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Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

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Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#111

Post by Forgeties79 »

SugarReflex wrote: post #63

I was blown away by Crime and Punishment. I truly felt like I was the main character, and I read it with feverish sweat and dread for my impending doom. I cringed and felt terrible sadness at the poor little lives of certain individuals. So much woe and tragedy. I was glad to see how it turned out though. I'm currently reading Karamazov and it's good to have something a bit more jovial and dry witted. The main diffic…

I read Crime & Punishment in high school and I was also blown away at how good it was. I did that teenage thing where I had a brief interest in “reading classics,” and found everything to be a little dense and full of “it’s something to appreciate not enjoy” energy. But not Crime & Punishment. That was a real page turner.

Also, who doesn’t love Razumikhin?

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#112

Post by Forgeties79 »

davidwritesbugs wrote: post #107
SugarReflex wrote: post #63

I was blown away by Crime and Punishment. I truly felt like I was the main character, and I read it with feverish sweat and dread for my impending doom. I cringed and felt terrible sadness at the poor little lives of certain individuals. So much woe and tragedy. I was glad to see how it turned out though. I'm currently reading Karamazov and it's good to have something a bit more jovial and dry witted. The main diffic…

Same. Then I tried to read Brothers karamazov, “ooof”, it literally took 200 pages before I stopped hating the ‘pointless’ book with its plot that went nowhere. Then I got it. Only certain authors can do this I reckon, but how you’d get a doom-scrolling teenager to do it? Goooood luck.

I have tried to break into the brothers K two or three times and it’s just been so difficult for some reason. I know it’s kind of a joke at this point, but keeping track of all of the names is just so dizzying and distracting.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#113

Post by nilirl »

ventana wrote: post #93
nilirl wrote: post #61

As someone who only gets time to read when tired at the end of the day: I can't get past the first 50 pages of any Dostoyevsky work. Why are the classics classic? I doubt being a great read is sufficient or necessary; I struggle to read most classics, Dickens being the only exception. I'm not reading to study, I want to be entertained! I want engagement, I want clarity, I want suspense! I don't want to wrestle with t…

If you still want to give the Russian literature a try, maybe Bulgakov? A little bit more modern (early 20th century); "A Young Doctor's Notebook" is probably what you are looking for in terms of engagement, clarity, suspense, and size as well (those are short stories). English translations I looked at are good enough to my taste.

Ok, I've added "A Young Doctor's Notebook" to my list. Thanks!

Funnily enough, I'm currently reading a book by a Russian author. 'Metro 2033' by Dmitry Glukhovsky. It's post-apocalyptic and set in the Moscow subway.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#114

Post by nilirl »

fuidani wrote: post #91
nilirl wrote: post #61

As someone who only gets time to read when tired at the end of the day: I can't get past the first 50 pages of any Dostoyevsky work. Why are the classics classic? I doubt being a great read is sufficient or necessary; I struggle to read most classics, Dickens being the only exception. I'm not reading to study, I want to be entertained! I want engagement, I want clarity, I want suspense! I don't want to wrestle with t…

I agree with all your points on why you should read... in fact I loved Crime & Punishment exactly for those reasons I think its ok not to like Dostoyevsky, de gustibus - but you are implying that people read him to feel smart or that they need to put a great amount of effort in reading... great books have an healing effect even when tired and at the end of the day...

> but you are implying that people read him to feel smart or that they need to put a great amount of effort in reading

Yes, I did imply that. Maybe my experiences have been more challenging than I expected.

Ok, I will try Crime & Punishment again. I really do want to have that feeling of reading something great.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#115

Post by kubb »

eloisius wrote: post #92
ventana wrote: post #81

As a Russian native speaker who graduated from the high school in Russia many years ago, one thing that I don't really understand is why these great works of Russian literature are included in the school must read list. An average teenager, myself included, always has some better things to do than reading a huge novel, barely understanding characters' motivations, because neither of these books were ever intended for…

This is a conundrum to me. I was a pretty bookwormish youngster and read a lot of classics. Often I had to push myself through works like Crime and Punishment but I felt like it was good for me. I’m glad I exercised the muscle of reading, but now I can understand that those books just don’t hit like they should when you don’t have the life experience to understand them. Something like Ulysses is still difficult, but…

Crime and Punishment is mild compared to something like Law and Peace or Anna Karenina.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#116

Post by darthvaderxx7 »

Vennira Iravugal (White Nights) translated in Tamil by R. Krishnaiyya was my first read from Dostoyevsky's works. I came to a realisation that the dynamics of formative romance, anguish of unrequitedness, dithering nature of one's mind towards commitment have long been fundamental characteristics of a human being from the time immemorial (at least from when this book was published in 1848) after the read. Dostoyevsky has this acumen of rightly pointing out primal nature of a human in various settings through his stories. Crime and Punishment, which I read in English, entrenched this view in my mind undisputedly.

Tamil translators have done astonishing efforts in presenting the worlds and sentiments of Dostoyevsky, yet I cannot compare it with OG Russian versions as I do not know Russian. I might one day be in a position to read his classics in native versions (I want to learn Russian for this).

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#117

Post by coldtea »

For people who read literature, yes.

But the average person in the US atm can't even read a children's book, and this includes recent college students:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-eli...

https://futurism.com/future-society/college-students-losing-...

We're becoming an oral and pictorial society.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#118

Post by gherkinnn »

ventana wrote: post #96
usrnm wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are kids "ready" to deal with organic chemistry? Or integrals? Do you think that more people will need the knowledge of the reproductive system of plants than the skill of reading and uderstanding large texts? Not simply understanding the words, but actually analyzing and comprehending what's being said

I actually started re-reading Crime and Punishment right after writing my previous comment, because I barely remember anything after many years. These are the second and the third paragraphs, and reading this text now, in my forties, I perfectly understand everything that's written, and the emotions the protagonist feels, because I know by my very own experience what it is to pay rent, to be in debt, and to have no m…

Understand maybe. Feel it? I wouldn't have.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#119

Post by Dilettante_ »

sevenzero wrote: post #110
SugarReflex wrote: post #63

I was blown away by Crime and Punishment. I truly felt like I was the main character, and I read it with feverish sweat and dread for my impending doom. I cringed and felt terrible sadness at the poor little lives of certain individuals. So much woe and tragedy. I was glad to see how it turned out though. I'm currently reading Karamazov and it's good to have something a bit more jovial and dry witted. The main diffic…

I read it in the hopes of finding a written character I could relate to, but the dude in Crime and Punishment is just such a massive loser... I lack empathy too, but I would never murder anyone out of pity.

Look at this hotshot who can't relate to massive losers!

/j

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#120

Post by nephihaha »

carabiner wrote: post #13

LMAO he's saying russian lit is readable when using the most bastardized, westernized translations available, Garnet. That was the point of her work and what P&V sought to rectify when they put out their vastly more faithful renditions.

I avoid Pevear and Volokhonsky translations. I've tried reading a few of them but I really can't stand their English style. I've been caught out more than once when reading a Russian book and wondering why I didn't like it, and finding their names on the cover.

They are prolific and have cornered the market, which is part of the problem.

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