Group Read, February 2018: The Idiot

Our group read for February is The Idiot by Dostoevsky. Please join us in reading the book and post any comments here.

What translation does everyone have? And did you do research and then choose one, or just pick up what was handy?

>2 .Monkey.: I have the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. I liked the hype they got a few years back (nice profile in the New Yorker) and snatched up the book when it appeared at my favorite used bookstore.

I've just got the version free on Project Gutenberg. Translated by Eva Martin.

>3 ELiz_M: Ah, the world's most divisive translating duo. XD I am no fan of theirs, haha; they've been ripped apart in a lot of articles/blog posts, which I agree with. A lot of people rave about them, though.

>4 BekkaJo: Wow, Gutenberg has someone other than Constance Garnett? I'm surprised!

My own is the relatively recent (2010) Alma Classics edition, by Ignat Avsey. I was looking at a site that has comparisons of the previous ones (his was apparently too new for when the site was put up, or something), and most of them seemed pretty similar for the most part, where Avsey's seems to vary a bit more. It's times like these I really wish I spoke Russian!

I'm doing this as an audio book (the Blackstone Audio/Robert Whitfield version) - I see this is a Constance Garnett translation. It was the shortest of the unabridged versions available, and Whitfield (aka Simon Vance) is usually an excellent narrator.

>6 puckers: I love Constance Garnett's translations. Some people complain that they are too "british" in tone/phrases, etc. but that's probably why they work so well for me!

I'd like to get to this group read, but it won't be til the end of the month.

>7 japaul22: Vance is the most British of narrators so they should work well together. Should suit me fine provided there aren’t too many BBC comedy Russian accents!

>7 japaul22: But the book isn't British, that's the wrong feel for it; imagine a Russian translating Dickens and turning his characters Russian, it changes the work. That said, I've read two of Dostoevsky's with her translations and they're alright. Newer translations by those more fluent in both languages (Garnett left out bits she didn't understand) are improved, though.

Thought I’d bump this up now I’ve started on the book. Nothing much to comment on yet other than the usual Russian confusion with multiple names for the same characters. Entertaining enough so far.

It's always confused me when people claim confusion with Russian names, lol. How is it any different than someone having the given name James Smith and being called as the situation warrants, Jimmy, James, or James Smith?

I finished the book a week ago. I really loved the first half, the second half was good but I didn't love it. The characters were excellent.

I finished the novel this morning. Mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed the initial chapters, and found some of the more ridiculous characters entertaining. However there were some of the major characters whose motivations and actions I found difficult to understand and this led to parts of the novel being a drag. As for Myshkin - not an "idiot", but certainly annoying at times. I was also bemused that Ippolit, suffering breathlessly from terminal consumption, was able to make an uninterrupted speech of about 40 minutes!

I think my reading is going to take me way past the end of the month. I keep getting distracted by other books. Ah well - I'll finish it eventually I guess!

Work meant it took me way too long to read the book, but I really enjoyed it. Some of the characters are over the top, and some of the philosophical digressions can be off-putting, but the mixture is fascinating. I really don't know any other authors who writes dialogues where it just feels like his characters are on the verge of a nervous breakdown.