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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
"But, nevertheless, I will add that in any ingenious or new human thought, or even simply in any serious human thought born in someone's head, there always remains something which it is quite impossible to convey to other people, though you may fill whole volumes with writing and spend thirty-five years trying to explain your thought; there always remains something that absolutely refuses to leave your skull and will stay with you forever: you will die with it, not having conveyed to anyone what is perhaps most important in your idea."
also holy shit that ending
also holy shit that ending
Felt like an idiot myself with how long it took me to get a handle on the names of all the characters, but once I did it became a much easier read. Could almost understand a quote I came across once about Dostoevsky being the perfect author for when you are sick in bed and need to read something easy. Boring in some parts but mostly interesting. I don't know maybe it was never boring, and I am just impatient for easy entertainment because of my social media addiction. Relatedly, that is another thing I like here. Characters are constantly contradicting themselves. Giving an opinion and two sentences later 'well, perhaps that is wrong.' Though, on the other hand, they also often are furious when someone else tells them their opinion is wrong. Which, relatable. Also, I was sure Rogozhin was going to murder Myshkin at the end. Really great ending. Like a horror movie. Has there been a movie version of this book? (I just checked and yes). The moral of the story as I read it is, either (a) Myshkin is an idealist and because of this does not treat people as people, which hurts them or (b) Myshkin is naive, kind and innocent which is more important than his ideological framework, but hurts people because of his own complete lack of understanding of 'badness' and what might feel bad to another person. I suppose I think the second is more what Dostoevsky was going for In whichever case, here, bad people make the world a worse place and good people, accidentally, make the world a worse place also.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rating is 2.5/5 stars. Maybe it was the translation that messed it up, as I read the Constance Garnett version. The first book was fabulous - 5/5. The rest was all over the place. Some were great moments of brilliance; others, just a rambling boring mess (almost anything with Lebedyev). Overall, it was way too long. I do admire Dostoyevsky's creation of complex and interesting characters. I think that no author is better than he. Austen may create some complex characters, but they are not nearly as interesting (nor do I think as complex).
I also found interesting that in a Czarist-ruled country over a century ago, without democracy or capitalism, you have an author describing humans conditions and arguing socialism and liberalism, describing murder rates and poverty and court rulings that, change the time and place, you could be arguing about today - seems like a page out of BLM activism discussions. BLM seems to think this is a uniquely American, capitalism, democratic, post-Civil War slavery condition, when it happens to be a universal human condition. They (BLM-ers) think they are talking something unique, when it seems nothing has changed as humans abuse humans. I'm not saying it is right, but these conditions are not unique to American government (Democracy or Constitution) or finance machine (capitalism). BLM-ers want to make it about race, but if you understood society and humans, as Dostoevsky shows, this is really not about race at all. People will always step on others to retain their money and power; it is a class situation, not a race situation.
Unless you are into Russia, Russian authors, or classics, I wouldn't recommend this book.
I also found interesting that in a Czarist-ruled country over a century ago, without democracy or capitalism, you have an author describing humans conditions and arguing socialism and liberalism, describing murder rates and poverty and court rulings that, change the time and place, you could be arguing about today - seems like a page out of BLM activism discussions. BLM seems to think this is a uniquely American, capitalism, democratic, post-Civil War slavery condition, when it happens to be a universal human condition. They (BLM-ers) think they are talking something unique, when it seems nothing has changed as humans abuse humans. I'm not saying it is right, but these conditions are not unique to American government (Democracy or Constitution) or finance machine (capitalism). BLM-ers want to make it about race, but if you understood society and humans, as Dostoevsky shows, this is really not about race at all. People will always step on others to retain their money and power; it is a class situation, not a race situation.
Unless you are into Russia, Russian authors, or classics, I wouldn't recommend this book.
this book literally made me wanna kms and i fully blame constance garnett for that, maybe be ill try a different translation sometime though
I’ll pick it up again at some point but I think it’s been so long I’ll need to start from the beginning again.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great work!
Although reading it was a bit tedious sometimes and it took me about a month to finish, it is really worth it. Many times I had to put down the book and reflect about what I just read and it's deeper meaning. A book that made me think and grateful.
Although reading it was a bit tedious sometimes and it took me about a month to finish, it is really worth it. Many times I had to put down the book and reflect about what I just read and it's deeper meaning. A book that made me think and grateful.