Classics and the Western Canon discussion

This thread is to discuss translations and background for Notes From Underground. The schedule will be posted shortly, and the discussion will start October 1.

I’ve got the Constance Garnett translation, but may supplement it with a modern translation. Which translation do you plan to read?

The Schedule for Notes from Underground:

Oct 1 - Part 1, Underground
Oct 8 - Part 2, Ch 1-5
Oct 15 - Part 2, Ch 6- 10

Susan wrote: "Which translation do you plan to read?"

I have Pevear and Volokhonsky. I've read some of their other Dostoevsky translations and been pleased with them, and the notes are unobtrusive.

Hi group, I'm new here. I will be reading Dostoevsky with you, he's one of my favorites.

I've already read Notes from Underground a few years ago, but other than a very vague theme, I don't really remember much. I read it too fast, and now I want to do it again, and sprinkle in a bit of discussion which has to make it more memorable and should help with retaining more of it.

I will be reading a Croatian translation though, but I don't think this will be a problem in discussion. Maybe translating ideas will also ensure I think about them more deeply.

Looking forward to it! :)

Xaph wrote: "Hi group, I'm new here. I will be reading Dostoevsky with you, he's one of my favorites.

I've already read Notes from Underground a few years ago, but other than a very vague theme, I don't reall..."

Welcome Xaph! We're happy to have you here and we look forward to your thoughts on Notes.

Hii! I'm new here as well, and very excited to join all of you in rereading this classic from my favorite author. I don't know how much of a difference it will make with regards to the translation; I've read the Mirra Ginsburg translation and was thinking of going with the P&V translation this time around.

I will be reading and listening to the Katz translation:

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground (the Norton Library). 1st ed. With Michael R. Katz. The Norton Library, v. 0. W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated, 2021.

Pablo wrote: "Hii! I'm new here as well, and very excited to join all of you in rereading this classic from my favorite author. I don't know how much of a difference it will make with regards to the translation;..."

Welcome, Pablo! Rest assured there will be other Dostoevsky fans in the discussion.

You ask about the difference in translations. Here’s a Goodreads review that focuses on different Dostoevsky translations. The second set of comparisons is from the Garnett and P&V translations of Notes from Underground which are quite different: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Googling “best translation of Notes from Underground” turns up lively discussions of personal preferences on a number of translators. Since I don’t know Russian, I can’t advise, but one advantage of a group where folks are reading different translations is that sometimes one translation may cast light on a passage that is unclear in another.

Hi.

This is my first post in this group. The copy I have got was first translated to Danish (by Ejnar Thomassen) and then in the 1950s transformed or translated into a then modern Riksmål, which was the standard or official version of Norwegian language at the time. Norwegian Riksmål is supposedly similar to 17th Century Danish.

I might therefore be reading a somewhat different book to everyone else. The title has been translated into "The Basement Person".

Nergui wrote: "Hi.

This is my first post in this group. The copy I have got was first translated to Danish (by Ejnar Thomassen) and then in the 1950s transformed or translated into a then modern Riksmål, which ..."

Welcome, Nergui! The discussion is just getting started — please feel free to jump in. The title of your translation seems to address one of the questions folks had — what is meant by underground?

Still reading.

Poor Fyodor. Hard to imagine that he doesn’t share his character’s dismal view of the universe. The character sounds a little borderline (borderline personality disorder) it’s all about him. Everyone is awful except this poor striving character. The glimmers of hope he occasionally has like with the old schoolmates make me hope he’ll give in and let them like him, but alas he cannot.

Sylvia wrote: "Still reading.

Poor Fyodor. Hard to imagine that he doesn’t share his character’s dismal view of the universe. The character sounds a little borderline (borderline personality disorder) it’s all ..."

Borderline sounds like a good diagnosis to me. He definitely has the narcissism part down.