Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Not my favorite work of Dostoevsky’s, but definetly worth a read. It’s a huge book, and I deeply empathized with the main character. I didn’t like how theatrical it was and how everyone always felt like they are on the verge of a psychosis episode. The final murder was unexpected, and overall the ending was so dramatic, which is normal for Dostoevsky but it left me perplexed. Time to read 5 different essays analyzing all the references I missed.
slow-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lost access to this edition due to my KindleUnlimited Membership ending. Changing to a new edition translated by someone else.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
women even make a fool of our most foreword thinking men
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The characters and themes are so dense with meaning, perhaps a lot of which escaped me, that I feel unqualified to give a detailed critique, but will rather outline my surface level experience. "The Idiot" was paradoxically both a highly intriguing but also sometimes slow and frustrating read. At times I struggled to find the meaning behind the plot or certain dialogue, but I was nonetheless perpetually enjoying the book and curious of what happened next. This is because what is discernable (and it is still a great amount) is effective, thought-provoking, and powerful writing. In summary, I wish more of it made sense to me or resonated, but plenty still did and there are some truly memorable characters, ideas, and moments.
Above all else this book made me laugh aloud more times than any other book I've read before deadass. I felt a bit confused whether to give this 5 stars or not because there's so much that I missed and also just so much that I fully don't even remember because of how long this book was and how hard it was for me to learn people's names. I read this book so extremely slowly like I would be staring at a page for full minutes and re-reading sentences BUT it was just because I wanted to get it all, and even with that I still feel like I missed so much.
OK so now here is my thoughts on the actual content of the book which may make me sound like an idiot myself... but also I don't want to spoil the fun so I'll be tactful but beware. There are times where you totally agree with the prince and everyone around him is bonkers and there are times where you think the prince is indeed an idiot and totally ridiculous. But that's what makes Dostoevsky's portrayal of the prince so convincing and logical. I need to re-read this at some point in my life because there are so many long passages that I am sure I did not get everything out of, definitely the whole thing with Rogozhin in part 2 and honestly a lot of Ippolit's parts... The way the each character interacts with the prince is so smart and I do not understand it enough! The major takeaway from this book is so grim but so convincing that I am inclined to believe it! Also in The Goldfinch they talk about The Idiot and I want to go back and read what they said LOL cause damn I wanna hear what Boris has to say that king. A lot of the political stuff flew over my head to be honest but I tried my best. I have never read a book that uses the title of the book so much. Ok now I feel like I sounded nonsensical here but really I cannot synthesize what I think about this book. Slide up with thoughts
OK so now here is my thoughts on the actual content of the book which may make me sound like an idiot myself... but also I don't want to spoil the fun so I'll be tactful but beware. There are times where you totally agree with the prince and everyone around him is bonkers and there are times where you think the prince is indeed an idiot and totally ridiculous. But that's what makes Dostoevsky's portrayal of the prince so convincing and logical. I need to re-read this at some point in my life because there are so many long passages that I am sure I did not get everything out of, definitely the whole thing with Rogozhin in part 2 and honestly a lot of Ippolit's parts... The way the each character interacts with the prince is so smart and I do not understand it enough! The major takeaway from this book is so grim but so convincing that I am inclined to believe it! Also in The Goldfinch they talk about The Idiot and I want to go back and read what they said LOL cause damn I wanna hear what Boris has to say that king. A lot of the political stuff flew over my head to be honest but I tried my best. I have never read a book that uses the title of the book so much. Ok now I feel like I sounded nonsensical here but really I cannot synthesize what I think about this book. Slide up with thoughts