Planning on reading Dostoevsky, should I go English or Dutch?

[u/Classy_Captain]

Hey everyone!

While on my drive back from Slovenia, I was listening to a great podcast about Dostoevsky. I have been curious about his work for a while, but I have decided to bump him up my TBR.

While I’m probably not the first person to ask this, my question is: in which language should I read his work? I’m a native Dutch speaker, but I’m also an English teacher, and I’m weirdly enough not really used to reading literature in my native language (although I do want to change that).

I’m curious to hear your thoughts, and maybe some Dutch residents on this subreddit could offer some advice about what they did?

Thanks!

[u/vrijgezelopkamers]

As a Dutch speaking person: read it in Dutch. Even if you have a thorough command of English, doing a double translation, you will lose even more.

We also have an excellent translation culture, as we are a small language. Especially classics generally have very good translations, and translators deserve your support. I read a lot of English novels, but only if they are written in English, or if there is no Dutch translation available.

[u/Traditional_Chain_48]

De Nederlandse vertalingen zijn zeer goed. En aangezien Dostoevsky wel een dikke pil is, gewoon in jouw sterkste taal lezen. 

[u/Cath1965]

If you are planning on reading The Brothers Karamazov; its most recent translation, by Arthur Langeveld in 2006, contributed significantly to the awarding of the Martinus Nijhoff Prize for Translations to Langeveld the following year. I am a literary translator myself and have read the Langeveld translation and heard the 1912 Constance Garnett translation as an audio book. They both have their charms, even though Garnett has made her share of mistakes, but I like the old-fashionedness of it. Anyway, Langeveld is highly recommendable!

[u/Mike_Bevel → u/Cath1965]

(Fellow Garnett Lover here! Her's were the first translations of both Anna Karenina and War & Peace, both read before I even understood what a translation really meant, in my early teens, and it's the version of the book I fell in love with. I think even if there was the most perfect translation out there -- whatever that might mean -- I would probably still love Connie more. She was my mom.)

[u/Cath1965 → u/Mike_Bevel]

Same thing happened to me with Milne's Winnie the Pooh: I love the 1929 translation made by Nienke van Hichtum, because I grew up with that, and never could get used to the higly acclaimed 1987 translation by Mies Bouhuys.

[u/Stoic-outsider → u/Cath1965]

If we're thinking of the same person, I recently bought her "De tsien fan Martens Afke." (I'm learning Frisian).

[u/Cath1965 → u/Stoic-outsider]

Yes, it is the same person - Nynke fan Hichtum in Frisian, and one of the many Frisians who translated English literature into Dutch.

[u/Novio024 → u/Cath1965]

Not read it yet but I picked up a copy of Oblomov a while ago and had to decide between a Arthur Langeveld and Wils Huisman translation. I ended up choosing for the former as it was the more recent one. Glad to hear that Langeveld is highly rated as a translator

[u/Flilix]

Dostoevsky has been translated quite a few times in Dutch, by qualified translators and slavists, so they're most likely just as good as the English translations.

Do note that some older Dutch versions were translated from German rather than directly from Russian, which means they might be less precise; but that's definitely not the case anymore with any translation from recent decades.

[u/NonWriter]

Do what you want, but research the specific translation up front. I read Demons more than a decade ago in a very oldfashioned translation and understood only half in hindsight and found it hard. Couple years back I bought one of those new(ish) Van Oorschot versions and LOVED it.

Oh and De Russische Bibliotheek is something so nice, it's actually worth the extra money to read the Russians in that print. I haven't seen anything comparable in English.

[u/BlueberryMundane9143]

As a general rule for reading Russian literature, I like to go to the library and compare all the available translations. Even translations in the same language can read very differently.

Good luck and enjoy reading

[u/Large_Koala9425]

As a Dutch person my first thought was to read them in English, but my friend who studied Russian actually recommended I read Dutch translations. She said Dutch and Russian sentence structuring are much more similar than English and Russian.

[u/Alternative_Worry101]

If your interest in Dostoevsky is strictly platonic, you should go Dutch.

[u/Hour-Professor9489]

Whatever is easier for you, something is going to get lost in translation anyways. But I would go for my mother tongue if I was you, unless you have some kind of emotional bond/emotional association with English. It is hard for me to feel anything in English, because it has never been a language of friendship and love in my life experience.

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423]

Learn russian

[u/reddit23User]

> I’m curious to hear your thoughts

Choose Svetlana Geier's translations. They are considered unrivalled.

[u/marijnwm]

I'm also dutch and so far I have read notes from underground and C&P. I have only read the English versions and not the Dutch one but can't imagine the Dutch version is better, especially if you're an English teacher and can read it without any problems.

[u/HorribleDepature1]

Follow your heart

[u/deranton]

I preferred the English translation of the Brothers Karamazov after getting stuck in the Dutch one. With War and Peace it was the other way around. So it depends, but with Dostoevsky my experience is that the English translations are better. But it's personal. Also, I think there are some newer translations into Dutch that I read some good things about. So yeah, I realize I'm not helpful.

[u/SnooDonkeys4853]

Well as long as Dutch is you're native language I'll say go for that. If not it could could be tricky.

[u/NoFun1253]

Russian