation) instead of in French, as in later editions. One editor characterized that version as “half as long and five times as interesting” – quite a departure from the novel’s modern reputation as being a bit of a drag.
  7. The 4-part film adaptation, filmed in 1965 in the Soviet Union, was 7 hours 11 minutes long. It was the most expensive Soviet film ever made.

 

Image source: Deadline Hollywood

Fact sources: narod.ru, russkiymir.ru, Wikipedia

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955