Reading the Chunksters discussion

Ok, looks like we are doing The Brothers K again! Schedule will be up soon!

I like the pic! Not quite sure if I will join in yet...

I'm not going to let this one slip away again. I am looking forward to it.

I want to join in, but I'm concerned over whether I'll be able to keep up. I appreciate and want to read more Dostoevsky, but I also need to read Great Expectations and Dhalgren (which is not only huge but strange, complex, and less-than-accessible) by the end of the year.

I'll probably give it a go and see if I can manage. :)

I'm both excited and terrified! This would be my first Dostoevsky. I will give this a try, and probably read it in original if that's permitted.

Chelsea wrote: "I'm new here and wondering when this is scheduled to start. Thanks."

The Schedule should be up soon, Andrea and Loretta are co-leading this one and are in the process of working it all out.

Does anyone have any suggestions regarding translation? It seems like there are several versions by different translators, so I was just wondering if one is better--more accurate, readable, etc--than the others.

There are lots of opinions on this, but I don't think there's a general consensus. Constance Garnett was the initial translator, and actually knew and worked with Tolstoy, so although she's considered a bit stilted (I agree with that), she has some authenticity. There are a number of translations which start with hers and seek to improve on her a bit -- I have one of these, the Norton edition which is Garnett "revised by Ralph E. Matlaw." (that's the earlier Norton edition; the 2nd Norton edition is a different translation).

I think the most recent translation (at least that I know of) is by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, a married (I believe) couple who are doing a lot of Russian translations, generally to critical acclaim.

There are indeed a good number of translations out there, but I personally don't know of much reason to go beyond either the Garnett (original or "improved" or the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations. But others are probably better informed than I am can can give you better information.

Any idea when the schedule might be up, and how long you're planning to spend on it? Personally, I hope more than four weeks -- there's a lot to discuss in this book!

Everyman, the schedule will be the same as the previous one, Andrea is setting dates to it and we will post it in the coming week.

I'm glad for the time since I am overcommitted still with too many books going.

Kristi wrote: "Everyman, the schedule will be the same as the previous one, Andrea is setting dates to it and we will post it in the coming week."

Thanks. I really do need to finish this book! It's become my rock of Sisyphus, and I need to get it all the way up to the top of the hill and be done with it!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry we have been slow to get this going again. We were trying to iron out some details on schedule and what to do with the original threads. We wanted to keep them for the people who had posted in them, but we wanted the people starting for the first time to have a clean slate. After much going back and forth we decided to archive the old thread so they can still be seen and people can copy and paste from them if they are not going to reread from the start. I hope this is okay with everyone, it's not always easy to make these kind of decisions so we try to go with what will be the best for everyone.

I am using the Constance Garnett version, but as with other books, people tend to use a couple different versions and it seems to work out ok and sometimes even provides for interesting comparisons.

I am thinking that we could do our official start as of next Sunday, does that give everyone enough time? So the first post for the first section would be two weeks from today?

Since this was a rough go the first time, people should feel free to post if they are getting behind and then we can always through in a break week if many people are behind. Personally I tend to be one of those people but usually it is due to my own poor planning. What I try to do is figure out how many pages are in the section and then divide it by 7 so that way I know how many pages I need to read a day to keep up. It's much easier than trying to read 50 pages of Russian translation in one sitting! Also I buy those oversize sticky notes and use them to take notes as I read, otherwise when it comes time to post I am doomed!

For anyone who has not purchased the book yet it is available on the best site ever Project Gutenberg. Here is the link that you can use to download the book http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28054
This is also the Constance Garnett translation. I download it as plain text and then open it in word. I'm weird but I delete as I read that way I get to watch the number of pages decrease! I know, I said I'm weird ;) I also have a book that I can refer to if I need to look at something that I deleted.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I am going to post the schedule later today.

I slacked off on the first try, but I am determined to read this book. Thanks for posting the schedule!! I will be reading this book on my Android phone. I think if I just read a few pages a day, I will be able to keep up with the schedule.

Thanks, Andrea! Sounds like a fair way to handle it. I'm determined to get on track and stay there this time. I do really want to read this one.

Andrea wrote: "Hi Everyone,

Sorry we have been slow to get this going again. We were trying to iron out some details on schedule and what to do with the original threads. We wanted to keep them for the people w..."

Sounds great! I'm another one who is really going to try hard to finish the book this time -- I hope others are going along for the full ride so we can support each other.

The Schedule is posted!! It's in this thread:

Schedule Thread

Thanks Andrea!!