Difficulty with Russian classics

I'm finding it hard to get my head around The Brother's Karamazov...its my first "Russian classic" so I'm wandering whether its just getting used to a different writing style/cultural differences or is it normal as it seems to have quite complex concepts?

I'm reading The Master and Margarita at the same time and have similar issues.

Who is your translator? Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are the foremost modern translators of the Russian novels, though I cannot with certainty say that they have translated The Brother's Karamazov. There is also Constance Garnett, who is the classic translator. If you have a poor translator, that may be complicating your difficulties.

You will need to make yourself used to the different writing styles, which is to be expected from foreign books written over a hundred years ago. You have also started on a complex book, Dostoevsky's magnum opus; if you are starting with Russian literature and are having problems with this, try instead Crime and Punishment or Notes from the Underground and work your way up.

thanks..I have Crime and Punishment..I'll give it a go. The translator I have for TBK is Mcduff.

I guess it gets easier the more you read??

As with most genres, yes.

Just take your time with them & don't try to rush through.

I'm reading my first Russian classic, Anna Karenina, and it's not all that bad.

Fuck Karenina. And the translator definitely makes a difference. Stay away from the CG shit. P&V have definitely done a translation on Karamazov. And it's worth the read. I can't speak to whatever you're reading now, but the P&V translation of Karamazov was a huge book in my life. Read it in a 20 hour stretch or something.

Notes from Underground? You understand the first sentence, you have the book. He leads with it all, and there's nothing but explication to follow.

What problems are you having with the Bulgakov?

#7 Why would you say such a thing? How does my post deserve such an ugly response?

Re: Master and Margarita, there was a group read in Le Salon Litteraire last year. You might be interested in those threads.

The prep thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/70914

The reading thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/72422

If you're interested in trying Notes from Underground, we also had a group read on that one:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/89907

We're supposed to read The Brothers Karamazov in Sept.

The LT user tomcatmurr is a big Dostoevsky fan. He has a Dostoevsky reading thread, with links to reviews, going here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/89906

Some secondary reading suggestions in this thread on Russian lit:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/38351

FWIW, I find that Tolstoy is a different bird, altogether more approachable, than Dostoevsky or Bulgakov, neither of whom I've really grokked yet.

>7 Jesse_wiedinmyer:
Utter Nonsense.

Karenina is probably the greatest love story of all time. Shame that you reduce it to a fuck. And your reduction of Notes from Underground is also hopelessly ill-informed. I daresay it's possible to read Karamazov in 20 hours, but I doubt whether you would 'get' it in that time span.

Constance Garnet's translations have been followed by newer and more up to date ones, but we have her work to thank for Dostoevsky's influence on all the English Modernists, so don't completely dismiss her.

Thanks for the replies everyone especially medilla...I'll have a look at those links.

#8

Morphy, you're quite possibly one of my favorite posters on-site. Please bear in mind that I use profanity the way most people use the elevator. Nothing in that was intended to demean or disrespect you. It's just not a book that did much for me.

I daresay it's possible to read Karamazov in 20 hours, but I doubt whether you would 'get' it in that time span.

:)

I really don't want to dive into this abyss again - been there, done that, still bruised - but people who use profanity unconsciously are often not aware how ugly that one particular word feels to some of us. Profanity as such really doesn't bother me, but use of the f-word feels like a body blow.

I am well within the TOS and will remain so.

Of course you are, Jesse. I'm just saying I understand Morphy's reaction because I feel that way myself.

No sweat. I realize you meant no disrespect.

Anna Karenina will always be an all-time favorite of mine, as is Hemmingway's Lady Brett Ashley.

Hmm... I guess the ol' dawg really does have a thing for alpha females!

And, how are you enjoying Master and Margarita, Arshavin? 'Another fantastic book that will stay with me for a long time. So what if a 5-foot tall, machine gun-toting cat is prominently featured? The dog does try to embrace diversity.

Has anybody here read The Possessed? I have it on order. It looked good in the store, and I wonder whether first I will enjoy it and second whether I will learn anything about approaching Russian literature from it.

Robert

I'm starting to read it right now (except my copy is called The Devils), I'll let you know soon.

Different books.

Robert

Weird, my copy is called Haunted.

On a side-note, i just looked at #20's library and noticed that we are currently reading the same book. It's a popular book, but still... anyone else find that creepy?

*cue twilight zone music*

kicks touchstones and curses them

Elif Batuman's The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them.

@19: You will probably enjoy it. It is a collection of humorous, literate articles on studying Russian language and literature in a variety of academic environments. As to learning about Russian literature, you will get some good insights into a few authors, more into academic Russian studies. The words to highlight in the title are: "adventures", and "people ".

Ms. Batuman is a talented young woman and I am enjoying her book thoroughly, but the main literary benefit I have gotten from it is a new-found enthusiasm for Pushkin. Which is nothing to sneeze at.

Thank you. The book has since arrived, and it looks like enough fun that it will probably fit itself into my reading fairly soon.

Robert

I really enjoyed Dead Souls by Gogol many years ago - I seem to recall it was actually rather funny, which one wouldn't expect from a Russian novel ...

22> I finished that almost a month ago, I just forgot to update my library thing currently reading list since then... so not quite so creepy.