In the weeks ahead, Stoneboat will continue its new endeavor of giving
this forum over to various guest bloggers. Today, we are pleased to welcome
poet Ed Werstein as he attempts to make his way through one very long tome:
For the third time, I am attempting to read War and Peace.
I
am employing three bookmarks like pitons to anchor me on my quest to scale the
1273 pages. One in the front of the book marks a page of Principal Characters
to help me keep everybody straight. Another sits in the back of the book
helping me to follow the extensive historical notes. There are 53 entries
comprising four pages of fine print enhancing the first 100 pages of the story alone.
Forty-eight pages of fine print in all.
The third marker, of course, flags the ascent itself. Currently this toehold is hammered into page 117.
The third marker, of course, flags the ascent itself. Currently this toehold is hammered into page 117.
In
addition to the historical notes in the back, there are footnotes on each page.
Tolstoy wrote a significant amount of the nobility’s dialogue in French. This,
as I read in the editor’s preface, was an accurate reflection of historical
fact. The translators have chosen to authenticate the reader’s experience by
translating only the Russian into English, leaving the French as written. They
then footnote a translation of the French on the bottom of each page.
This causes me two problems. First, it is fucking tedious. I can’t imagine 1273 pages of this back and forth attention. The second, just as annoying, is that “je connais un peu de francais,”* but not enough to facilitate reading without referencing the footnotes. Just enough so that I delay a bit each time trying to figure out on my own what was said. I wonder, couldn’t they have accomplished as much by just marking the translation of the French with italicized text? Would the reader lose something? I know I’d gain a great deal of time.
As I struggle into triple digit pages, the doubts and questions from two previous failed attempts set in again. A hundred seventeen pages down, but over 1100 to go. How much do I really care about the lives of the Russian nobility two centuries ago? What makes this tome of cannons and tranquility such an important part of the literary canon? Is there value in meeting the challenge itself? Could I just learn to admit, matter-of-factly, that I haven’t read War and Peace? Might I have better luck at scaling a different peak? Ulysses perhaps?
Yes, Ulysses! It was almost written in English in the first place. And this attempt (my second) only after a significant training period. My training will begin immediately. I head down the street for a couple of pints at Callahan’s Pub.
* I know a little French
This causes me two problems. First, it is fucking tedious. I can’t imagine 1273 pages of this back and forth attention. The second, just as annoying, is that “je connais un peu de francais,”* but not enough to facilitate reading without referencing the footnotes. Just enough so that I delay a bit each time trying to figure out on my own what was said. I wonder, couldn’t they have accomplished as much by just marking the translation of the French with italicized text? Would the reader lose something? I know I’d gain a great deal of time.
As I struggle into triple digit pages, the doubts and questions from two previous failed attempts set in again. A hundred seventeen pages down, but over 1100 to go. How much do I really care about the lives of the Russian nobility two centuries ago? What makes this tome of cannons and tranquility such an important part of the literary canon? Is there value in meeting the challenge itself? Could I just learn to admit, matter-of-factly, that I haven’t read War and Peace? Might I have better luck at scaling a different peak? Ulysses perhaps?
Yes, Ulysses! It was almost written in English in the first place. And this attempt (my second) only after a significant training period. My training will begin immediately. I head down the street for a couple of pints at Callahan’s Pub.
* I know a little French
Ed Werstein of
Milwaukee, WI, spent 22 years in manufacturing and union activity before his
muse awoke and dragged herself out of bed. His sympathies lie with poor and
working people. He advocates for peace and against corporate power. His poetry
has appeared in Verse Wisconsin Chile
4 comments:
Ed,
My recommendation as you struggle with your third attempt to conquer this Everest of a book????
Screw it!....and let's go play handball! Now THAT'S an Everest you HAVE conquered ...and besides, it's not all that painful!
A fine post, Ed. Keep plugging away. The last door-stopper I finished was "Crime and Punishment" and the first 200 or so pages were fairly rough going. But gradually I got drawn in and immersed and thoroughly enjoyed the work--and it was work. Maybe W&P is another beast altogether (it's certainly longer)but if you do finish, you could post another blog. Just a thought.
Mark Z.
Ed, I admire the heck out of what you're doing, but there's GOT to be another edition that doesn't saddle you with so much bliblio-crap. Have you checked? Because I see there are at least 4 different ones that come up on Amazon. One of them, at least, should be readable, doncha think?
Marilyn T
Get it on tape or have someone read it to you in French ala a Bill Clinton intern.
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