Andrew Marr has read War and Peace 15 times, A.S. Byatt has read it five times, and Orlando Figes four times. Haven't these people ever heard of time? As in the time it takes to do things? Anyway, Tanya Gold has a countdown, and I'm glad to see that it includes a number of people who have, like me, read the book just once. Rory Bremner asks:
How many times did he write it?I can't vouch for the accuracy of this, but I have an answer. From the essay 'Tolstoy: Poet and Rebel' by the young Leon Trotsky:
It is a terrifying thing to say, but [Tolstoy] rewrote his colossal book seven times.