>>>>>>>>>>>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.
>>>
>>>I liked some of his books in my youth, my favorite was "Unizhennye and oskorblennye" (don't know how to translate correctly). But I don't think I either re-read any of his books... And lots of other authors I read and re-read...
>>
>>Once I decided that I should read one book at least (i was a very ardent reader in my young age). Before that it worked with 'War and Peace' (full academic edition). However, I failed with 'Karamazov Brothers'. It was impossible.
>
>Once I start to read a book, I tend to slog on to the end regardless because I hate to be defeated. The only book I can think of that did beat me though, was Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. I managed about 150 pages or so, and then I realized that if I kept going, I'd probably start asking strangers on the street to just shoot me.


You aren't alone. Newsweek has a regular sidebar piece in the front of the magazine where published authors are asked to recommend five books and name one book they feel they should have read and haven't. One of the recent authors -- sorry, I am blanking on his name -- chose "The Magic Mountain", saying he had tried it several times and never got more than 50 pages in.

Maybe he should meet a woman from Berlin I knew. She loved "The Magic Mountain" to the point of naming her cat Castorp. "Castorp is systematically destroying all my beautiful plants," she wrote in one memorable email.