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Fyodor Dostoevsky

Lofty

So im relatively new to Dostoevsky, ive read "Notes.." and now im on "the double" both P&V translations from everymans classics. Ive noticed he tends to use the term"lofty" quite alot, I know when I was reading "Notes from the underground" the term "high and lofty" was a reference to something ( that I cant quite remember and dont have the book to hand now... ) but in the double ive noticed the word used just to describe an action or a statement from a character. My question is: Is this just a facet of the russian language at the time faithfully translated or his it a direct reference that Fyodor uses?
 
I'm reading, as you can see, Crime and Punishment, after getting heavily involved with Nabokov which lead me to Dostoevsky and i'm really enjoying it, i find it so amazing that i'm actually sympathising with Raskolnikov for some reason, even though he's just...crazy :lol: i'll have to read Notes next :)
 
ecks said:
I just finished reading Notes From the Underground as well as Crime and Punishment. I really liked both of them. I want to ask everyone sincerely, what books did you enjoy most by him besides the well-known, like Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Kazamarov. The reason I'm asking is, I'm not sure what book I should start with next.
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My favourite is "the brothers Karamazov" but let me suggest you "the idiot". I've read it the firts time when I was 16 and I kept on reading it with the same sense of joy and fulfillment. Some great writers dislike it (Kundera for istance) but you must absolutely read it at least once in your life. Pamuk's fav. book by Dostoevskij is "the possessed", so it's up to you. the idiot and the possessed and are quite the opposite. Perhaps you should read a summary and see if you're more in the mood for the first or the latter. Let me know ok?
baci!
 
These last few posts remind me a lot of about details of Dosto's personal life. The intensity and subsequent spirituality of the man is clearly due to some interesting experiences, to say the least.

On April 23, 1849, Dostoevsky was arrested with other members of the Petrashevsky circle and was sentenced to death. He was placed in solitary confinement in the Petropavlovsky Fortress for eight months. During this time, Tsar Nikolai I changed his sentence but ordered that this change only be announced at the last minute. On December 22, Dostoevsky and his fellow prisoners were led through all the initial steps of execution, and several of them were already tied to posts awaiting their deaths when the reprieve was sounded.

Dostoevsky's sentence of eight years' hard labor in a Siberian prison was reduced to four, followed by another four years of compulsory military service.
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To those of you who seem to know Dostoyevsky's work well - which of his books would you recommend to a newcomer. I am a fan of the classics, and have in my collection Crime and Punishment, Notes and The Double.
Any recommendations of which I should start with first?
 
pearshaker said:
To those of you who seem to know Dostoyevsky's work well - which of his books would you recommend to a newcomer. I am a fan of the classics, and have in my collection Crime and Punishment, Notes and The Double.
Any recommendations of which I should start with first?
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Out of those three, I'd probably go with Crime and Punishment.
 
I've read Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and Notes From the Underground.

The Brothers Karamazov is actually next on my to read list and is sitting on my bookshelf next to another Dostoyevsky book titled "The Adolescent".

I don't pick favourites really, I thoroughly enjoyed the three that I've read.

An interesting note about Dostoyevsky's charachter names... Most of the names have meanings that are completely lost in the translation process. Their's a book I saw in a college library that translates all of the characters names and explains why they are so named. I think it is this book, but I'm not sure.

Passage, Charles E., Character names in Dostoevsky's Fiction.
 
An interesting note about Dostoyevsky's charachter names... Most of the names have meanings that are completely lost in the translation process. Their's a book I saw in a college library that translates all of the characters names and explains why they are so named. I think it is this book, but I'm not sure.

Passage, Charles E., Character names in Dostoevsky's Fiction.
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I found something kind of like what you mentioned. This link will take you to a search engine of sorts where you can find character names, names of characters who never appear, as well as historically referenced character names. I kept a list just so that I keep everything straight at first.:D
 
Fyodor Dostoesky

I am sorry if this author has been posted. I did not find him in the BAR search engine.

I have searched high and low on the Internet for a list of pronunciations for the following list, but have not been successful. Now I need your kind help.

I need to learn the pronunciations of each character (if at all possible) in Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov.

Let’s start with the authors name and title of novel. Please, if you could, post pronunciation keys for the following names:

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
Karamazov
Dmitri
Alyosha
Smerdyakov
Adelaida
Sofya
Andrey
Trifon Borissovitch
Fenya
Ferapont
Fetyukovitch
Gorstkin
GRIGORY VASSILYEVITCH
GRUSHENKA (AGRAFENA ALEXANDROVNA)
HERZENSTUBE
MADAME HOHLAKOV
LISE
ILUSHA
LOSIF
PYOTR FOMITCH KALGANOV
KATERINA (KATYA) IVANOVNA
IPPOLIT KIRILLOVITCH
KOLYA (NIKOLAY IVANOVITCH KRASSOTKIN)
MADAME KRASSOTKIN (ANNA FYODOROVNA)
LIZAVETA SMERDYASTCHAYA
MAKAROV (MIHAIL MAKAROVITCH MAKAROV)
MARFA IGNATYEVNA
MARYA KONDRATYEVNA
MAXIMOV
MIUSOV (PYOTR ALEXANDROVITCH MIUSOV)
MUSSYALOVITCH
FATHER PAISSY
PYOTR ILYITCH PERHOTIN
MIHAIL OSPOVITCH RAKITIN
SANMONOV (KUZMA SAMSONOV)
CAPTAIN SNEGIRYOV
VARVINSKY
VRUBLEVSKY
ZOSSIMA
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I do not expect for any of you to know all the pronunciations, that’s a tall task: but if you do know of a site(s) that list pronunciation keys for these names, please post their links. Thank you.
 
Somewhere there must exist a guide a correct pronunciation of Russian names. For example, I have heard both VLADimir and VlaDImir. In a recent book discussion we stumbled over ARKady versus ArKADy. Finally agreed on the latter with a broad a: ArKAHdi.

Any Russian speakers out there?
 
So far, I've just read Crime and Punishment. It was fantastic. And for some reason, I never really got confused with all the names.

Anyway, I really want to read Brothers Karamazov.
 
St. Stephen said:
So far, I've just read Crime and Punishment. It was fantastic. And for some reason, I never really got confused with all the names.

Anyway, I really want to read Brothers Karamazov.
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Me too. I had to check it out from the library because for some reason, my Dostoevsky copies always have tissue-thin paper and a miniscule font.

Here's an interesting website on pronunciation.
 
Crystal said:
The Idiot was not that difficult to get through, at least for me. and the movie version was really good.

ermm. someone on another forum suggested that The Crime and Punishment should go better if you stick till about 100pages or so.

Have bought The Brothers Karamazov years ago, but haven't read it yet. so, have no right to say about that one.

Goodluck,
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Oh I loved the The Idiot , I don't think I read anything else from him, but like Crystal here, I bought the books!
 
Wow, its pretty cool that this thread has survived 3 years after starting it. I was able to familiarize myself with Russian over the winter break and am now trying to reread Dostoevsky's books in Russian. The reason is I tried to read "The Idiot" with Constance Garret's translation, but it sucked and I couldn't understand much. It's much better to read in the native language, there is no extra barrier of misinterpretation.
For example, I have heard both VLADimir and VlaDImir. In a recent book discussion we stumbled over ARKady versus ArKADy. Finally agreed on the latter with a broad a: ArKAHdi.
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I'm pretty sure its vladImir and arkAdy, though I'm not too sure on the second one.
 
ecks said:
Wow, its pretty cool that this thread has survived 3 years after starting it. I was able to familiarize myself with Russian over the winter break and am now trying to reread Dostoevsky's books in Russian. The reason is I tried to read "The Idiot" with Constance Garret's translation, but it sucked and I couldn't understand much. It's much better to read in the native language, there is no extra barrier of misinterpretation.

I'm pretty sure its vladImir and arkAdy, though I'm not too sure on the second one.
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That's amazing that you can read it in Russian. I have often felt barriers myself in translated copies, and I wonder how much has been lost.
 
its always been in the back of my mind since I lived in Russia for a while when I was young, but I forgot a big chunk of it as I grew older. its really a matter of how much time the translator is willing to put into translating the book in the way the author meant it. Constance Garret didn't care much about precise translation, she just interpreted everything in her own way making it feel like a book by a British author. Pavear & Volokhonsky do a much better job considering Volokhonsky is actually from Russia.

I remembered another thing that might be interesting to some, mainly that Notes From The Underground was meant as a response to Nikolai Chernyshevsky's What Is To Be Done, which indirectly inspired for Levin's pamphlet by the same name. Dostoevsky was very much against bringing in foreign western ideals of utilitarianism. He is also in a way critiquing the ideas in Fathers and Sons by Turgenev, more directly in the book "The Possessed". I haven't read that book yet so I can't say much about it, but it is very much tied down to real-life events, mostly the ones involving Sergey Nechayev. Those who might be interested can view this link (warning: its a little biased and might be offensive to some). Dostoevsky's books in turn are good at showing many of the ideas that have floated around before the Russian Revolution and helps us understand the context of it a little better.
 
I should have listened to you, ecks: I checked out The Brothers Karamazov from the library and I decided to buy it. Well, I picked up the Constance Garret copy out of all the ones I could have picked from...I see the difference already, so I'm going to hoard this library copy for all it's worth until I finish it!
 
The beauty of Dostoevsky's writing is that his characters are so real. The first Dostoevsky I read was the Brothers Karamazov. I loved it, read all night. He paints his characters such that we see who they are, we see what they do, but we are left to piece together why. For me reading Dostoevsky is like taking a long look into a mirror, and finding things in me that I hadn't realized were there.
 
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