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.

  • Eq0
    4·
    1 year ago

    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!

    • BeboEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      deleted by creator

      • Eq0
        2·
        1 year ago

        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.

        • BeboEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          deleted by creator

          • Eq0
            1·
            1 year ago

            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.

            • BeboEnglish
              2·
              2 months ago

              deleted by creator

              • Eq0
                2·
                1 year ago

                I’ll look forward to your comments, positive and negative!

                • BeboEnglish
                  1·
                  2 months ago

                  deleted by creator

  • Pissnpink@feddit.uk
    3·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • Eq0
      3·
      1 year ago

      I think the translation I had wasn’t great, I did not find it funny but just boring. Only Dostojevski book I didn’t particularly like