One day, when Richard was reading Karamazov (in a translation by one of Garnetts epigones, David Magarshak), Larissa, who had read the book many times in the original, began peeking over her husbands shoulder to read along with him. She was outraged. Its not there! she thought. He doesnt have it! Hes an entirely different writer!
As an experiment, a lark, Pevear and Volokhonsky decided to collaborate on their own Karamazov. After looking at the various translationsMagarshak, Andrew MacAndrew, and, of course, Constance Garnettthey worked on three sample chapters. Their division of labor wasand remainsnearly absolute: First, Larissa wrote out a kind of hyperaccurate trot of the original, complete with interstitial notes about Dostoyevskys diction, syntax, and references. Then, Richard, who has never mastered conversational Russian, wrote a smoother, more Englished text, constantly consulting Larissa about the original and the possibilities that it did and did not allow. They went back and forth like this several times, including a final session in which Richard read his English version aloud while Larissa followed along in the Russian. Their hope was to be true to Dostoyevsky, right down to his famous penchant for repetition, seeming sloppiness, and melodrama.
