>>>>>>>>I'm not sure which books I have read most often. "The World According To Garp", "The Catcher in the Rye", and "Crime and Punishment" all have to be up there.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Is 'Crime and Punishment' a full edition?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Full in what sense? It seems full enough to me. The most recent, and best, edition I have is the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation.
>>>>>
>>>>>I meant that many famous books are printed in USA in brief version, i.e. text reduced by few times. If you have a full edition, it should be a big folio, then I have another question. Did you read it in entirety?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Yes, of course I read it in its entirety. The edition I mentioned runs to 551 pages. Karamazov is even longer.
>>>>
>>>>I'm not sure which U.S. editions of famous books you are referring to. There are abridged versions but the full versions are readily available as far as I know.
>>>
>>>You are the only person I ever seen (no kidding) who was able to read a Dostoyevsky's book in entirety.
>>
>>I read The Idiot too. I have to admit though, that I find most translations of Russian authors read too much like first grade primers. My dad was fluent in Russian of course, and he didn't much care for most translations either.
>
>Dostoyevsky is the least readable author among Russian classical writers. One must be extremely dedicated to reading to get it to the end.


That is a matter of opinion. I avoid arguing about matters of personal taste but I speak up when I feel a great artist is unfairly disparaged. You make it sound like Dostoyevsky is unreadable, which he certainly is not IMO. I encourage readers here not to close their minds on this subject as Edward suggests.