Lee Hunts

I just finished reading Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. For reference, I read the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, which is apparently the most accurate translation. It replicates the rough syntactic structure of the original Russian text that other translations often try to smooth over for the sake of readability, and they also apparently selected vocabulary and turns of phrases that existed in English predating the original release of the book in Russian in 1866. The result is a fairly dense and very raw read, but one that is also very engaging, if you are willing to give it a chance. You have to push through paragraphs that last four pages, perhaps even longer, and infamously long rants from characters—but I actually got used to it rather quickly, and by the end, it was like reading anything else. This novel, rather famously, involves a man (Raskolnikov) who believes he is justified in killing a corrupt pawnbroker with an axe, on the judgement that she is an active dr...

I just finished reading Norylska Groans, by Michael R. Fletcher and Clayton W. Snyder. This is a grimdark fantasy novel set in a Russian inspired industrial setting. The reader follows two characters as they struggle to survive in a system that seems to conspire to crush them without any regard for their personal circumstances. Paired with this is a unique magic system that involves manipulating memories and personality traits. Given my own interest in themes of identity, this definitely caught my interest. No Spoilers Setting The setting of this book is one of the stronger elements of the story. I am not only referring to the concepts behind it that I mentioned above, but the execution of said concepts. The descriptions are vivid and oppressive, mixing winter and industrialism to create a horrifying backdrop for the story. There was one quote about the mixture of black ash and white snow turning everything grey, comparing that to moral complexity, which I thought was quite apt. Anothe...