Kreutzer Sonata

June, 2025

Clear and modern translation

Skip the Tucker translation! Go with this Isai Kamen translation (or the McDuff & Foote translation). Unless you're into odd historical versions, skip the one by Benjamin Ricketson Tucker - it's full of his own interpretations and misreadings.

I also found Doris Lessing's foreword in this Modern Library edition especially compelling, particularly where she briefly yet incisively compares the protagonist with Levin from Anna Karenina, particularly in relation to his occasional jealousy and moral unease, and brilliantly situates the novel's dated moral ideas within a modern, essayistic context of contemporary debate.