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| My Pevear and Volokhonsky edition. |
I love classics. Of course I've run across a few unsatisfying classics, but for the most part I enjoy them...or more so the challenge of them. Last year I tackled
The Count of Monte Cristo and the year before that
Les Miserables, loving both. Both of them were imposing classics for me, so this year I had to up the ante, so to speak. An author whose books I have, but have not yet read: Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The Brothers Karamazov and
The Idiot among the two I've heard discussed the most. However, a friend of mine just read
Crime and Punishment, so I figured I might as well read one I can discuss with someone personally and picked it up instead of
The Brothers Karamazov. And, what better timing for a decision than while picking books for the
TBR Pile Challenge last December?! It's extra satisfying to have it read from my TBR pile.
Crime and Punishment is a murder story. Afterward, murderer Raskolnikov endures fits of guilt induced illness and paranoia. His story becomes one of cat-and-mouse, where neither he nor the reader is quite sure who knows what or how much. Will Raskolnikov completely unravel?
I can't tell you how it ends, but I can tell you I enjoyed the story and was relieved to find it easy to follow. I may have to credit this to the translators, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. All of my Russian translations come from this pair, who have won numerous awards for their excellence in keeping so closely to the original meaning in their translations.
Crime and Punishment is another positive checkmark on my classics list. Any tough classic you are proud to have read?
