Question by Taryn: How well is Dostoevsky translated?
On average, how accurate/true to the russian versions are translations of his texts. I really like what I’ve read so far, but I’d like know if what I like is more or less his diction or someone else’s.
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Answer by Loob
I agree with the above answerer that you should have posted this in the Russia section, as most people on here won’t read or speak Russian. I also love Dostoevsky, but the quality of writing varies wildly with different translations of his work. I really noticed this when I read The Idiot, as I had (stupidly) tried to save money by buying the Wordsworth Classic Edition. The translation was not very good quality, and some of the sentences read very strangely. The best translator I have found is Larissa Volokhonsky, and I own works by Dostoevsky and Tolstoy that are translated by her. So the quality of translation varies with each translator, but I couldn’t tell you how true they are to the original Russian versions, sorry.
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