cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/3688704
I am reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (P&V translation). About 20% through. It’s starting to get interesting as the characters start to take shape. Till now I have read and enjoyed the P&V translations of both Crime and Punishment and Demons. This is a huge book and I am looking forward to enjoying this for a while! I am just excited and wanted to read other people’s thoughts.
I loved that book! It was my introduction to Russian literature. I found the naming of characters confusing at first, but after a bit I got used to every character having at least three different calling names.
At some point, there is a quite long-winded philosophical chapter, don’t get discouraged!
That was me. I am now more than 80% through and don’t want to finish it because I am loving it so much. I don’t mind the philosophical stuff, some of it is quite interesting and thought provoking. Anyways, now I don’t know what to read next. And yes, the main confusing thing I find with Russian literature is the names. Every character I would be reading of would have at least 3-4 versions of their name.
Personally, my advice would be: don’t go to Tolstoj expecting something similar! He is so preachy compared to Dostoyevski, the characters don’t ring nearly as human and interesting.
On the other hand, everything I read of Dostoyevski is great, with Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamazov being at the top. I also find Victor Hugo to be similar (minus the weird naming conventions).
I got advised to read Master and Margherita, but I couldn’t get over the first dizen pages, but maybe it does it for you.
Years ago I read Anna Karenina and from what I vaguely remember, there was some amount of moralising; what you say kind of confirms that for me. Someone suggested Fathers and Sons by Turganev. What do you think about that? I have also heard about Master and Margherita. I can give it a try. I have already read and enjoyed Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Demons. Demons was slightly disturbing from what I remember. There’s still The Idiot and Notes from the Underground that I have still to read.
I know nothing of Turganev, honestly. I have read The Idiot and felt it was a little “less” than usual Dostoyevski, but I can highly recommend White Nights, a collection of short stories. I usually think of Dostoyevski as shining in long descriptions, but in White Nights he goes the other way and etches scenes with a minimal amount of details and still hitting the nail on the head. Notes from the Underground doesn’t have a good translation in my mother tongue, so I did not read it yet. Now that my English knowledge is good enough, I could look for a good English translation, but there are just too many books to read… what to read next is always a tough choice.
I will look into white nights. I am thinking of giving Turganev a try later. Let’s see how I like it. If it’s good I’ll probably share about it here.
I’ll look forward to your comments, positive and negative!
Sure thing!
This has been in my stack forever and I need to get to it. I’ve read The Idiot and loved it. It’s so ridiculous at times it gave me Arrested Development vibes. It was unexpectedly funny.
I think the translation I had wasn’t great, I did but find it funny but just boring. Only Dostojevski book I didn’t particularly like
