The books of Fyodor Dostoevsky almost always appear on "Must Read" and "Top" lists. A lot of avid readers have his books on their wish list and TBRs. The Dostoevsky Book Club is a place to read slowly and thoughtfully, to analyze his masterpieces in dialogue with you.
Why the name «Theta-Delta»?
They represent the first letters of the writer's first and last name, but in the Greek alphabet. But it's not just that. In modern Russian, there are no Greek letters, but when Fyodor Mikhailovich wrote his books in the mid-19th century, the Greek letter Theta was used instead of the Russian letter "Ф" (in Latin - F). And Dostoevsky often signed his articles with this letter, especially when he was banned from publishing.
I want to start by reading "Crime and Punishment." Here you can read more about the schedule and reading materials.
This club will be completely free until the end of 2024 for the entire period of reading "Crime and Punishment." All materials and readings will be fully accessible to you. If you like, you can thank me with donations, but nothing more.
The subscription itself will mean a lot to me. I will see how many people want to read Dostoevsky and delve into his masterpieces together with me.
What will happen in my club until the end of 2024?
We will read 2 chapters of "Crime and Punishment" per week. You can check the schedule here
Twice a week, you will receive a letter (post) where I will share interesting insights from the chapter, findings, ask questions, and discuss them with you.
There will also be additional articles when we reach important parts of the novel, such as at the end of each part.
This won’t be an academic analysis of Dostoevsky’s works. I won't go into every detail about philology, history, and culture unless someone has a question. I want to focus on what's important: our impressions of the book, to reflect and discuss.
I'm also keeping a reading diary-sketchbook with favorite quotes and sketches from chapters. I encourage you to do the same and share your pages. When Dostoevsky was writing his novels, he drew in the manuscripts and made diagrams. Here is one of his pages.
Discussions with like-minded people. Become part of a passionate community that shares your love for literature and deep discussions. Engage in enriching conversations, share insights, and make new friends who appreciate the timeless works of Dostoevsky.
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Who am I?
My name is Dana.
I was born, raised, and educated in St. Petersburg, the city of Dostoevsky. Now I live in Poland.
I've been reading Dostoevsky's books in Russian since my youth and studied them in detail at university, where Russian literature was the main subject.
I continued my philological education by studying French literature and cinema at the Sorbonne, where my thesis focused on Georges Bernanos' book The Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un curé de campagne) and its adaptation by Robert Bresson.
Thanks to my knowledge of Russian, St. Petersburg, Russian literature, and culture in general, I feel I can share a lot during the reading process. However, I realized I'm interested in reading with people from other cultures because they see the text differently than I do. Therefore, I'm very interested in reading Dostoevsky in English.
I speak Russian, French, English, and Polish.
The club is my return to literary analysis, as after university, I did not work as a philologist. Currently, I create games and comics.
