2.24k reviews for:

The Idiot

Fyodor Dostoevsky

4.04 AVERAGE

ceciliagenie's review

3.25
dark emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional informative lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
delle_jpg's profile picture

delle_jpg's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 47%

J'ai déjà lu des livres comme celui là pleins de fois et j en ai d'autres à lire

Dostoevsky explores themes of morality, the fragility of innocence, and the corruption of societal values. This story resonates deeply, reminding me of how kindness is often mistaken for weakness, and how our communal systems sometimes reject those who challenge the status quo. This is a profound meditation on humanity, and if you’re ready to question what it truly means to be good, The Idiot will leave you transformed."
jou3ter's profile picture

jou3ter's review

3.75
challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lgjones's review

4.0
challenging dark funny reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Idiot is a 19th-century Russian novel by writer and philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky, which follows the story of Prince Myshkin, a man of Russian noble decent trying to adjust into his new setting, coming from Switzerland to Saint Petersburg. Shortly after arriving in the city, the Prince is drawn to a painting of Nastasya Filippovna, whom becomes a character of focus for the Prince and many others throughout the story. After seeing this painting, the Prince eventually becomes convinced that he wishes to marry Nastasya, yet he is rivalled by a true evil in Rogozhin. These two character will be shown to continually compete for Nastasya's hand, in a game which they have no control over. The story reaches its climactic ending with the death of Nastasya Filippovna at the hands of Rogozhin, resulting in the Prince's previously unwell condition to worsen to the point of a permanent state of 'idiocy' and leaving back to Switzerland. This ending is not only bad for the Prince but also for all those who had interacted with him throughout his time in the area, as although their lives continued mostly as normal, the philosophies and messages which Myshkin brought with him were lost with his departure.

Both Nastasya and Myshkin's stories are presented as those that take the centre stage of this novel, with Myshkin holding far more of a protagonist role. He is presented as being somewhat of a Christlike person, yet his innocence and purity make him ignorant to the new world around him. This leads to him not only being used, but also to him unintentionally wronging some of the people around him. Despite his ignorance, he is a very open person, who provides very interesting perspectives on topic which other more narrow minded characters in the book fail to do. This includes his views on capital punishment, mentioned towards the beginning of the novel, as well as his ideas on Christianity, a major theme present within most of the philosophical discussions.

The story contains an incredible cast of characters that occupy the twisted social hierarchy that The Idiot is set within. These characters fulfil a wide variety of philosophical ideas that not only agree with but also directly oppose those that Dostoevsky possessed himself. A prime example of an interesting character with such beliefs would be Ippolit. He is described as being a young Nihilist, with Tuberculosis to an extent that his life could end at any moment. He plays a role which almost directly opposes that of Prince Myshkin, linking to this novels ideas of religion and Christianity.

Christianity and Nihilism are proposed as almost opposites in this book, following Dostoevsky's Christian beliefs. Nihilism is often mentioned alongside Atheism, as is the case with Ippolit and others who possess non-Christian beliefs. This concept provokes the idea that having no faith in a God is to have no purpose, and to be a nihilist who believe that life has no true meaning.

Despite the loose plot which the novel follows, the story still manages to be engaging for most of its long duration. Towards the middle of the book I did find some parts to drag a little, but that was only natural with a book of this length and density. Part of the density of the book comes from the rich writing style which is signature in any of Dostoevsky's works. Noted as one of the greatest writers of all time, his prose and writing ability are at a quality that would be expected of one possessing such titles.

Overall, the tale of The Idiot tells the story of a kind and pure Prince, who is corrupted by the immoral people who surround him. This eventually leads to his own destruction, leaving all those who encountered him the same as before he came. This classic Dostoevsky tragedy is named as one of his most famous larger works, alongside The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment, and for good reason. This book is undoubtedly a masterpiece of grand proportions, and is a must read for anyone who is a fan of classical literature.

4/5. 
hlapich's profile picture

hlapich's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

boring

tybry999's review

5.0

Shortly after finishing this book I discovered that there exists an Akira Kurosawa film adaptation of it available on the Criterion Collection. What a phenomenal meeting of Dostoyevsky and Kurosawa. If you are into film you know the mastery of Kurosawa. If you're not familiar but loved this book, watch the film regardless; you're in for a treat! Phenomenally cast with Masayuki Mori (Prince Myshkin/Kameda), Toshiro Mifune (Rogozhin/Akama), Setsuko Hara (Nastassya Filippovna/Taeko) and Yoshiko Kuga (Aglaya/Ayako). It's not to be missed!
samimikre's profile picture

samimikre's review

5.0
emotional reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The book its self is magical it makes you rethink the idea of love and redemption that pure love some time hurt people than heal them its have its own twisted reality were the characters search for redemption but their pride, self worth, jealousy and ideals wouldn’t let them.We see mishkin an idiot who we see in the book as christ like in the context of russian orthodox were he have this idea that true love is a love that we give without a reason and we see as the story go that he was not welcome in the cruel world that hated beauty or changed the idea of it and we see nastashia that believes love is the only way to redemption but she believes she is not worth this love and tries to find redemption in degrading her self alls this book have good character build, deep philosophical theme that cant be expressed smartly and mind bending plot. And i can say its one of my fav book in spite of the long yapping