War and Peace, Volume 2

[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review of WAR AND PEACE Vols. 1 and 2.]--This reviewer derives a special pleasure listening to a good book that he's already read delivered by an excellent narrator. He can thus better appreciate values the performer extrapolates from the text. Such is the case with Neville Jason's mature rendering of Tolstoy's massive classic--25 CDs to Volume 1 alone--of the Napoleonic Wars in Russia. His efforts are abetted by an excellent, uncredited translation. Once you get used to Russians with British accents, he gives you a fresh and consistently insightful interpretation of the action, atmospheres, numberless characters, and author's apostrophes. Only his very young women ring a bit false. An accompanying booklet, intended to help the listener keep characters and events straight, is unnecessary, thanks to Jason's skill. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine