Crime and Punishment in Reading with Style

Jan 26, 2013 Elizabeth (Alaska) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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I read the edition included here: Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, The Gambler, The Devils, The Adolescent & more, translated by Constance Garnett. My understanding is that there may be better translations, but one could hardly argue with this one. I didn't read it in Russian and I'll still rave about the prose - three instances in particular.

First, there was a scene where Raskolnikov steps into a tavern and a fellow starts talking to him. One I read the edition included here: Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, The Gambler, The Devils, The Adolescent & more, translated by Constance Garnett. My understanding is that there may be better translations, but one could hardly argue with this one. I didn't read it in Russian and I'll still rave about the prose - three instances in particular.

First, there was a scene where Raskolnikov steps into a tavern and a fellow starts talking to him. One sentence and I knew the fellow was very drunk, though not a slurred word on the page. It was at least a paragraph before Dostoevsky mentions it. Ok, so perhaps I should have led a more sheltered life, but how can a single sentence of dialogue convey a man's state of mind so clearly that I got it immediately! Brilliant!

Second, a few chapters later Raskolnikov left his dwelling voicing internally complete and utter indignation about the contents of a letter. Sometimes the voicing was not so internal, so that passersby turned to look at him. The pace of the next few paragraphs was perfect! Doestoevsky only wrote what Raskolnikov was thinking, yet we get the the quick steps, the hand gesture, the mumbling. The reader might not have had the same indignant reaction to the letter, but there could be no mistaking Raskolnikov!

Third, there was a conversation between Raskolnikov and a young woman (I don't want to write any spoilers), where the silence of the gaps in conversation was palpable, and I felt myself straining to hear when they whispered. It was almost as if you could hear the characters breathing, though Dostoevsky never alluded to it. Raskolnikov paced the floor and I swear I could hear the floor boards creak, - again not a mention from Dostoevsky. How was he able to convey this mood just with words - and those words not directly convey the mood expressed?

Others will write of the story itself. I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough because I needed to know what happened next. I didn't want it to end. ...more

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