[Eva Aamodt]

How important is it that it is the Norton edition version? I have the Oxford version. What is the difference and why do we need the Norton edition?

Eva

[Shoshana Milgram]

The syllabus contains information about the reasons for you to acquire this text.

A main reason is that I am assigning nine essays from the 2019 Norton Critical edition. Other editions do not have these essays.

Two writing assignments refer to these essays.

Three writing assignments, moreover, ask you to address significant passages within the novel, passages selected by you.  I think it would be OK for you to select passages from a different edition if you identify them clearly.   I would have to find them in a translation that is accurate.  I have not checked all transllations for accuracy.  Some translations are inaccurate, and would not make sense for us to discuss in class a passage that is inaccurately translated.

If you are acquiring our book (and you would need it for at least the nine essays), please note what I have written in the syllabus (which I assume will be going online soon).

Texts/Necessary Background Material:

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, translated and edited by Michael R. Katz, Norton Critical Edition 2019 (A New Translation with Backgrounds and Sources and Criticism). New York: Norton, 2019.  ISBN: 978-0-393-26427-2 (pbk).

Please acquire this book, as a paperback or in the Kindle edition

Amazon US:‏ Paperback (ASIN: 0393264270) 

Amazon US: Kindle (ASIN: B07VHP6VZ7)

 

Note: There are earlier Norton Critical Editions of the novel; ours has the Michael Katz translation as well as some essays that were not included in earlier Norton Critical Editions. I am assigning several of the essays in this collection.

 

There is an edition of the Katz translation that does not include the background, sources, and criticism. The course assignments will include the background, sources, and criticism. Therefore: check that you are ordering the correct book: the Norton Critical with the Katz translation.

 

If you wish to read the novel itself in Russian, you are welcome to do so, of course. For the course, you will also want to read the essays in the Norton Critical volume. (Some of these can be found in Russian; most cannot.)

 

[Eva Aamodt]

There is no syllabus provided yet as far as I can tell. Thanks for your reply.

[Francis Elcaron]

Hi Eva,

I asked the same question of Jeff Scialabba, who informed me today that the Norton Critical Edition “contains essays in addition to the novel that will be assigned reading. Those readings are only available in this edition of the book, which is why it is required for Dr. Milgram’s course.” (You can see what those essays are by previewing the book’s Kindle version on Amazon.)

Additionally, the two Oxford editions I’ve seen have different translators (Coulson and Slater) from the Norton edition (Katz), though I can’t speak to how significant that difference is for Dr. Milgram.

Best,
Francis

—

Edit: In an unlikely though pleasant coincidence, during the fifteen minutes that I wrote and submitted this comment, Dr. Milgram has posted her own response, which makes the above redundant.

[Eva Aamodt]

Thank you! 🙂

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