BATTLE OF WAR AND PEACE

This from Rare Book review.

Almost 140 years after the first publication of War and Peace, a fierce battle has broken out between rival translations of Tolstoy’s epic.

The two recent versions of War and Peace, published in the US, are most noticeably set apart by their length. While acclaimed translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's version runs to 1,267 pages and features all 500 of Tolstoy’s characters, British translator Andrew Bromfield’s reduced, “original” version, ends at just 886 pages, omits the French and philosophical digressions, and offers readers a positive ending. Bromfield’s Russian publisher, Ecco, described his translation as "twice as short, four times as interesting ... more peace, less war.

"However Peaver took a different stance when he wrote an open letter criticising Ecco for its "philistine attitude towards Tolstoy," and Pevear's editor called the shorter version a "serious mistake." Daniel Halpern, editor of Bromfield’s version, retorted: "Not surprisingly, Mr Pevear does not address the Ecco translation in any substantive or meaningful way. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Mr Pevear doesn't actually read the original Russian.”

Pevear’s wife is the Russian speaker on the team.Halpern continued: “To characterise it as the 'not real' version, and to suggest Tolstoy's posthumous intents, are unfortunate, even laughable posturing swipes."