Dostoievski

[Vertigo]

Hasn't anyone here enjoy Dostoevsky? Hi's a great writer... I am reading Daemons, wrote by him; it is the first book I read wrote by him, and I really enjoy it! I would really want to know what do you think about him, I am planning to read 4 more books of him... so i hope we can discuss later! :thumbs_up

[bazarov]

Welcome!
In my opinion, you should continue with Idiot and Crime and Punishment, and then The Brothers Karamazov. Then, you can read anything of him, because non quid sed quod will lose it's meaning :)

[Moira]

Hi Vertigo,

He is the greatest indeed. I've read Demons in high-school, i was thinking i should read that book again.....
Notes from the Underground is also a great read.

[quasimodo1]

Dostoyevsky's "Notes from the Underground" A watershed book for me. quasimodo1

[Moira]

Dostoyevsky's "Notes from the Underground" A watershed book for me. quasimodo1

It is such a powerful novel.:thumbs_up

[NikolaiI]

I read that and The Gambler at the same time, because they were in the same book. I enjoyed them both. I really enjoy D as a writer, he is incredible. My two favourite story by him is The Eternal Husband. It has parts that are seriously haunting.

[Idril]

Eternal Husband is a great story as is The Gambler. I loved the character of Polina in The Gambler, she was a bit of an oddity in 19th Century Russian lit, a strong, smart, independent woman. And as for Eternal Husband, I've often wondered if Pavel was gay? He seemed to have an almost romantic obsession with Velchaninov or are we to assume it was just a very strong brotherly sort of interest?

[Gauguin]

I have only read Crime and Punishment, and I really loved it :thumbs_up I would like to read Idiot and the brothers Karamazov, and perhaps Demon since you recommend it.

I talk a little about it on my blog (in French I am afraid but you can write in English as it is a bilingual blog).

Gauguin

[bazarov]

I loved the character of Polina in The Gambler, she was a bit of an oddity in 19th Century Russian lit, a strong, smart, independent woman.

''Do you despise him so much that you allow him to talk about his feelings in front of you?''
Like Bono said; you're so cruel...:)

[Gritt*]

Yes, Dostoevsky-the all time best! The top on the high mountain of the greatest world literature. You know...He is just like the hill in the fog of our mind darkness and inexperience, and it will take times and times to blow away only a flickers of that fog...to really understand all his greatness. I personally most like Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamazov, but you simply can not read a bad book written by him. :thumbs_up

[Vertigo]

I agree, I don't think there is any bad book wrote by Dostoevsky! Since I wrothe this thread, I read Idiot, Crime and Punishment, Brother Karamazov, The Gambler, Memories from the house of dead too, I liked all of them, and now I'm planning on reading The Adolescent!

[Etienne]

I've read The Idiot, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Gambler and some short stories, and I have The Eternal Husband and The Demons in my to-read pile. Haven't read any Dostoevsky for a while, so I'll probably read those soon.

[hellsapoppin]

Years ago I read an encyclopedic study of Dostoyevsky's works by Konstanfin Mochulskii but cannot trace it for the life of me.:bawling: A Google search revealed his study of Brothers Karamazov but nothing else.

If you can ever find it, the book would be a marvelous introduction to Dostoyevsky.

Tomas Masaryk wrote a multi volume study but I do not recommend it.


Over the years I have read several reports that were highly critical of Constance Garrett and her translation of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. Another in this long series follows:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20810


Since I do not read Russian, I will have to accept that these critical assessments are accurate. One thing's for sure, it has never diminished my enjoyment of these writer's great works.:)

[Etienne]

All I can say on Constance Garnett is that first, she admittedly translated the works in "victorian literature" sometimes meaning changing religious terms to more "familiar" ones for English people not acquainted with the orthodox church, for example. Also from all the Russian literature I've read, the works translated by her were probably those that I found the most badly written.

Also Nabokov spoke against her translation (and some others too however) in his lessons of Russian literature edited in a book. He gives concrete examples of bad translation as well. Translations are always a touchy subject however as it is very hard, even impossible to keep a literal meaning while keeping a good style.

[mea505]

I would be most interested in discussing "The Possessed" with you at any time. I have just started reading it; I have already read some of his other work, such as "The Idiot," which was wonderful. You may contact me at [email protected].

Thanks,

Mark

[Truthlover]

Anyone know why Memoirs from the House of the Dead is not included on our online-literature web site? Dostoyevsky wrote this novel in 1861, after his experience of four years in prison. I loved this book and encourage you to discover it if you have not already read it.

[countes]

Hey congrats, he is an amazing author. I hope that some day I'll learn Russian so that i can read Crime and Punishment in original. My native tongue is close to Russian, but not quite. Dostoevsky and all the Russian classics is worth the while.

[Vertigo]

I've read 'Memoirs from the House of the Dead', it's a very good book and let's the reader get to know the way the writers thinks. I find it very interesting. Also it shows the reality from that time, which makes it more intriguing. I am planning to read now 'Diary of a writer' or whatever is the title for his diary :P and after it I have one book left: 'The Insulted and Humiliated'. A also have some short stories and after those I guess I'll have completed reading almost his entire writing. (There might actually be some short stories which I haven't found yet)

[Truthlover]

In the modern editions of The Possessed, Stavrogin's confession is included, usually at the end of the book. This confession was censured when Dostoyevsky was living. Today it gives us much needed light about what a victim of sexual abuse suffers interiorly, and why suicide is a frequent consequence in such cases.

[Vertigo]

My edition had the confession. I think it was the most touching and in the same time uncomfortable thing to read. But I loved it.