The candle end was flickering out in the battered candlestick, dimly lighting up in the poverty-stricken room the murderer and the harlot who had so strangely been reading together the eternal book. Five minutes or more passed.
“I came to speak of something,” Raskolnikov said aloud, frowning. He got up and went to Sonia. She lifted her eyes to meet him in silence. His face was particularly stern and there was a sort of savage determination in it.
“I have abandoned my family to-day,” he said, “my mother and sister. I am not going to see them. I’ve broken with them completely.”
“What for?” asked Sonia amazed. Her recent meeting with his mother and sister had left a great impression which she could not analyse. She heard his news almost with horror.
“I have only you now,” he added. “Let us go together… I’ve come to you, we are both accursed, let us go our way together!”
His eyes glittered “as though he were mad,” Sonia thought, in her turn.
The preceding excerpts can be found on page 356 of my copy of Crime And Punishment. As I typed this, the word analyse was flagged by spell check. It suggested that analyse be spelt analyze. As I am quoting Garnett’s translation found here in the FingerPrint! Classics word for word I leave analyse as printed on page 356.
The end of another month is upon me and I still have not finished reading Dostoevsky’s Crime And Punishment. Why you might ask? Well I am a slow reader here as the English translation is grammatically unfamiliar to me. I believe it may have been more comfortable for a Victorian reader in the 1800’s or maybe translating from Russian to English presents the prose in a circular fashion. To be sure reading Charles Dickens’ novels, written during that same time period, reflect words common to that time also. But his prose is somewhat more succinct. Dostoevsky’s novel has led me to create more annotations, but I love learning new words such as samovar, found on page 173, phalanstery, found on page 278 or the word dandling, found on page 154. ( I will let you take a moment to look up their meaning.) All this activity has slowed my pace of reading too.
An example of Dostoevsky genius for creating thoughtful dialogue in his characters is shared with you here. On page 245 the second paragraph begins as follows: “And how well he does it all,” the mother was thinking to herself. “What generous impulses he has, and how simply, how delicately he put an end to all the misunderstanding with his sister- by holding out his hand at the right minute and looking at her like that…and what fine eyes he has , and how fine his whole face is!…He is even better looking than Dounia…But good heavens , what a suit- how terribly he’s dressed!…Vasya, the messenger boy in Afanasy Ivanitch’s shop, is better dressed! I could rush at him and hug him…weep over him-but I am afraid…Oh dear, he is so strange! He is talking kindly, but I am afraid! Why, what am I afraid of?…”
The preceding excerpt is thought by Raskolnikov’s mother, Polcheria Alexandrovna. Her instinct is correct as she is facing her son soon after he has committed a gruesome double murder. Fear she feels and we the readers know why! In fact Fyodor Dostoevsky unfolds his Crime And Puishment novel by opening up the minds of many of his characters in thoughtful dialogue, while creating a thin veil between their thoughtful and spoken communications. It makes sense that the author turns his main character into an extremely thoughtful introvert, attempting to hide in plain sight while descending into madness and despair. The first paragraphs I shared show that the harlot Sonia is beginning to see his madness.
I have shared before my admiration of so many authors I have had the opportunity to read. Dostoyevsky led such a traumatic life in Russia, as I touched on last month. It amazes me he had the energy to pen novels such as this, The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot, not to mention over twenty other novels and many short stories. He was amazing and the fabric of his woven words will be eternally amazing!
Ah, my metaphorical lighthouse is barely seen as I approach it through heavy fog. The wet fog is weakly pierced by it’s mirrored light chasing itself around and around again. The muffled base of the fog horn welcomes me to my monthly resting place. Finally the gentle laps of the waves pace my scene with their rhythmic cadence and soft crash of their salty cymbals. I have a lot to reflect on this month. I heard an opinion a bit ago that I hope doesn’t come to pass. In a couple of decades 80% of all stories published will be digital and/or audio. Only 20% of all new stories will be bound in book form. I find that I read not only with my eyes but with my hands as they hold and turn a page. We have a blessedly large family and our grandchildren for the most part love to read and write. Yes a few love to read a story on their chrome book and or in audio form but sometimes they also curl up with their hands turning the pages of a book. So I have to get over it and be thankful they like to read a story and even like to create a story. May be I had to get over my loss of reading hand written scrolls in a past life as the printing press gave birth to our first bound books! A cliche to be sure, but a child who is read to and loves to read has a great chance to grow up to be a thoughtful adult. And I think we can all agree we need more and more thoughtful adults in all our tomorrows!
Thank you for reading.
Be at peace and joy!
Mark