Die kurze Antwort
- Choose our modern English edition if you want the whole Crime and Punishment: all six parts and the epilogue, nothing left out, with a 15-minute summary beside it.
- For study: set a few key passages of Crime and Punishment beside a close, annotated scholarly translation.
How translations differ
In Crime and Punishment, one character can appear under several forms of a Russian name, from a first name and patronymic to a diminutive. A translator must therefore decide whether to preserve those forms or simplify them to help an English reader follow the characters.
What makes Crime and Punishment hard to translate
The dialogue mixes clipped street speech, official language and feverish monologue. Matching that mixture in English is hard to translate: the translator must distinguish the kinds of speech without losing their differences. A clipped exchange presents a different task from an official statement or a feverish monologue. The English needs to convey not just what a character says, but the particular manner of speaking.
The novel places a poor former student's murder and its aftermath in the heat of a St Petersburg summer. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is pursued both by guilt and by a police investigator. Translation must carry both sides of that pursuit: the hero's guilt and the investigator's pursuit of him. The summer setting also matters, with the opening walk through the July heat giving readers a passage to compare for its treatment of place.
The kinds of translation of Crime and Punishment
| Kind of translation | What it keeps | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Close to the original | The Russian word order and flavour of Crime and Punishment | Study, next to the Russian. |
| Smooth and natural | Crime and Punishment as a story that reads like an English novel | A first read. |
| Annotated | The names, history and allusions of Crime and Punishment, explained in notes | Study and teaching. |
| Library of Alexandria | The whole story of Crime and Punishment, in clear, modern English | A first read, with a 15-minute summary beside it. Open our edition |
When to set a passage beside a scholarly translation
For study, use our modern English edition for the whole story and set a few key passages beside a close, annotated scholarly translation. Compare the opening of Part 1 for the walk through the July heat; Part 1, Chapter 7 for the murder; and Part 4, Chapter 4 for Sonya reading the story of Lazarus aloud. Notice how each renders the setting, the murder, and the reading aloud.
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Questions
Is Crime and Punishment hard to translate?
Yes: its mixture of clipped street speech, official language and feverish monologue is hard to match in English. The translator has to convey the differences between those ways of speaking. Comparing a passage across kinds of translation lets a reader examine how the English handles that mixture.
How long is Crime and Punishment?
The Library of Alexandria edition takes about 14 hours of reading at an average pace. That reading time covers the whole story, which has six parts followed by an epilogue.
Why does Raskolnikov have so many names in Crime and Punishment?
Russian naming uses a first name, a patronymic taken from the father's name, and a family name, as well as diminutives. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov can therefore appear under different forms of his name. Translators decide whether to retain those forms or simplify them for an English reader.
Which kind of translation is best for a first read of Crime and Punishment?
Smooth and natural suits a first read, keeping a story that reads like an English novel. Close to the original suits study next to the Russian, while Annotated suits study and teaching by explaining names, history and allusions in notes.
Is the Library of Alexandria edition of Crime and Punishment complete?
Yes. The whole story is there, all six parts and the epilogue, in clear, modern language.
