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A few days ago I found a copy of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky at the used book store for only $4.50 and it's in perfect condition...I figured it's a definite classic, and I've never read it and the synopsis on the back cover did seem interesting.
Well, I am on chapter 4 now, page 37, and honestly a bit confused. What is getting me is mainly all the long Russian names, there are so many of them! Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov (which I admit is an awesome name), Ivanovitch, Petrovitch, Petrovna, Marmeladov, Ivanovna, etc etc.
Anyway, I just got through reading Rodya's letter from his mother, the one that Nastasya gave to him in his "cupboard of a room," and it explained how Rodya's sister Dounia is, much to the joy of the mother, getting married to Pyotr Petrovitch...the letter tells of all kinds of plans Rodya's mother and sister have made for him regarding a future job with Petrovitch, so of course throughout the letter we are wondering what Rodya thinks about this plan that has been made up for him.
Well, on the very next page, the beginning of chapter 4, Rodya says "Never such a marriage while I am alive and Mr Luzhin be damned!" Then further down this page Rodya says to himself "Hm...so it is finally settled: you have determined to marry a sensible businessman, Avdotya Romanovna, one who has a fortune..."
Okay...I think maybe I might have read Mr Luzhin's name before, I think, but searching back 10-15 pages or so I can't find his name...and with Avdotya Romanovna, I know I haven't read that name yet and it says she has determined to marry this Romanovna, even though she is marrying Petrovitch...so my question is who in the hell are those bolded characters?? Are they all the same person? Petrovitch?
I know that was a long explanation for a simple question haha but I figured I'd refresh your memory if you haven't read it in awhile.
I suggest that you go to the Wikipedia entry for C and P and copy and print the character descriptions and keep it with the book. I did that for Anna Karenina and it helped a lot.
Well, on the very next page, the beginning of chapter 4, Rodya says "Never such a marriage while I am alive and Mr Luzhin be damned!" Then further down this page Rodya says to himself "Hm...so it is finally settled: you have determined to marry a sensible businessman, Avdotya Romanovna, one who has a fortune..."
Avdotya Romanovna is his sister's name; Dounia is her nickname. Her name is not in apposition to businessman. It's direct address. He is speaking to his sister metaphorically while he talks to himself.
Avdotya is her Christian name; Romanovna is the feminine form of the patronymic. Russians of both sexes incorporate their fathers' names into their own.
Accents are normally on the second syllable from the end.
I'm only on the first chapter of part II, page 84 but this is a great book so far! I can only imagine it gets better. When I told my dad I was reading this he said I should stop beating myself up over C&P, no one understands this book...made me lol cause he reads hard science fiction :P
It's a great book. You sound like you are doing well with it for not being accustomed to Russian names. If you plan to read any more Dostoevsky (or other Russian authors) in the future, it is important to get used to all the names and nicknames that get thrown around! As was mentioned above, Russian names include a first name and then a patronymic. Men's patronymics are their father's name plus the ending -ich or -ych. Women's patronymics end in -ovna or -evna (possibly -yevna as well, I think.)
One person may be called a few different nicknames throughout a story. Sometimes a person's status determines what he/she is called. For example, servants may sometimes be addressed by only their patronymic, but polite address to someone of higher status would require using the first name + patronymic. It's very confusing at first, but gets easier with time.
What I've done once or twice with problems like these is to keep a little card in the book and make a notation the first time a character is mentioned.
It makes me appreciate all the more when a writer like Dickens has characters so vivid that when they re-appear 300 pages later, you know exactly who they are. Just be glad it's not Chinese - Chan, Chen, Chang, Ching...
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