Rating: 
Summary: Unfinished Miss Nobody
Review: An engaging story about a girl ("Nameless Nobody") and her personal miseries as a tortured and lonely outsider, first in poverty, later amidst material riches. This interrupted early Dostoevsky novel has all the usual Dostoevskyan themes, but one less typical subject is Netochka's sexual awakening and scenes of secret fun with another girl. Overall an enjoyable read for any aficionado of D's writing.
Rating:
Summary: Unfinished Miss Nobody
Review: An engaging story about a girl ("Nameless Nobody") with a quirky personality and her personal miseries as a tortured lonely outsider, first in poverty, later amidst material riches. This interrupted early Dostoevsky novel has all the usual Dostoevskyan themes, but one less typical subject is Netochka's sexual awakening and scenes of secret fun with another girl. Overall a highly enjoyable read for any aficionado of D's writing. 3.5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: A mixed bag
Review: Dostoevsky intended Netochka Nezvanova to be his first full-length novel, but his work on it was interrupted by his arrest for his involvement in a radical political group, and he never returned to the novel after he was released from prison. What he finished comes down to us as a fairly short piece (about 170 pages) divided into three parts which vary considerably in setting, style, and, I would say, quality. At the start of the novel we meet Netochka, the narrator, as a young impoverished child who strangely can't remember anything that happened before she was nine. The first part centers primarily on Netochka's stepfather Efimov, a good but not great violinist with delusions of grandeur who treats Netochka and her mother poorly but whom Netochka still loves profoundly. Eventually a famous violin virtuoso comes to town, and after seeing him play and attempting to imitate him, Efimov realizes that he can never measure up, and, exposed to the absurdity of his pretensions, goes mad and shortly thereafter dies. Meanwhile, Netochka's mother has killed herself, so Netochka is now an orphan, and is adopted by a Prince who has heard of Efimov through a friend. Efimov is definitely one of Dostoevsky's more memorable characters, and in the first part we see that Dostoevsky has extended beyond the dreamy, slightly awkward style of most of his early works; indeed, I would consider the first part of Netochka Nezvanova to be the best piece that Dostoevsky wrote prior to his exile. Unfortunately, I can't say that the next two parts quite measure up. The second part, set at the Prince's estate, revolves around Netochka and the Prince's daughter, Katya, who is about the same age as Netochka. While Katya initially finds the orphan a little odd and teases her occasionally, Netochka is awestruck by Katya from the start and can't be described as anything other than in love with her. Eventually, Netochka's feelings are reciprocated, and these two 11-year old girls want to spend all of their time smothering each other with kisses, but, understandably, the rest of the family is a bit weirded out by the situation and accordingly separates the two, sending Netochka to live with the Prince's older stepdaughter Anna. I found that the placement of this section after the tragic tale of Netochka's impoverished and ill-fated parents made the problems Netochka has fitting in with the other residents of the Prince's estate seem a bit trivial. The love story between the two children is certainly interesting, though not extraordinarily well-done. The third part is a rather unoriginal soap opera involving Anna, her husband, and a letter that Netochka discovers from Anna's past. Apparently Dostoevsky was trying to emulate George Sand, and the result was this mediocre fragment. I'd tend to say that the novel is worth reading if only for the very well-done first part and the novelty of the second part, but be prepared to be unimpressed at some points.
Rating: 
Summary: Written directly from the Heart
Review: I definitely wouldn't consider this one of Dostoyevsky's masterpieces. In fact, if this had been the first novel I had read by him I would have been greatly disappointed. On the other hand, if you are already a fan of Dostoyevsky then I would recommend Netochka to you. It is an exciting thing to be able to read Dostoyevsky before he truly developed his style. I will admit that at times the book is simply terrible. But at other times, one is able to catch an inkling of the genius that was to awaken years after this first was published. And besides, Dostoyevsky was not known so much for his 'musical diction' but moreso the emotion that he is/was able to convey to his readers. So if you've never read Dostoyevsky I would recommend reading another of his novels first. But if you're interested in how he developed his style, or more accurately where he developed it from, then I would encourage you to read Netochka Nezvanova (Nameless Nobody).
Rating:
Summary: First glimpse of a genius
Review: I definitely wouldn't consider this one of Dostoyevsky's masterpieces. In fact, if this had been the first novel I had read by him I would have been greatly disappointed. On the other hand, if you are already a fan of Dostoyevsky then I would recommend Netochka to you. It is an exciting thing to be able to read Dostoyevsky before he truly developed his style. I will admit that at times the book is simply terrible. But at other times, one is able to catch an inkling of the genius that was to awaken years after this first was published. And besides, Dostoyevsky was not known so much for his 'musical diction' but moreso the emotion that he is/was able to convey to his readers. So if you've never read Dostoyevsky I would recommend reading another of his novels first. But if you're interested in how he developed his style, or more accurately where he developed it from, then I would encourage you to read Netochka Nezvanova (Nameless Nobody).
Rating:
Summary: Intense, but excellent read
Review: I got this book with some Christmas money this Christmas. Reading it was amazing to me, but then Dostoevsky almost always amazes me. His characters are so believable, even though they're always mentally such a mess - severely distraught, haunted by memories, twisted out of stability by circumstance, or downright delusional. Netochka wanting so desperately to be loved and being frightened to death of people who tried to be kind to the point of making them sick of her...
I found this to be a fascinating and all too short read. I would love to know how the story was intended to come out in the end. I felt the story moved along in the first two parts; the third part began to lose momentum, but I think that's because the conflict in it was not really resolved. The first part was the best-written, though. I would definitely agree with the other reviewers on that point.
The second part was indeed strange, and yet not so strange. Netochka has this thing for kissing the princess Katya at the place where she lives after her father dies. That seems downright odd, but I don't think it really is. I think a lot of people would take this as some sort of lesbian angle in the story, but I think it's something else, because I can see right into Netochka's soul. She has such a fervent desire to love someone, because she has never had anyone to be her "hero" or that was nice to her, really nice to her. Katya is everything she is not: impetuous, rambunctious, energetic, a real livewire. Netochka is a thinker, silent, emotional, but would like to be more like Katya. The two of them battle furiously with one another in spirit, competition is intense, until finally one night they talk after being put to bed and admit that they really adore one another after all. But back to the kissing bit. I think this is a result of lack of physical contact of any kind with other people. Netochka has lived her life with no hugging, handholding, kissing, cuddling... It just didn't happen. So, to love people so intensely and want to kiss them seems like normal human reaction. Katya was available. It is possible to be very close to another woman and not be lesbian. I think Netochka worshipped her - but not in a romantic way.
I enjoyed reading this book very much, although I had to put it down sometimes because its intensity was too much for me, and come back to it a few hours later. I recommend it as a glimpse into Dostoevsky's early writings and to see themes arising that he later developed more fully in other works.
Rating:
Summary: Clearly not Dostoyevsky's finest.
Review: If you are checking out Dostoyevsky for the first time, do not read Netochka Nezvanova. However, for avid Dostoyevskians, Netochka Nezvanova will let you see how he wrote during his early years, and how well his writing evolved since then. The book is somewhat hard to relate to, and not very interesting. It becomes longish and no other point really develops throughout the book that you couldn't catch on the first page. It is a short read, however- you might as well give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: Americans, americans...
Review: My dear american friends. Some things are simply contradictory in essence. For example, 'Dostoevskii fans' mentioned here somewhere. As for the book, I would (humbly) advise to read it with your heart and soul (this is how it was written, after all). Netochka's mother 'killed herself'? Read again. Some reader here mentioned 'soap opera' in the last part of 'Netochka'. The problem is that one should understand more about the russian culture to judge this. But I guess that these details may confuse some people. No, it is quite far from being a soap opera. To understand more about this part, try to read some of Chekhov short stories (to understand at least what is being fought against). When I read Fedor Mihailovich Dostoevskii books (The Idiot and Netochka especially), I feel and see differently. Quite much after 150 years.
Rating:
Summary: Written directly from the Heart
Review: This is a book where you witness the most soul churning narrations that you can ever come across. Here you get a glimpse of the ability of the master writer to directly look into the soul of the character. The narration also evolves with the age of the narrator and that's the whole beauty of the work, though unfinished. I would recommend it for any serious reader.
Rating:
Summary: Unfinished Business
Review: This is an incomplete early novel by Dostoyevsky, in which Annetta (or "Netochka Nezvanova" as she is known) recounts her unfortunate early life. Her natural father died when she was very young, and her stepfather Efimov is an alcoholic musician with delusions of grandeur. Efimov leads the family into abject poverty. Even after her mother and stepfather die, and Netochka Nezvanova's luck seems to change, that's not really the case as life with her new family presents different tortures: her relationship with Katya then with Alexandra Mikhailovna and her husband Pyotr Alexandrovitch are deeply troubled. Particularly in Efimov, I could see the germs of later Dostoyevsky characters - he is desperately self-delusional, intent upon his own self-destruction. Yet Netochka Nezvanova is irresistably attracted to him, as indeed she is to the other characters who do her ill. Logically, this is puzzling - the reader might be tempted to think why on earth does she put up with such treatment (even given the fact that she is a child in a very vulnerable position). But perhaps love and attraction are not as simple as all that. The scenes with Katya make for strange reading. I couldn't help thinking that the attraction between Netochka Nezvanova and Katya was more than just a childhood friendship - there seemed to be lesbian lust there too. Something of a surprise! It's a shame that the novel is incomplete. There are poor sections - the bits with the dog, Falstaff, are pretty ropey, especially the river rescue. I thought the end was over-melodramatic too. Yet, overall, and interesting read. G Rodgers
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