But there are better translators of Dostoyevsky's work most notably Oliver Ready and Ignat Avsey, who are my two favorites that I've read so far.Īs far as Notes specifically: That's one which I've only ever read the Garnett translation, and I love it.

Her translations are fine as a baseline, and quite enjoyable in a vacuum. Garnett, in my opinion, gets way more flak than she deserves. Vladimir Nabokov called it a parody of 'The Overcoat'. Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have given us the definitive version of Fyodor Dostoevskys strikingly original short novels, The Double and The Gambler. But! There are others who love them, so YMMV. The Double is the most Gogolesque of Dostoevskys works its subtitle 'A Petersburg Poem' echoes that of Gogols Dead Souls. I personally cannot stand P&V and will never read their work again, and I believe they lose a lot of the spirit and intention of the original writer with their style of translation (Volokhonsky translates the words literally from the original Russian, and then Pevear pretties them up a bit in English). And P&V are notoriously strict with regards to changing the original Russian syntax, which can make their work read very stilted and dry in English. Garnett sounds rather Victorian when compared to other translators, which can make her read a bit archaically for readers who are not used to the language of Classic British Literature. It's actually the opposite of what you're saying in my experience. Other than that I’ve heard that the Pevear and Volokhonsky (P&V) translations are more rephrased and sound better BUT still stay true to the originality of the text. Dostoevsky’s repre-sentation is constructed in a way that the narrative appears ostensibly as a se-ries of repetitions and literary motifs. But that’s only because she did not really rephrase anything in order to make it sound more English-y. nist of The Double, is a figure who dramatizes this split. The idea is that her translation is very direct to the text so some of the phrases and sentences might sound awkward in English.

Dostoevsky the double pdf