How Dostoevsky wrote his novel "C&P"

And how to prepare for reading it in a group

On this very day 159 years ago — July 7th 1865, Raskolnikov comes out of the garret at the beginning of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment."

On Thursday, July 11, a post with comments on the first chapter will be released. You can read the chapter before the post or after, using it as a guide. Different people like to read in different ways.

Hello, Dostoevsky enthusiast!

List of articles by chapters you can find here

Reading schedule is here.

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Today, I want to tell you a little about the circumstances under which Fyodor Mikhailovich wrote the novel.

Dostoevsky starts writing it at the age of 43. At that time, he was in extremely tight financial circumstances: after the death of his brother Mikhail, with whom he published the magazine "Epoch," the writer, who was already in poverty himself, took on the debts of the deceased.

He was besieged by creditors. On July 2, 1865 Dostoevsky signed a contract with the publisher: Fyodor Stellovsky undertook to publish a three-volume collection of Dostoevsky's works and required him to write a new novel by November 1, 1866. Otherwise, Stellovsky would have the right to publish his works for nine years without paying the author anything; Dostoevsky would be ruined and threatened with debtor's prison.

In September 1865, Dostoevsky proposed the project "Crime and Punishment" (at that time he still considered it to be a short story) to the publisher of the magazine "Russian Messenger"¹ Mikhail Katkov.

Dostoevsky diligently worked on the novel throughout the fall of 1865, but at the end of November, he burned what he had written and started over.

The first two parts of the novel he sends to Katkov in December 1865, then, after their publication, continues to work throughout 1866 — constantly fending off creditors (as the result some characters in the drafts of the novel bear their names).

The crisis moment comes in June 1866: Stellovsky reminds him that in November he expects a new novel from Dostoevsky, and the writer decides to do an "unprecedented and eccentric thing" — to write two novels simultaneously. Alongside "Crime and Punishment," he composes "The Gambler" — and here one of the main events of his life occurs: for speed, he decides to hire a stenographer, and he is recommended a young girl, Anna Snitkina. Dostoevsky dictates "The Gambler" to her — the novel is completed in less than a month, the writer is saved. Pleased with the work with Snitkina, Dostoevsky proposes that she stenographs the completion of "Crime and Punishment" — but his interest in the assistant is no longer purely professional. Soon he proposes to Snitkina, and at the beginning of 1867, she marries Dostoevsky and remains his true guardian angel until the end of his days.

On the eve of the new year, 1867, "Crime and Punishment" is completed — an incredible pace for one of the main novels in the history of world literature. Dostoevsky complained in a letter:

"I am convinced that none of our writers, past or present, has written under such conditions as I constantly write, Turgenev would have died from the mere thought."

How to Prepare for Reading

I think everyone who has decided to read the novel knows that it is not the easiest reading. This is Russian depressive literature. But at the same time, there will be a place for dark humor. It definitely won't be boring.

Choose the reading option that is convenient for you. An e-book or a paper book. If you don't know which translation to choose, just pick the one with the cover you like. There are at least 14 different translations. I have no preferences for any particular translation, so be bold and choose the tome that speaks to you.

Source

I chose this option for myself — the Oxford World’s Classics translation by Nicolas Pasternak Slater. Nicholas Pasternak Slater is the nephew of Russian novelist Boris Pasternak, author of Doctor Zhivago, and has translated Doctor Zhivago into English for The Folio Society.

If you are reading another translation, it is a great opportunity to compare translations and discuss the details. Let's compare them with the original.

What translation will you be reading?

We have a leisurely reading pace — 2 chapters per week.

Of course, the chapters are not of the same length, but Dostoevsky doesn't have very long ones. I will write down how many pages are in the upcoming chapters so you can plan your time.

• The first chapter has 7 book pages.

• The second chapter has 16 pages.

I leave notes in the margins, underline, and highlight while reading. I have a book specifically bought for this purpose. Highlighters, bookmarks, and colorful pens are ready. I also have a notebook prepared for notes and sketches during reading. This is my way of immersing myself in the text. If you also keep any reading journals, I encourage you to maintain them while reading — let's share and discuss.

Please write in the comments about your level of familiarity with the novel. Have you read it before, or watched any films or plays?

We will talk about different adaptations in detail at the end of the reading to avoid spoilers.

In Russian culture, it is no longer considered a spoiler to talk about the crime Raskolnikov committed. Even in my first reading of the book, when I was about 14 years old, in the 9th grade of school, every teenager knew the plot before opening the book. Perhaps this left an impression on the book, as there was no intrigue.

I will not reveal the essence of the crime and the plot yet, and I ask others not to write about it in the comments if you already know it (although I have the impression that this spoiler is unavoidable for anyone before starting the reading, it's on all the covers!).

Have a great start to your reading!

1. "Russian Messenger" — is very important literary and social magazine, in which almost all the classics of the 19th century were published. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" was also published there, alongside "Crime and Punishment".