Fyodor Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment: A Novel in Six Parts with Epilogue.
Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. First edition. Translated and annotated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. 0679405577 xx/564 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 7" x 9.75", is bound in quarter black cloth and light gray paper-covered boards, with stamped gilt lettering to spine. Book, with top edge of text block tinted red, is in fine condition. Dust jacket is also in fine condition.
"Not since "Crime and Punishment" was first introduced to the English-speaking world eighty years ago has there been a new translation as important as this.
Bringing to their task a far stronger combined knowledge of Russian and English than any predecessor, and working in the context of an up-to-date, modern critical understanding of Dostevsky's unusual and surprising text, Pevear and Volokhonsky capture all the rich stylistic idiosyncrasy of the Russian original. As Mr. Pevear writes in his foreword, "the life of a novel is not in the conception but in the performance. In every cadence, every tone, the realization of every character and scene of this densely composed "work of poetry," Dostoevsky shows his mastery." The Pevear-Volokhonsky work brings us as close to experiencing the genius of Dostoevsky's astounding psychological thriller as any translation can. This superlative accomplishment will make Dostoevsky's most widely read novel an entirely fresh experience for new generations of readers."