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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
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
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
sad
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
A slow, dense, yet very rewarding read for how riveting and challenging Dostoevsky’s storytelling is here: could compassion and sincerity of the heart truly change a vain society riddled with moral decay? Prince Myshkin has rightfully earned a place in my mind whenever I think about characters with some of the most tragic fates in any story. Dostoevsky’s novel obviously takes place in 19th century Russia, and while The Idiot is a critique of how rotten and corrupted a Russian society could get, but I feel like this story is also emblematic of the current zeitgeist. I saw an excerpt from the edition of the book that I read that succinctly describes this book: “The Idiot is Dostoevsky’s most contemporary novel.”
Another entry added to my favorite reads of the year.
Another entry added to my favorite reads of the year.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
One of the more puzzling literary experiences I have ever had. I was delighted by Part 1, in which most of the major characters are introduced and some foundations laid. The characters are quirky and delightful, the relationships complex and intriguing. From there, though, The Idiot bumps bafflingly off the rails, and I found the book an irritating and often flatly boring slog. The characters are all manically inconsistent, subject to whiplash-inducing mood swings that grind the story to a halt - how can any scene advance the story when its principals careen from devotion to hatred and back again several times before the scene is through? Most of the characters indulge in long, incoherent, and internally inconsistent rants on this or that. It's tiresome, endless nonsensical babble without any point that I am able to discern. I am left feeling rather stupid, as I'm clearly missing something profound that makes so many consider this book a psychologically insightful classic.
There are also narrative choices that I find equally baffling. For instance, the relationship between Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna is central, driving nearly every decision Myshkin makes and coloring every other relationship he has in the book. Yet Dostoevsky hardly ever shows us the two of them together; most of the time they spend together is in the six months that are elided and only obliquely summarized in a rapid info-dump at the beginning of Part 2. As a result we know virtually nothing about this crucially central relationship. As a matter of craft, I cannot understand why someone would write a novel this way. I just don't get it.
There are also narrative choices that I find equally baffling. For instance, the relationship between Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna is central, driving nearly every decision Myshkin makes and coloring every other relationship he has in the book. Yet Dostoevsky hardly ever shows us the two of them together; most of the time they spend together is in the six months that are elided and only obliquely summarized in a rapid info-dump at the beginning of Part 2. As a result we know virtually nothing about this crucially central relationship. As a matter of craft, I cannot understand why someone would write a novel this way. I just don't get it.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
DNF although I only had 100 pages left
I don't care about any of the characters, not even Miskyn the "purest" of them all, and it is so character driven it's unbearable. I may proceed with another of his books in the- not so near - future...
I don't care about any of the characters, not even Miskyn the "purest" of them all, and it is so character driven it's unbearable. I may proceed with another of his books in the- not so near - future...
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes