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Elfie Austen's avatar

Chapters 5 and 6 almost had the quality of a play, I thought. All this shouting and whispering and banging fists on tables — in my mind's eye I could see two actors on a stage working hard on this scene. Both chapters really grabbed me though at the same time they felt very strange. Imagine having a conversation like that with a policeman...

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Dana • Dostoevsky Bookclub's avatar

"Throw caution to the wind"—what a brilliant choice by Cockrell! Her translation surpasses the original since it adds an interesting idiom that wasn't there before.

However, the Russian phrase needs completion, since using "хотя" requires a corresponding "но" clause—otherwise it's syntactically incomplete and awkward. — «Порфирий действовал хотя слишком решительно, но почти наверное».

Though I should note that this phrasing sounds dated now. Modern Russian would use "наверняка" instead of "наверное".

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