Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
autodidacts.io
Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
1–10 of 324 posts
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#2I also stumbled onto Crime and Punishment at 18 and expected it to be difficult and was blown away with how Dostoyevsky wrote one of the greatest novels of all time, to be sure, but as the author here says, also how engaging he made it.
The scene where he commits the crime is an absolute stunner, edge-of-your-seat, thriller. Who does that? Who can pull that off? Dostoyevsky
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#3Funny, I'm just reading War and Peace myself (the Anthony Briggs translation) and having the same reaction, gushing occasionally to people I know how approachable it is, and how darkly funny and modern it feels. Well, at least after passing through the first ~200 pages which are a slog. I didn't find even Tolstoy's historical musings boring, although he tends to repeat himself. And I usually suck at names, but the main characters are done so well I find them easy to remember. There aren't that many important ones despite how it seems at the start. It also serves as a fascinating peek into the daily lives of Russians of all stripes in the early 1800s.
I also had the same reaction to Crime and Punishment as the OP did.
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#4This rings a bell, because I decided to tackle Don Quixote (English translation). At 200 pages in (of around 1000, I think), it’s funny and entertaining and feels fresh.
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#5I also stumbled onto Crime and Punishment at 18 and expected it to be difficult and was blown away with how Dostoyevsky wrote one of the greatest novels of all time, to be sure, but as the author here says, also how engaging he made it. The scene where he commits the crime is an absolute stunner, edge-of-your-seat, thriller. Who does that? Who can pull that off? Dostoyevsky
Dunno. I can't read Russian for shit (pre-kindergarten level, I'd guess), but it seems like cheating to read it in English.
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#6I also stumbled onto Crime and Punishment at 18 and expected it to be difficult and was blown away with how Dostoyevsky wrote one of the greatest novels of all time, to be sure, but as the author here says, also how engaging he made it. The scene where he commits the crime is an absolute stunner, edge-of-your-seat, thriller. Who does that? Who can pull that off? Dostoyevsky
Dostoyevsky was originally published in magazines chapter by chapter, so he would end the December’s on a cliffhanger so that the readers re-subscribed
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#7Not difficult, just boring.
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#8IMO The Russians were always more of a joy to read than English and Americans
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#9"I never got into the Russians, they take too long getting to the feckin' point!"
"Oh? Not even Dostoyevsky?"
"Oh come on now, he was the main offender."
- The Guard
Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
#10Sometime in the 90s we started getting really good Dostoyevsky translations, and they make a huge difference.