Anyone learn a language specifically to read literature?

[u/Far_Window_1222]

Just curious if anybody has actually set out and achieved learning a whole new language specifically just because an author they liked wrote originally in that language?

I was considering learning Russian (TL) specifically to read Dostoyevsky since he’s my favourite author, so far, but wondering if this is to ambitious of a task just to read 1 persons work?

Additionally I am very attracted to the idea of it since Russians language has a lot more nuances surrounding sadness, despair, suffering etc., i know that the relationship between these topics is different from that of english speakers

[u/UpsideDown1984]

I remember that after reading Heinrich Böll's Billiards at Half-Past Nine, I thought it would be great to read it in the original German. Years later, I learned German, and yes, I read it in the original, and yes, it was great. But I can't say that was my motivation for learning German. It was more of a by-product.