I close out July with the strangest thing that's ever happened to me book-wise. I was 20% into Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. This is a tale of a despicable father and his four sons (by two marriages and an affair). Each son has a very different personality, but the whole family has significant issues (save perhaps the third son Alyosha). Dostoyevsky uses the flawed but unique characters as a vehicle for discussing theology and other matters. Like other Dostoyevsky literature, I was enjoying the presentation of man's depravity but bewildered by the nature of character's exchanges in the novel (do people in Russia really talk like this? If so, you'd think every Russian beset with insanity). I was slogging through it with mixed feelings when I noticed something odd.
In most books, page 237 comes after page 236. Here, 236 was proceeded by 589; see below picture if you doubt me. It incremented correctly from 589 for about 60 pages (until page 652), then went back to page 301 and was correct until the end. I thought it was just a number error- that the book was complete, just some pages were labeled incorrectly. But no- it really is the text from page 589. I know because pages 589-652 are repeated later in the book (in their proper place). In short, the book's page numbers are as follows: page 1-236, 589-652, 301-897. Pages 237-300 are omitted entirely, and 589-652 are repeated.
So, with mixed feelings I put down the book, and I mean that in the permanent sense. 'Tis destined for the recycling. I do want to read the rest some day (I'll have to start from scratch, I'm sure)- it's holds enough promise to warrant a second attempt. But the library has only a different translation, and I have other books on the docket. Till next time, Dostoyevsky. Till next time.
Rating (anticipated): B
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