/lit/ - Literature

>>13016690
The odd thing about Dostoevsky that few of his fanboys know is that those Constantine Garnett translations didn't arrive until the 20th century long after his death. So very few of his contemporaries in other countries actually read him e.g. Dickens probably did not know Dostoevsky ever existed. Russia was considered to be an obscure, irrelevant, barely civilized country compared to Britain and France.

The reason why there was demand for Russian literature in the 20th century was because of the Bolshevik revolution and people's curiosity as to how that happened.

I don't deny the literary merit of the Russians, but for those of us who are interested in the development of style and themes over the course of a nation's history... Russian literature is going to be pretty irrelevant for the student of American or British literature because of its late entrance into our world. That's why I tend to read only literature in English... because my interests are more about how our classic writers have worked with their influences. For example, I would profit more by reading Dante than Dostoevsky because Dante fascinated so many American and English writers.

(The French absorbed the Russkis a little bit earlier. But that's another story.)

James was a reader of Flaubert as far as I know. They both took their craft very seriously. I remember reading Flaubert with more excitement when I was getting interested in literature for the first time. I have no idea what I would think of Flaubert now! As for Balzac, he struck me as a boring writer like Dickens. Now I like Dickens, so maybe I will give Balzac a read someday.

Honestly it's impossible for me to imagine James or Flaubert imitating Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in their support for fringe causes such as vegetarianism and Slavophilia. I think their obsession with fringe ideas and causes is what makes Tolstoy and Dostoevsky so weak.

>>13002130
I skimmed all that. However the ending is very moving, so stick it through if you like a good tearjerker.

Are you fairly new to literature or is this your first time delving into the Russians?

>>12987055
Western Christendom is more my aesthetic but I have a lot of Eastern icons from my parents. The lady and I like that Byzantine Catholic girl on youtube.