Book 1, The History of a Family
Chapter 1, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov
This first page describes the father of Alexey Karamazov. Fyodor Karamazov is a strange, muddle-headed but not-stupid land owner who strangely lived, strangely died. He was senseless, in a strange way, a “peculiar national form” of senselessness. But he did well in his dealings and when he died he had upwards of one hundred thousand roubles in hard cash.
On the different translations
Reading the english translations, I found the translation in Penguin Classics, by David Magarshack more appealing than Constance Garnett’s in the Modern Library.
According to this page https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/983001-which-translation-is-the-best-translation David McDuff is more lively than Pevear and Volokhonsky (P&V).
David Magarshack apparently detested Dostoyevsky’s particular content in “The Devils”
From one individual named Bryn: “For The Brothers Karamazov, I found the David McDuff more lively than the P&V. For Crime and Punishment, I thought the opposite: the P&V more lively than David McDuff. Go figure. In both cases, I read the two translations straight after one another. ”
From a reviewer named Peter: “Pevear and Volokhonsky are head and shoulders above the rest. I’ve read this in two translations and theirs flows much better than the rest; non of the clumsy word heavy idiom that can be so evident in some translated books. Having also read their translation of Anna Kerinena I can say that it applies equally to their translations of Tolstoy”
From a reviewer named C.P: “Personally, I like the Garnett translations. I read hers of Anna Karenina years ago and loved the book. When the P&V translation hit it big on Oprah, I decided that was my signal to reread. Paid for the hard-cover and everything. But the translation just plodded along, and after 150 pages or so, I gave up.
“Which I think, given the range of reactions here, means that there is no one “best” translation—just the one you like the most.”