translation of Dostoevsky's "Rasskazy Uspenskogo"

[Evelina Mendelevich]

I think both Olga Meerson and Boris Dralyuk have defined the problem
accurately.
What the original sentence captures is the distinction Dostoevsky makes here
between real life as "raw material" and life as its is actually felt or
experienced by an individual. мысль in this sentence, then, is something
that emerges out of this raw material filtered through individual
consciousness, point of view, or experience, and it is very important for me
to convey this in translation.

The latest  versions I came up with:
1. it is an idea produced by life itself as it is lived/felt
2. it is a felt idea produced by life itself

Do these make sense?

I would like to thank all who have already responded to my question--you
suggestions are very helpful.

С благодарностью,
Эвелина Менделевич

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 6:50 AM, Olga Meerson <meersono at georgetown.edu>wrote:

> Re:
> 'wrung out of one by real life'
>
> 'drawn from real life' has a slightly different meaning, I think.
>
> Same problem with the latter: life is no longer the drawer of the
> conclusion, which it is, emphatically (perhaps as the sole purpose of the
> sentence), in Russian.
> Opposite problem, in the former: life draws conclusions but no longer from
> itself.
> Perhaps, "after all, this is the lesson life itself teaches us from our
> experience of it"? Sounds clumsy but at least the points of immediacy in
> empiricism and existentialism are both there.
>
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-- 
All the Best,
Evelina Mendelevich

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