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Demons
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Richard Pevear , Larissa Volokhonsky
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Richard Pevear , Larissa Volokhonsky
Reviewed by Jared
This book...nearly killed me. Never have I struggled so hard to get through a novel! There are a few problems that occur when reading The Possessed. Typical of Dostoevsky, each character is known by not only their formal birthname, but multiple nicknames, thus allowing for confusion by non-Russian readers. Second, while the novel is translated from Russian, some passages of dialogue are uttered in French, which is naturally not translated, leaving the reader stymied. Third, and most importantly, the characters aren't necessarily important unto themselves, but are meant as symbols of the shifting political winds and theories at the time of writing. Without a firm understanding of Russian political thought, readers can quickly lose the sense of narrative. Oh, and the main character of the novel shifts every 150 pages or so. Yeah, it was confusing. Definitely not a recommended first exposure to the author, but an interesting ambient story nevertheless.
This book...nearly killed me. Never have I struggled so hard to get through a novel! There are a few problems that occur when reading The Possessed. Typical of Dostoevsky, each character is known by not only their formal birthname, but multiple nicknames, thus allowing for confusion by non-Russian readers. Second, while the novel is translated from Russian, some passages of dialogue are uttered in French, which is naturally not translated, leaving the reader stymied. Third, and most importantly, the characters aren't necessarily important unto themselves, but are meant as symbols of the shifting political winds and theories at the time of writing. Without a firm understanding of Russian political thought, readers can quickly lose the sense of narrative. Oh, and the main character of the novel shifts every 150 pages or so. Yeah, it was confusing. Definitely not a recommended first exposure to the author, but an interesting ambient story nevertheless.
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you may be interested in boris akunin's the winter queen...a kind of parody, i believe, of dostoy's demons, as well as other things.
i've had two semesters of french, not that it helped much, and much of what is said in french can almost be understood is one looks at the words and concentrates real hard and think....mcdonalds mcdonalds...that's what campbells soups are mmm mmm good. it works for me.