And you make me want to read The Brothers Karamazov. (Confession: I have started just about every Dostoevsky book, and I LIKE his writing, but I have never actually FINISHED a Dostoevsky book). Is there a translation you recommend (preferably one I can get for free in e-form?)
Dostoevsky has my heart, and if you understand that Drakon is really 'steampunk Brothers Karamazov with lesbians and dragons,' then you will probably understand my own novel a lot better. XD That said, while Constance Garnett's translation is not favored by Russian-language purists or people who have a strong investment in the uniqueness of an author's style, it's also quite readable and widely available On the Interwebs.
Heh heh, yeah. I've read my share of "Garnett ruined Russian literature by making it seem stuffy and homogeneous" screeds. But I never had a problem with her stuff as far as conveying story. Thanks!
Maybe TBK will be my project in the new year. Somehow ereaders make those big books seem more doable.
Homogeneous, maybe, but I don't find it stuffy at all. I also take issue with the tendency people have to say that she 'Victorianized' the Russian authors--my recent mad dash through the eighteenth century makes me think that she was drawing more on (for example) Sterne, Smollett, Haywood, and Fielding than on (for example) the Brontes or Collins. This could be my own era-prejudice seeping in, though: 'if I like it, it must sound like the eighteenth century!'
The first time I read it, I was reading a paper copy, which was so very daunting--but then I read it online, and it was not only more doable, but I also felt more engaged with the story and the characters. Possibly the Internet has given me bad reading habits.
I think being able to read online is an incredibly useful skill! I am terrible at it unless it's something intended for an online milieu -- like, I can read fic online, but not novels. It is obviously some kind of psychological block.
I like this idea in theory. In practice, I lose books A LOT.
(Of course I will eventually lose my kindle and this will feel like less of a good idea. But. . .against that day! I like being able to carry the Complete Works in my purse.)
the pevear & volokhonsky translation is pretty nice, too, but i don't know if you can get it for free! i mostly like where it keeps the cuter russian nicknames.
that's the translation that I keep hearing is really good, but alas! I haven't acquired it for myself yet. (because it would be embarrassing to have three translations.)
And you make me want to read The Brothers Karamazov. (Confession: I have started just about every Dostoevsky book, and I LIKE his writing, but I have never actually FINISHED a Dostoevsky book). Is there a translation you recommend (preferably one I can get for free in e-form?)
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Maybe TBK will be my project in the new year. Somehow ereaders make those big books seem more doable.
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The first time I read it, I was reading a paper copy, which was so very daunting--but then I read it online, and it was not only more doable, but I also felt more engaged with the story and the characters. Possibly the Internet has given me bad reading habits.
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(Of course I will eventually lose my kindle and this will feel like less of a good idea. But. . .against that day! I like being able to carry the Complete Works in my purse.)
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