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/lit/ - Literature

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14403945 No.14403945 [Reply] [Original]

I've never read Dostoevsky, and have decided to start with Crime and Punishment. How do I approach it so as to get the most out of it?

>> No.14403953

>>14403945
Reconsider. Read notes then crime and punishment. Shouldn't take you more than a day, maybe two, and well worth it.

>> No.14403988

>>14403945
I don't think you will achieve much with this mindset.

>> No.14404019

>>14403988
What mindset?

>> No.14404081

>>14404019
just read it anon, remember to have fun!

>> No.14404087

>>14404081
Post irony was a mistake.

>> No.14404124

>>14403945
It changes the pace of events frequently, at the start is slowish and after a pre mid climax it descends into philosophical discourse. It's very good as a first dostojevskij book but if I were to read it anew I would start from something like "a hero of our time" of Lermontov or "Dead Souls" of Gogol. Or if you want to keep it classy, " Notes from the underground" is the essential to understand dostojevskij fully. Then you can move to Demons (personal favourite) and The brothers Karamazov which is particularly religious

>> No.14404132

>>14404087
i wasnt trying to be ironic anon, its honestly pretty fun, like in a schadenfreude sort of way

>> No.14404163

>>14403945
>How do I approach it so as to get the most out of it?
Be in your early 20s, that should be sufficent.

>> No.14404171

>>14403945

Read up on Russian names first. So many people quit Dosto because they find out halfway through that all characters have 3 names and they don't understand the story at all.

So it's Rodion 'Rodya' Romanovich Raskolnikov

They all have a name, a nickname, a patronymic and a surname.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Slavic_naming_customs

Other than that just go for it man, it's the greatest piece of literature I've ever read that's for sure. Truly transformative, I haven't seen myself the same way since I finished it about three years ago.

>> No.14404178

>>14403945
>How do I approach it so as to get the most out of it?
Faith in God is very important theme in Dostoevsky's works.

>> No.14404192

>>14404178

B/s I'm a materialist rationalist and Dosto is my favorite author. Just because Ivan in TBK is psychologically wrong doesn't mean he's actually wrong.

>> No.14404197

>>14404171
Don't forget Rodenka and Rodion Romanych

>> No.14404201
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14404201

>>14404171
>tells OP to read up on Russian names
>calls the diminutive a "nickname"
Sorry for being rude.

>> No.14404202
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14404202

>>14404197

Rodion R. R. Raskolnikov

>> No.14404209

>>14404201

I stand corrected. Only your sister would call you Billy if your name is William though. It's informal, but yeah, fair.

>> No.14404211

>>14404201
is lighthouse any good?

>> No.14404224

>>14404211
It's engrossing and character driven. One of the better movies I've seen this year, and I work at a movie theater so I've seen them all really. If you like Melville's writing you will like it, and if you enjoyed the Witch you will like it.

>> No.14404230

>>14404211
It's kino

>> No.14404231

>>14404224
Old english isnt my strongest thing since i'm esl.

>> No.14404339

>>14404231
that sucks but respect for learning anon, what's your first

>> No.14404348

>>14404339
lithuanian

>> No.14404360

>>14404202
>just crime
I suppose that's better than "just punishment"... assuming "just" is being used adverbially and not adjectively.

>> No.14404378

>>14404360

It's garbage desu, it should have at least been an axe instead of a flail.

>> No.14404385

>>14403945
approach it sideways, anglo. you can never be too careful

>> No.14404683

Why doesn't Porfiry just arrest him? Why doesn't Porfiry just arrest him? Why doesn't Porfiry just arrest him? Why doesn't Porfiry just arrest him?

>> No.14404698

>>14403945
just read it and worry about getting the 'most out of it' afterwards. it's best to just go into the book blind so you can take whatever it is you take out of it on your own.

>> No.14404704

>>14404201
>>14404209
thus diminituve IS a nickname, how is calling an Ivan Ivanushka different than calling someone calling a Christian Chris?

>> No.14404760
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14404760

>>14403945
>How do I approach it so as to get the most out of it?
By reading a good translation for starters. Avoid Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky like the plague.

>> No.14404772

>>14404760
What's wrong with Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky? I read their translation and thought it was great.

>> No.14404795

>>14404683
Because he is a good person. (by giving Raskolnikov the option to reduce his sentence)

>> No.14404804

>>14404760
Which painting is that?

>> No.14404811

>>14404795
I meant to mark it as SPOILER, i don't know why it didn't work. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

>> No.14404821

>>14404795
I am reading it only 200 pages left out of 600. Seems like he is torturing him. Just get it done with. I hate him

>> No.14404836
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14404836

>>14404772
>What's wrong with Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky?
People on this board seem to (generally) prefer Jessie Coulson and David McDuff for English translations of Dostoevsky and that P&V are subpar to put it nicely. Just read some sample texts and decide for yourself what you'd want to read.

>> No.14404847

>>14403945
take your time :)

>> No.14404883

>>14404821
not sure which part you're on, (so sorry if i say something you don't know yet) but Porfiry doesn't have any real evidence that Raskolnikov did the crime, he is just "guessing", although his guess is somehow so fucking accurate. (maybe i'm mistaken, but that's how i understood it)

>> No.14404886

>>14404192
>psychology
you dont understand his works

>> No.14405075

>>14404683

He doesn't have any actual evidence, he needs confession.

>> No.14405134

>>14404886

Woe is me I'm an unenlightened bugman. Good thing there are great scholars like you who can explain the works of literary giants to smallminded folk like myself.
Please tell me more about how to interpret the greatest Russian novelist, professor.

>> No.14405292

>>14405134
>greatest Russian novelist
thats not Tolstoy

>> No.14405628

>>14404883
it's not really a guess Raskolnikov is a spaz and gives himself away

>> No.14405715

>>14403945
Pay particular attention to all the dream scenes

>> No.14406017

>>14403945
I recommend approaching it as a book

>> No.14406080

>>14403945
Crime and punishment and notes are both books you should turn to when you’re at your lowest.

>> No.14406107

>>14403953
C&P is a better starting point than Notes

>> No.14406599
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14406599

What’s the best order to read this stack if you were reading it for the first time?

>> No.14406606

>>14406599
Chronological.

>> No.14406669

>>14404124
>Dostojevskij
Stop trying to make this a thing

>> No.14406676

>>14406669
Stop being autistic.

>> No.14406896
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14406896

>>14404804
>Which painting is that?
Based Ilya Repin

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ilya_Repin_Unexpected_visitors.jpg#/media/File:Ilya_Repin_Unexpected_visitors.jpg

>> No.14406953

I've been reading these books on my own for years because Russian girls are attractive, what are you all obsessing over them for?

>> No.14407019

>>14403945
Stop now that's the best one, read it last after TBK

>> No.14407024
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14407024

>not starting with The Idiot

>> No.14407056

>>14406599
honestly why not learning russian if you are willing to read all that shit?

>> No.14407435
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14407435

>>14404171
Why hello, Fydor Lyonavich Byornavich! It is I Lydor Stalinovich Musolovich. I, Fydor Lyonavich Byornavich, also known as Aldreyov, am happy to meet you! Wont you, Lyorodor introduce me to your sister Kyonrovich Lenonorvinich so we may discuss your late father, Stalinivich Leninovich Zuchovonich's late Murder, by the fella known as Muldova Ukrainovich Sietchinovich III of the late Sietchnoiononmmnoonivichi family.

>> No.14407499

>>14404171
Do people really get that confused with the names? I finished The Brothers Karamazov recently and I didn't have any trouble with them at all.

>> No.14408378

>>14404836
Are you and I reading the same texts? P/V is clearly the best one there.

>> No.14408429

>>14407435
Kek

It do be like that sometimes

>> No.14408440

>>14407435
>arms akimbo

>> No.14408481

>>14407024
I'm reading The Idiot after Notes and C&P and while I enjoy it and it still has its moments it's my least favorite for now (about 50% through).

>> No.14408981
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14408981

>>14403945
Most people think they are Rodion when in actuality they are Marmeladov

>> No.14409172

>>14408481
Idiot is probably the only Dosto novel which you either love it or hate it.

>> No.14409761

>>14408378
It gets much worse the further you read into it, that's just the first paragraph or so. But if you enjoy reading it then more power to you, I personally hated their translation of The Master and Margarita so I have no desire to read any more by them.

>> No.14409769

>>14409761
Did you read any other translation? Necause I hated the writing in Heart of a Dog and I thought it was just Bulgakov's style (I don't remember which one was my translation but it wasn't P&V).

>> No.14409814
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14409814

>>14409769
>Did you read any other translation?
Just this one by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor, I thought it was excellent. I know some people really like the Mirra Ginsburg translation but this felt right to me so it would be the one I'd recommend.

>> No.14410318

>>14404760
god that cover is so good

>> No.14410356

>>14408378
I don't think so anon. For me, there's something lost in the sentences about hypochondria and how he reacts to walking past his landlady's door, which would give me pause about the rest of the novel because so much of the good stuff is centered around mental states.

For instance "some painful and cowardly sensation, which made him wince with shame" vs "a sick, frightened feeling, which made him scowl and feel ashamed." For me the latter tells a better story and kind of cuts more to the bone with R.'s mental state. That being said, maybe the former's truer to the original, who knows.