Rating: Summary: The Idiot Review: I very much enjoyed the first part of this book, but the remaining parts seemed to loose focus and direction, in my opinion. All and all a worthy novel from a brilliant author, but unfortunately not one of my favorites.
Rating: Summary: sublimely inaccessible Review: This is one of the more famous of Dostoyevsky's novels, and quite rightly so as it has his very-unique blend of psychology, philosophy and an unrelenting view of the bleakest recesses of the soul.
I read the novel in the original Russian, so this isn't a review of any particular translation but the work itself.
In brief, the book centres around a Prince who has returned to Russia after being treated for mental illness in Switzerland since his childhood (hence the idiot). He quickly becomes involved within the upper-middle eschellons of St Petersburgian society, as people become fascinated by his direct honesty, simplicity and compassion. He becomes emotionally involved with a Fallen Woman, and this develops into a love triangle with another woman, ultimately ending in --- you guessed it! - tragedy. The Idiot is portrayed as the symbol of a child-like innocence: he genuinely wants everyone to live in harmony and love. However, the falseness, politics and backstabbing of the world of Russian middle-nobility will have none of that.
The plot is quite complicated - but not in terms of twists. The story is quite simple in terms of what happened, however much of it is told inside-out, focusing on the internal world of the characters. So, if you feel like you've missed something - a reason for a character's comment, an event etc, chances are, this will be revealed later on.
Dostoyevsky dwells on the extreme minute aspects of the emotional lives of his charactes. This is the richest aspect of the novel - and these emotions possess all the contradiction and chaos that real people have. There are no total heroes in the book - but I found a part of myself identifying with the Prince, as the grown child who just doesn't want to accept the "adult" behaviour of interpersonal relationships. I think it's expected in reading the book that some characters will be loathed, some found amusing and admired, some arousing interest - but not loved. This is because the world portrayed within the book is very inaccessible. It's hard to identify with anyone in terms of more than the generality of emotion - not just because the setting is remote, but because the characters experience thoughts and ideas that are so different to what most people would. I think this inaccessability was deliberate - as we feel not-quite-at-home in the world of the book, so it highlights how the Prince is not quite at home there - and that's where the sublime feeling is derived from.
On a side note, be prepared for the difficulty of keeping track of names, as people are called by their surnames on certain occasions and the rest is first name and father's name. With heaps of characters and many Russian names, it all becomes a mess. But with some concentration (perhaps making a cast of characters?) that can be overcome and a great read will be had.
A great book that will interact with your emotional world - if you don't mind heavy reading.
Rating: Summary: A beauty of a book ...always timely Review: I am a big Dostoyevsky head, but this is certainly one of his weaker novels. If you're starting on Dostoyevsky, go for the big one, The Brothers Karamazov, or the little one, Notes from Underground.King Dosty creates a fantastic set of characters and gets out his axe grinder; it comes together fairly slowly, but completing the book will be rewarding. Gracing the pages we have nihilists, slavophobes, endearing characters and despicables. Dostoyevsky was attempting to depict an honest, pure man (Prince Myshkin). Chances are all readers will like and admire Myshkin until about 3/4 of the way through, where things start to get really hairy: A scene is delightfully prepared with humor; Prince Myshkin, about to marry a Aglaia Epanchin (a beautiful young daughter of a well-off general) is exposed to aristocratic 'society' at a party. The way Dostoyevsky prepares you is reminiscent of some of Tolstoy's depictions of aristocrats; humorously jibing and illustrating their ridiculousness, yet appreciating the fact that they are human beings. Anyhow, the party is a make-or break opportunity for Myshkin; if he pleases the aristos, the Epanchin family will approve of the marriage and he will live happily ever afer with beautiful Aglaia. All Myshkin has to do is keep his mouth shut (as the Epanchins begged him to do beforehand), but regrettably, he does not. Impassioned, the Prince delivers a few splutterings about religion and Russia's destiny to one of the distinguished aristos. It appears that Myshkin here is really a mouthpeice for Dostoyevsky himself - and not the Ivan Karamazov doubting part of Dostoyevsky, what Myshkin says at this interval is what Dostoyevsky *really* believes. And the beliefs are rather too much for me to swallow: Catholicism is, in Myshkin's opinion, worse than atheism, the nihilist socialists have a deep hatred of Russia, etc.. we see the true extent of Dostoyevsky's reactionary religious beliefs. The aristocrat gentlemen try to mollify Myshkin a little, but to no avail; they leave seeing him as an oddity. The marriage with Aglaia falls through. After reading Myshkin's outburst, I could only blink a few times. Is this what Alyosha K. would say if pressed the same way? Thank goodness he didn't, otherwise Brothers K would have been a bit less enduring... But the book is still not a bad book! At the very least, Dostoyevsky shows how absolutely nutty people can become when it comes to passionate love. This isn't a simple love triangle, its a love quadrilateral!! But beyond the love story, you'll see social criticism, political and philosophical debates, pyschological analysis... in short, the typical complex and awesome Dostoyevsky novel. But, as I said above, its not Dosty at his best. Oh - and its a tragedy. You didn't think the Christ-man would be accepted by the sinful world, did you?
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