Translating Crime and Punishment

By field-chance8064

I just wrapped up Crime and Punishment for the first time, and I picked it because I wanted a “classic” but not a total brick of a novel. I’ll be honest, I went in a little nervous that it’d be kind of dry—something I’d “respect,” but not really enjoy. That was not the case. I ended up loving it almost from start to finish. I kept getting surprised by how people who felt like they were just mentioned once early on would later come back and matter a lot to the plot. And I really enjoyed the whole unraveling of these big philosophical arguments—stuff people still debate now—and how good Dostoyevsky is at getting inside someone’s head. The thing that’s been bugging me a bit is the English translation. While I was reading, I kept wondering how much of the small nuances and style actually make it over from Russian. Some parts feel pretty intense/“deep,” and it seems possible the translator could have read a passage one way and then the English version goes with that. I read Constance Garnett, so I can’t help thinking: maybe I was getting Dostoyevsky’s ideas filtered through Garnett’s own take. Anyway, I really did like the book. I’m sure this question isn’t new, but it stayed in the back of my mind the whole time. Has anyone here read it in Russian and also in English? Or tried multiple English translations? Or compared it with translations in another language? What did you think?