Book · 2018 · Fiction
War and Peace
A Historical Novel;
#30 of 16,707 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- mentions
- 41
- people
- 33
- podcasts
- 18
- episodes
- 37
- critical mentions
- 0
It's a huge investment of time and it's absolutely worth it.
What they say about it
- Compares with Anna Karenina“Anna Karenina to War and Peace”2
- Investment of time“huge investment of time”2
The best things said about it
War and Peace is one of the best novels written in Russian, I would argue.
When you immerse yourself in War and Peace or something like that, it requires hours and hours of investment before you start to feel this world that Tolstoy conjured up around you out of sheer language.
Ryan Holiday The Daily Stoic · Sep 2022 I think of all of those writers Tolstoy had the biggest impact because at the end of War and Peace there's this great essay on historical determinism which i think was the reason i became a historian.
If this was a series, War and Peace, if it were a series, would be season one. And that's all.
And also, you know, like many other people, I read, you know, Russian literature in translation. I'd read "War and Peace" and, you know, I'd loved the book actually.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
2
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1
5
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3
How it comes up
33 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a monumental historical novel blending grand military strategy with intimate domestic life against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. The novel received high praise from numerous podcast guests. Dan Houser called it one of the finest novels written in Russian on the Lex Fridman Podcast, while Dan Jones discussed his journey reading the book on Modern Wisdom after discovering it through Dominic Cummings' writing. Stephanie Slade recommended the novel on The Ezra Klein Show as a personal all-time favorite, acknowledging that while it requires a significant time investment, the read is entirely worthwhile. Jeremi Suri also shared on the Lex Fridman Podcast that he is deeply moved by the story and assigns it to his students every year. In other discussions, Jordan Peterson referenced the author and book while examining Tolstoy's life and despair, Nir Eyal used the novel as a playful metric for measuring the brain's information processing capacity per second, and Nicole Kidman described her early obsession with Russian literature starting with Tolstoy. These reflections highlight the enduring stature of the book as a towering achievement in world literature.
Every mention
Dan Houser War and Peace is one of the best novels written in Russian, I would argue. 1
Recommended
“War and Peace is one of the best novels written in Russian, I would argue.”
Dan Jones I'd try and read his substack read his because I think he's an original thinker um and a good and interesti… 1
Recommended
“I'd try and read his substack read his because I think he's an original thinker um and a good and interesting writer and he blogged a few years ag quite a few years ago now maybe four years ago about Tolstoy and I've I went on a real slow burn Tolstoy Jag through War and Peace and an karen because”
Jeremi Suri i'm very moved by tolstoy's war and peace 1
Recommended
“i'm very moved by tolstoy's war and peace”
Stephanie Slade and then because I'm a huge fiction reader and I especially love big books of fiction I would recommend one… 1
Recommended
“and then because I'm a huge fiction reader and I especially love big books of fiction I would recommend one of my favorite novels of all time which is War and Peace”
Tyler Cowen But War and Peace is still clearly better than Anna Karenina, which is more of a mono novel, and less compl… 5
Discussed
“But War and Peace is still clearly better than Anna Karenina, which is more of a mono novel, and less complex and sprawling, right?”
Discussed
“the one that comes closest to it is in fact his model that's TL's work in peace”
Discussed
“The one that comes closest to it is in fact his model. That's Tolstoy's War and Peace. You know, a a three-word title with an and in the middle and two important concepts.”
Discussed
“so something like a moby dick or flaubert or war and peace”
Discussed
“so if you don't read Russian yes Reid Brothers Karamazov and Warren piece and a few things and then stop”
Dana Gioia and War in peace is the the most ambitious uh successful novel 2
Discussed
“I think the Lord of the Rings is the greatest novel in English written about the first world war and it's about a decent fellow who is dragged into a war which he doesn't want to fight but he conducts himself honorably going through great pain great loss uh and interestingly you know comes out of it morally strengthened in”
Discussed
“and War in peace is the the most ambitious uh successful novel”
Niall Ferguson by the way if you've ever read War and Peace the moment when Pierre sees Natasha everything stops uh that's… 2
Discussed
“by the way if you've ever read War and Peace the moment when Pierre sees Natasha everything stops uh that's what the French called a kudafuda it happened to me then”
Discussed
“i think um of all of those writers tolstoy had the biggest impact because at the end of war and peace there's this great essay on historical determinism which i think was the reason i became a historian”
Andrew Solomon we don't live that part of War and Peace 1
Discussed
“we don't live that part of War and Peace”
Bill Burr i don't read war and peace i read like the jack lambert story 1
Discussed
“i don't read war and peace i read like the jack lambert story”
Byrne Hobart There's a line from war and peace where one of the Russian aristocrats is mad that his son is joining the w… 1
Discussed
“There's a line from war and peace where one of the Russian aristocrats is mad that his son is joining the war and he goes, “It's that man Napoleon.”
Dan Wang I much prefer Anna Karenina to War and Peace. 1
Discussed
“I much prefer Anna Karenina to War and Peace.”
David Perell I'm going to get really into Magic Mountain and War in Peace, and I'm going to do the work it takes to real… 1
Discussed
“I'm going to get really into Magic Mountain and War in Peace, and I'm going to do the work it takes to really read those books”
David Yeager this is why you know like what's the point of war in peace right war in peace is is really a theory of of g… 1
Discussed
“this is why you know like what's the point of war in peace right war in peace is is really a theory of of great leaders in the war and there's any English phds I'm sure they'll tell me that that's oversimplified version of what to sto was doing”
Douglas Murray this um this thing I've thought about a lot which comes up in Toltoy War and peace which is when the uh two… 1
Discussed
“this um this thing I've thought about a lot which comes up in Toltoy War and peace which is when the uh two armies are facing off against each other in the old Napoleonic style”
Ezra Klein when I was in school you could buy spark notes and you know they were these little like pamphlet sized desc… 1
Discussed
“when I was in school you could buy spark notes and you know they were these little like pamphlet sized descriptions of what's going on in waren peace or what's going on in East of Eden”
Fiona Hill And also, you know, like many other people, I read, you know, Russian literature in translation. I'd read "… 1
Discussed
“And also, you know, like many other people, I read, you know, Russian literature in translation. I'd read "War and Peace" and, you know, I'd loved the book actually.”
Henry Shukman Well, I mean Pierre Bazookov in War and Peace, you know, opens with him in that drinking party where they'r… 1
Discussed
“Well, I mean Pierre Bazookov in War and Peace, you know, opens with him in that drinking party where they're all doing crazy drinking games and he doesn't want to be doing it.”
Jeff Sandefer War and Peace 1
Discussed
“War and Peace”
Jordan Peterson This is from Toltoy's Leo Toltoy who was a great Russian author. He wrote Warren Peace and Anacredina. Um,… 1
Discussed
“This is from Toltoy's Leo Toltoy who was a great Russian author. He wrote Warren Peace and Anacredina. Um, many people believe that Warren Peace is the greatest novel ever written.”
Lev Grossman that scene oddly came out of I I I had been reading War and Peace a book that I had put off reading for a v… 1
Discussed
“that scene oddly came out of I I I had been reading War and Peace a book that I had put off reading for a very long time”
Lex Fridman Lenny Bernstein, "War and Peace," Tolstoy. You tweeted a Tolstoy quote from "War and Peace," as of course y… 1
Discussed
“Lenny Bernstein, "War and Peace," Tolstoy. You tweeted a Tolstoy quote from "War and Peace," as of course you would: "Everything I know, I know because of love."”
Madeleine Albright and I do think that in terms of authors I do like Tolstoy and war and peace I'm just not a fatalist the way… 1
Discussed
“and I do think that in terms of authors I do like Tolstoy and war and peace I'm just not a fatalist the way Tolstoy is but but I think he's very interesting”
Mark Manson The other one that I was that came to mind is completely opposite War and Peace 1
Discussed
“The other one that I was that came to mind is completely opposite War and Peace”
Michael Malice and let's also point out that tolstoy wrote warned peace and he wrote anna karenina 1
Discussed
“and let's also point out that tolstoy wrote warned peace and he wrote anna karenina”
Nicole Kidman Just because I had one of those lists of the hundred books you're meant to read. Okay. Yeah. But I started… 1
Discussed
“Just because I had one of those lists of the hundred books you're meant to read. Okay. Yeah. But I started on dsttoyki and then I went oh hold on and then I just kept going on dsttoyki and then I moved over to Toltoy and then before you know it I'm obsessed with the Russians. Yeah and I went”
Nicole Lamey angle of her POS by Wallace stegner the site Saga and Elena fante as well as of course war in peace 1
Discussed
“angle of her POS by Wallace stegner the site Saga and Elena fante as well as of course war in peace”
Nir Eyal To put that in perspective, that's like reading War and Peace twice every second. Okay? 1
Discussed
“To put that in perspective, that's like reading War and Peace twice every second. Okay?”
Paul Harding my favorite books to read are the big blockbusters, War in Peace and Carlos Fentes Teranostra. 1
Discussed
“my favorite books to read are the big blockbusters, War in Peace and Carlos Fentes Teranostra.”
Robert Chandler um Gman loved COV um I'm sure that checkov was his favorite writer um he did read War and Peace several tim… 1
Discussed
“um Gman loved COV um I'm sure that checkov was his favorite writer um he did read War and Peace several times during the war so to story was important to him”
Robert McKee Robert McKee: Well, I've looked at certain novels, Russian and otherwise. And I've said, if this was a seri… 1
Discussed
“Robert McKee: Well, I've looked at certain novels, Russian and otherwise. And I've said, if this was a series, War and Peace, if it were a series, would be season one. And that's all.”
Russ Roberts war and peace worm piece excellent book loved it 1
Discussed
“war and peace worm piece excellent book loved it”
Ryan Holiday It's you know, when you immerse yourself in War and Peace or something like that, it it requires hours and… 1
Discussed
“It's you know, when you immerse yourself in War and Peace or something like that, it it requires hours and hours of investment before you start to feel this world that Tolstoy conjured up around you out of sheer language.”
Suleika Jaouad and i remember packing a suitcase full of books i packed war and peace thinking to myself this is one of th… 1
Discussed
“and i remember packing a suitcase full of books i packed war and peace thinking to myself this is one of those books that i've never read and this is finally you know the time to actually read it and to catch up on doing some of these things that i haven't had the time to do”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker2
Recommended
“and then because I'm a huge fiction reader and I especially love big books of fiction I would recommend one of my favorite novels of all time which is War and Peace it's a huge investment of time and it's absolutely worth it”
Discussed
“then the answer usually lies somewhere between haiku and Tolstoy okay all right it's gonna be somewhere in that range”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (28: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“But I've never read War and Peace, and I don't think I ever will. I think... I would've done it by now if I was going to.”
Passing
“It's like, 'Good luck reading War and Peace for your book report.' It's hard.”
Ad read
“He just finished War in Peace the last time I was over. Did he? He said he read it in a day.”
Passing
“So you can just get overwhelmed by, you know, I generally have like a a wardrobe full of transcripts like longer than War and Peace, right?”
Passing
“and we're not talking war in peace”
Passing
“which is I I just want to you know sear some salmon here and I'm reading war in peace it's why are there a thousand words in here on the history of salmon”
Passing
“I packed you know pajamas the usual things but I also packed like War and Peace and every book in the Canon that I hadn't yet read and announced to my parents that I was going to use the summer in the hospital to read through the remainder of the Canon”
Passing
“So let me first go on record and say that I do not read any of those books I have yet to read war in peace”
Passing
“this is not supposed to be you know of you know War and Peace here okay this is not noral rini's Economist you know Mega threats”
Passing
“Oh, and she also brought me a present, "War and Peace" by Tolstoy, and "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. It doesn't get better than that.”
Passing
“It's reading a Nature paper, it's "War and Peace."”
Passing
“So his name was Evgeny Evgenievich Petrov. And if this doesn't remind you of the great works of Russian literature, then you haven't read them, like "War and Peace", you know, like with the patronymic names.”
Passing
“he said and he says it was more important to him than war and peace”
Passing
“it seems that one of the reasons that the uh the the the revolutionary and the philonic ideas spread a lot was that also at the time that france was the seat of um a seat of intellectual uh discourse um at the time why was that”
Passing
“it's like translating a book war and peace into klingon like someone's got to sit there and do that”
Passing
“so you could name your album like i always romeo and juliet i always wanted to name an album war and peace”
Passing
“It's like, you know, war and peace and then you read like one half of the final chapter and you're like, oh yeah, okay. Like there's a lot to the story that's going to be really hard for us to unpack.”
Passing
“and then like I remember I did that with Warren piece originally and you know speaking of a large cast of characters”
Passing
“it's like for me there's a part that's like the battlefield scene of War and Peace where at least I don't know maybe for some readers that's very exciting for me”
Passing
“and we're having a conversation which would not be enhanced if you were also reading like war and peace on a screen on your spectacles off to the side off to the side”
Passing
“I had packed a suitcase full of books including War and Peace which was on my bedside table”
Passing
“have you read war in peace I have not read war in peace okay read it with a tree just take it for me”
Passing
“you know I wanted to write a book write War and Peace travel the world be an astronaut and here it was you know in a very interesting job but perhaps not enjoying life as much as I as I should be”
Passing
“I could have read war and peace ten times in this chunk of hours that I've spent reading like yet another article”
Passing
“Jesus Christ this is like the [ __ ] war in peace”
Passing
“You know it's not like it's a lot of reading it's not war and peace It says three cheese omelet”
Passing
“you know it's not like it's a lot of reading it's not war and peace it says three cheese omelet”
Passing
“instead of it being some complicated [ __ ] War and Peace epic of you know complicated intertwining personalities no I just think about some call”