Okay, so I’ve started reading The Brothers Karamzov again. Someone, a nameless man who may or may not still be my friend, recommended I read it again but then said he didn’t think I actually would (or at least read the whole thing).
Roy, I am now currently on page 53 of 893. I predict that, because of the unbelievably small print, my 30-minute lunch breaks, and Dostoyevsky’s stream-of-consciousness style, I will not be done reading this tome until summer. But I will finish it. If I were still a student with a 3-week break from any sort of responsibility, I’d have it done by January. But alas, my days of avoiding responsibility are past.
Thoughts on the reading so far:
- If Dostoyevsky can write (for what looks to be) an entire novel in stream-of-consciousness, then so can I!
- This book would be a thousand times more readable if the names were pronouncable at a glance, instead of requiring serious effort on the part of the reader.
- My chief struggle with this book will be the fact that it’s not an easy read. My standards for literature have been alarmingly lenient recently (see my review of Oryx and Crake for such an example), and until I get into the rhythm of this book, it’ll be a true struggle.
A random, but not altogether unrelated, side note: I have three deep papercuts (caused, not by paper, but by cardboard boxes and a plastic bag) that hurt really bad and one is on my index finger, right on the top joint. Suck!
Are you reading the translation by Ignat Avsey? I’m telling you, it’ll be a chore if you’re reading something else (especially the translation by Constance Garnett. Ugh.).
Roy
December 12th, 2006
I’m very impressed.
Did you read the whole thing the first time? That’s better than me.
Allison
December 15th, 2006