Poor folk (1846)

http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/recent-reads-poor-people... ( )

This is Dostoevsky’s first novel, written when he was 25. It’s a short epistolary novel and I think a good introduction to this russian literary giant. It’s essential Dostoyevskian in style and theme - the random thoughts and extreme emotions - the exploration of the destitute people - the solitary underground man who seems on the brink of insanity.

We follow the correspondence between two very poor people - Makar, an old clerk, and his distant relative, the young orphaned girl Varvara - in a period of about eight months in Sct. Petersburg.

It is painful, even embarrassing to read their honest, desperate letters - they are exposed in their most vulnerable state of mind, pleading for help at one point - loosing all their dignity in the process, then trying to cover up and apologize and trying to hold the head up high.

The old Makar is clearly in love with Varvara - but trying to brush it of as fatherly affection - Varvara has deep affection for Makar seek a solution to be free and not dependent on him.

The novels conclusion - well, it felt unfinished - I wanted to read on, knowing more about their fate, and yet, maybe it was the right time to end it. Very thought-provoking, very intense, very sad novel. ( )

Good, early work, indicative of the direction he would move in with his more mature works.

My comments are about this particular publisher and printing of Dostoevsky's "Poor Folk" (aka "Poor People"). I already had the Hesperus Classics edition of this book (titled, "Poor People") when this edition caught my eye on Amazon. I was perplexed by the words "Original Version" printed on the top of the front cover. The name of the publisher caught my eye, too 1st Edition Media. Clearly it couldn't be a first edition (it was, after all, an English translation).
I also could not for the life of me come up with a satisfying explanation as to what was meant by "Original Edition." I saw that it was inexpensive, so I decided just to buy the thing and solve the mystery. I thought perhaps the binding or SOMEthing about it might be imitative of a first edition (even though I knew it was first published in a Russian literary magazine over 100 years ago).
Well, it finally came in the mail and I opened the package with my thoughts and attitude teetering back and forth between excitement and skepticism. Then I saw it.
It's a simple paperback translation, obviously brand new with "Original Version Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoevsky" in beige letters against a dark blue background with a leather texture design printed over the slick paper cover. I laughed - a little disingenuously - and shrugged, a little miffed that my "1st Edition Original Version" didn't even pretend to be any more than it was, an inexpensive paperback of a book I already had and needn't have spent money on.
I flipped through the slim volume (and yes, smelled the relatively freshly printed words upon freshly factory-cut paper) and noticed something. There were, here and there throughout the text, certain words printed in all caps. I immediately realized that ALL CAPS was a substitute for italics. It finally dawned on me that I was holding the most inexpensively published book the publishers could get away with. I went back to the title page and noticed something else odd - the translator's name was not given.
I new that the Constance Garnett version would be in the public domain, but even so I thought she should be given credit. I, for some reason, flipped to the back of the book and noticed that on the bottom of the very last page, there was a bar code and the words, "Made in USA, Lexington, KY, 19 March 2010." This seemed odd, as it was only April 2010 at the time.
Then it hit me. The book was printed to order. Publishing has gotten to the point that a simple, inexpensive paperback can be printed out for me once I order it. March 19 was the date I placed the order. The work is in the public domain, and someone was no doubt paid some nominal price translate it from Russian to English - my ORIGINAL TRANSLATION).
I guess I'm behind the times, but must admit to being a impressed at the entrepreneurship of 1st Edition Media. I wonder how much a profit they turned on me.

Pre-exile Dostoevsky without the depth and full wisdom of the man who emerged from Siberia later in life to write monumental classics of the 19th century, but shows his brilliance, originality, and humanity. Correspondence through letters between Makar a copyist and Varvara a poor seamstress is a far cry from today's email, facebook, and twitter. Dostoevsky shows his empathy for the wretched and the book rises to a crescendo at the end; though only 24 when he wrote it, it's fitting that it was acclaimed and put him immediately on the literary scene in Russia.

Quotes:
On literature, a picture and a mirror...:
"Literature is a picture, that is, in a certain sense, a picture and a mirror: it's the passion, the expression, the subtlest criticism, edifying instruction and a document."

On fickle fate:
"Ah, my darling, my own! When I think of you my heart begins aching! Why are you so unlucky, my Varinka? You are every bit as good as any of them. You are good, lovely, well-educated - why has such a cruel fortune fallen to your lot? Why does it happen that a good man is left forlorn and forsaken, while happiness seems thrust upon another?"

On the rich:
"...only it's a pity there is no one at that wealthy person's side, no man who could whisper in his ear: 'Come give over thinking of such things, thinking of nothing but yourself, living for nothing but yourself; your children are healthy, your wife is not begging for food. Look about you, can't you see some object more noble to worry about than your boots?'"

On saying good-bye:
"...I know how you love me! You were happy in a smile from me and a few words from my pen. Now you will have to get used to being without me. How will you do, left alone here? To whom am I leaving you my kind, precious, only friend! I leave you the book, the embroidery frame, the unfinished letter; when you look at those first words, you must read in your thoughts all that you would like to hear or read from me, all that I should have written to you; and what I could not write now! Think of your poor Varinka who loves you so truly."

On true love:
"I shall die, Varinka, I shall certainly die; my heart will never survive such a calamity! I loved you like God's sunshine, I loved you like my own daughter, I loved everything in you, my darling, my own! And I lived only for you! I worked and copied papers, and walked and went about and put my thoughts down on paper, in friendly letters, all because of you, my precious, were living here opposite, close by; perhaps you did not know it, but that was how it was."

Lastly, one to bring a somewhat sad smile:
"I sent you twenty kopecks. Buy yourself tobacco or anything you want, only for God's sake don't spend it on what's harmful." ( )