Some readers will be fascinated by Wasiolek’s English translation of the Notebooks for The Brothers Karamazov. Notebooks can be very difficult to translate because by their very nature notes are often elliptical and obscure: the associations which they had in the mind of the writer, using another language, are often impossible to capture, especially in translation. Very often too notebooks are distinguished by what the author rejected rather than what leads directly into his text. So they should always be used with caution in interpreting obscure parts of the published work. But with these warnings the enthusiastic reader may find much of interest in them and explore the writer’s workshop at leisure. As a matter of fact the drafts that remain are relatively late and close to the text we know.
There are many biographies of Dostoevsky. The most recent, which can be thoroughly recommended, is Geir Kjet-saa’s Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Writer’s Life.
Last of all (or possibly first of all) some readers may like to explore W.J. Leatherbarrow’s magisterial and invaluable Reference Guide, which lists, with commentary, over twelve thousand books and articles in many languages by and about Dostoevsky. Many of them are, of course, in English and many of them are relevant to The Brothers Karamazov. This is a book above all for the specialist, but for him or her it is indispensable.
So I return to my starting point. That, for better or for worse, is the fate of classics.
Malcolm V. Jones
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bakhtin, Mikhail, Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics, University of Manchester Press, Manchester, 1984.
Belknap, Robert, The Structure of The Brothers Karamazov’, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, Illinois, 1989.
— The Genesis of ’The Brothers Karamazov’, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, Illinois, 1990.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The Notebooks for ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, edited and translated by Edward Wasiolek, Chicago University Press, Chicago and London, 1971.
Gibson, A. Boyce, The Religion of Dostoevsky, S. F. V. Press, London, 1973
Jones, Malcolm V., and Terry, Garth M., eds., New Essays on Dostoyevsky, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1983.
Kjetsaa, Geir, Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Writer’s Life, Macmillan, London, 1987.
Leatherbarrow, W. J., Fedor Dostoevsky, a reference guide, G. K. Hall & Co., Boston, Mass., 1990.
Mochulsky, Konstantin, Dostoevsky, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1967.
Peace, Richard A., Dostoyevsky, an Examination of the Major Novels, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971.
Sandoz, Ellis, Political Apocalypse: Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1971.
Sutherland Stewart R., Atheism and the Rejection of God: Contemporary Philosophy and ‘ The Brothers Karamazov’, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1977.
Terras, Victor, A Karamazov Companion, University of Wisconsin Press, Wisconsin, 1981.
Thompson, Diane Denning, The Brothers Karamazov and the Poetics of Memory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991.
List of Characters
The following list comprises the names of the novel’s main characters, with variants and pronunciation. Russian names are composed of first name, patronymic (from the father’s first name), and family name. Formal address requires the use of first name and patronymic; diminutives are commonly used among family and friends and are for the most part endearing, but in a certain blunt form (Katka, Mitka, Alyoshka, Rakitka) can be insulting and dismissive. Stressed syllables are indicated by italics. N.B. The z in Karamazov is pronounced like the z in zoo, not like the z in Mozart.
Karamazov, Fyodor Pavlovich
Dmitri Fyodorovich (Mitya, Mitka, Mitenka, Mitri Fyodorovich) Ivan Fyodorovich (Vanya, Vanka, Vanechka)
Alexei Fyodorovich (Alyosha, Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Alyoshechka, Alexeichik, Lyosha, Lyoshenka)
Smerdyakov, Pavel Fyodorovich
Svetlov, AgrafenO Alexandrovna (Grushenka, Grusha, Grushka)
Verkhovtsev, Katerina Ivanovna (Katya, Katka, Katenka)
Zosima (Zinovy before he became a monk)
Snegiryov, Nikolai Ilyich Arina Petrovna Varvara Nikolaevna (Varya) Nina Nikolaevna (Ninochka) Ilyusha (Ilyushechka, Ilyushka)
Krasotkin, Nikolai Ivanov (Kolya)
Khokhlakov, Katerina Osipovna Liza (Lise) List of Characters
Kutuzov, Grigory Vasilievich (also Vasiliev) Marfa Ignatievna (also Ignatieva)
Rakitin, Mikhail Osipovich (Misha, Rakitka, Rakitushka)
Paissy
Ferapont
Ippolit Kirillovich (no family name)
Nelyudov, Nikolai Parfenovich
Fetyufcovich
Herzenstube
Maximov (Maximushka)
Kalganov, Pyotr Fomich (Petrusha)
Perkhotin, Pyotr Ilyich
Miusov, Pyotr Alexandrovich
Trifon Borisovich (also Borisich)
Fedosya Markovna (Fenya, also Fedosya Markov)
Samsonov, Kuzma Kuzmich
Lizaveta Smerdyashchaya (Stinking Lizaveta; no family name)
Makarov, Mikhail Makarovich (also Makarich)
Mussyalovich
Vrublevsky
Maria Kondratievna (no family name)
Varvmsky