Reviews - The Idiot | The StoryGraph

2.24k reviews for:

The Idiot

Fyodor Dostoevsky

4.04 AVERAGE

desertmother's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

zephws's review against another edition

4.25

challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

russ15's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

varvara's review against another edition

4.0

Как бесконечно жалко Настасью Филипповну. Хочу альтернативную концовку, в которой она сваливает ото всех этих придурков и живёт долго и счастливо в какой-нибудь швейцарской деревне с пятью котами и подозрительным состоянием. Может, даже заходит в гости к князю. Кажется, что Аглая и Настастья Филипповна - это почти одно лицо, только карты им были разданы очень уж разные: одна любимая балованая дочка в богатой семье, другую с детства насиловал влиятельный "покровитель", за что общество осудило, конечно, не его.
Самое удивительное для меня, наверно, это насколько в итоге мне не понравился князь Мышкин. Предполагается, что это "положительно прекрасный" человек, но под конец истории своей слабовольностью, нерешительностью и удивительной в некоторых вопросах узостью мышления он меня окончательно достал. Серьёзно, что он кому действительно хорошего сделал, кроме как деньгами сорил направо и налево? И сравнения с Христом мне кажутся несколько натянутыми.

jakelig's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

fcsleo's review against another edition

4.0

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

angelsbeforeman's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

myshkin was a very interesting character, and the title of the novel refers to him, since the people around him would often call him an idiot. sometimes i disagreed with them, but other times i agreed. he's a very naive and innocent person, trying to understand everyone and be good to them. that often doesn't help him at all. he's obsessed with his faith to extremist lengths, which is what often made me agree with the people calling him an idiot. other times, when he was just trying to do the right thing, i thought it was stupid of everyone else to demean him. he's often irritating when it comes to discussing class, which isn't really surprising since he's a wealthy prince. he's also hilariously scared of women. a super interesting protagonist.
i did enjoy aglaya as a character, because she's the opposite of myshkin in the sense that she's not a passive person at all. she's still not perfect morally though, far from it.
like in his other novels, dostoevsky uses this book to explore a variety of topics, but i feel like he especially focused on the faith aspect here. this was an incredibly entertaining read because so much happens. i thought the pacing was a bit off, and i didn't enjoy it as much as the brothers karamazov and crime and punishment, but it's still excellent.