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Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

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Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#231

Post by K0balt »

kelnos wrote: post #137
orthoxerox wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The main difficulty is the names. The names make it so hard. What's wrong with the names? I find Chinese novels much harder to read because everyone's named C{V[n[g]]|ei|ao|ou} C{V[n[g]]|ei|ao|ou}C{V[n[g]]|ei|ao|ou}.

I haven't read any Dostoyevsky since high school, and don't remember it at all, but I'd imagine it has to do with nicknames. A non-Russian speaker is going to be confused when the same character is referred to as both Alexander and Sasha, for example, and will think they're different people.

This could be an LLM based e-reader feature, replace names with non-native intelligible translations.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#232

Post by throw4847285 »

noja wrote: post #216

Will Poulter (yes, him) has a very good Crime & Punishment audiobook.

Doesn't surprise me at all. He's really a character actor who happens to look like he does. Similar to Dan Stevens, who coincidentally, has some great Agatha Christie audiobooks. He does all the voices.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#233

Post by lelanthran »

personalityson wrote: post #193
jhbadger wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obscure Russian nicknames! How is anybody supposed to know without being told that Sasha and Alexander are the same guy? (I do realize that while some English nicknames like Johnny for John are pretty self-explanatory, other like Jack for John or Dick for Richard are as opaque to foreigners as Alexander/Sasha)

I was in my 20's when I realized Bill and William are the same name

I read a lot of Enid Blyton in my youth; by ten I know bill/william and richard/dick, etc.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#234

Post by gullywhumper »

personalityson wrote: post #193
jhbadger wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obscure Russian nicknames! How is anybody supposed to know without being told that Sasha and Alexander are the same guy? (I do realize that while some English nicknames like Johnny for John are pretty self-explanatory, other like Jack for John or Dick for Richard are as opaque to foreigners as Alexander/Sasha)

I was in my 20's when I realized Bill and William are the same name

My wife had a grandfather with the first name Bill and middle William. After 12 years together, I'm still not sure if she's just messing with me.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#235

Post by eager_learner »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #83
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…

Read Crime and Punishment ~25 years ago, the Idiot ~20 years ago. I read Karamazov last year and Demons early this year. I still think C&P is the best of his books with Karamazov a close 2nd. Demons is very dark, but also it seems prophetic - it's like he foresaw some of what would happen in 1917 way back in 1870. He's even got a character in there that's short and bald and likes to wave his arms around wildly as he'…

have you tried 'A hero of our time' by Lermontov. Upon reading it, I felt really sorry the author died an early death. I have not felt like that about any other European author.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#236

Post by lovegrenoble »

marttt wrote: post #213
kelnos wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read any Dostoyevsky since high school, and don't remember it at all, but I'd imagine it has to do with nicknames. A non-Russian speaker is going to be confused when the same character is referred to as both Alexander and Sasha, for example, and will think they're different people.

Sasha may also refer to Alexandr a , which is a feminine first name. What's more, there's like a ton of diminutive short names for these -- my first ever instagram link on HN, but: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTUeNn7iAit/ (FWIW, it lists: Sasha, Sashka, Sashulya, Sashenka, Sanya, Sanechka, Sancho, San, Shurik, Sashunya, Sanyusha, Sanyok. I myself have heard native Russians use Sash - should be written as Сашь -, a…

That's awesome, thank you

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#237

Post by __rito__ »

darthvaderxx7 wrote: post #116

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…

Russian stuff were translated into Bengali a lot in 1970s - especially works favoured in the USSR. I came across multiple translations of children's books, and loved reading them as a kid. My father and aunt read those in their childhood. Raduga and Mir published Bengali books and printed them in Moscow, and shipped them to Calcutta. They were cheap, too.

I didn't like the flow of translation of Bengali versions of "adult" books, and read them in English.

My favourite Russian writer has to be Bulgakov who fell from grace of the Party, and his work was not translated. I am yet to read Solzhenitsyn.

Nowadays, there are indie blogs that scan and preserve those Bengali books. A lot of people I know download and print those books. You can still find Moscow-printed Bengali books in used-book stores of book fairs.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#238

Post by thiht »

jhbadger wrote: post #182
orthoxerox wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The main difficulty is the names. The names make it so hard. What's wrong with the names? I find Chinese novels much harder to read because everyone's named C{V[n[g]]|ei|ao|ou} C{V[n[g]]|ei|ao|ou}C{V[n[g]]|ei|ao|ou}.

The obscure Russian nicknames! How is anybody supposed to know without being told that Sasha and Alexander are the same guy? (I do realize that while some English nicknames like Johnny for John are pretty self-explanatory, other like Jack for John or Dick for Richard are as opaque to foreigners as Alexander/Sasha)

> Jack for John

Wow, is this one common?

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#239

Post by __rito__ »

perfunctory wrote: post #174

I am genuinely curious why Russian literature is so popular in non-Russian speaking world. How do you wake up one day and decide to read Crime and Punishment? How do you find out about Russian literature in the first place? Recommendation from a friend, marketing in your favorite book store, school? Could somebody shed some light

Actually USSR pushed a lot of soft power and spent real money behind it. Especially the authors whose narratives didn't directly violate the narrative of the Party.

Leftist parts of society looked up to USSR a lot, and a lot of humanities professors, teachers all over the world were left-leaning, and promoted these books as Russian culture.

This is one factor, and doesn't explain the whole thing, of course.

See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48673777. Neither our family nor I ever leaned towards the Party or any form of Leftism, but books are always kosher in our culture.

Re: Dostoyevsky isn't difficult

#240

Post by lovegrenoble »

kakacik wrote: post #131
ReptileMan wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Russian literature is based on suffering. Someone always suffers - either the protagonist, the author or the reader. If all of them are suffering you have a masterpiece of Russian literature. I guess it is because it prepares you quite well to suffer endless corporate memos.

[flagged]

>> my country was effectively enslaved by invading russian forces for decades to serve as nuclear battlefield with the west

Some countries are a buffer zone between Russia and the West. Nothing worse then having western Agent Provocateurs having a base of operation right next to your country.

And somehow Iran, China and Russia have absolutely no experience in using their own Agen Provocateurs. Its always the West creating Coups and Rebellions.

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