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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
“The Idiot” was a re-read for me, and while not my favorite Dostoyevsky work, it is still a nostalgic read because it was the first book I consumed by the author. What strikes me, with all his writing, is that at its heart Dostoyevsky touches on so many humanly internal struggles that have real-world external consequences, in part because people tout that their brand of truth, their opinions and beliefs are fact and not interpretative based on experience. We wallow in half-truths and mock anything that challenges our ideas of truth even, if shown, without a shadow of a doubt that we are wrong. In psychology cognitive dissonance explains that people basically have a hard time with anything that challenges their behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and self-image. But a recurring theme in Dostoyevsky’s work is that real enlightenment comes when we embrace our ignorance and lay our biases to the side in order to allow us to see the picture before us more clearly. Or maybe, I am just reading too much into it… “One can't understand everything at once, we can't begin with perfection all at once! In order to reach perfection one must begin by being ignorant of a great deal. And if we understand things too quickly, perhaps we shan't understand them thoroughly” ― “The Idiot”.
My favorite of Dostoyevsky's works is “The Brothers Karamazov”, which creates a lens by which we can experience all of what he is trying to say through the lives of four brothers who encapsulate all that it is to be human and more. Dostoyevsky touches on religion, faith, morality, family, and love in ways that show the depth of human thought, action, honesty, and even depravity. “Don’t let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually immeasurably more complex and varied than our subsequent explanations of them.” ― The Idiot. “The Idiot” like so much of his work highlights choice. Our choices may not always be good ones and may not show us down the avenues that we had hoped to travel, but at the end of the day we have the choice to act or not, to choose right or wrong, and then haggle with the world about the moral mold we so often misshape or break all together because we believe in our own intellect to a fault.
My favorite of Dostoyevsky's works is “The Brothers Karamazov”, which creates a lens by which we can experience all of what he is trying to say through the lives of four brothers who encapsulate all that it is to be human and more. Dostoyevsky touches on religion, faith, morality, family, and love in ways that show the depth of human thought, action, honesty, and even depravity. “Don’t let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually immeasurably more complex and varied than our subsequent explanations of them.” ― The Idiot. “The Idiot” like so much of his work highlights choice. Our choices may not always be good ones and may not show us down the avenues that we had hoped to travel, but at the end of the day we have the choice to act or not, to choose right or wrong, and then haggle with the world about the moral mold we so often misshape or break all together because we believe in our own intellect to a fault.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-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
challenging
reflective
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
first dostoevsky! i liked it. will get notes from underground done and maybe to crime and punishment/ brothers karamazov. need to read short things now.
Wow, what an emotionally draining book. My takeaway is that blind and fierce compassion doesn't equate to morality, and can indeed be harmful at times. Besides not everyone deserves such compassion. Such a gentle person with an ineradicable case of reckless benevolence is an Idiot.
challenging
dark
reflective
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
dark
reflective
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
Expert and empathetic human drama.
Insightful psychological observations.
Lots of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. The didactic tone detracted a lot of enjoyment from what was otherwise a well structured, emotionally heated, classic Russian novel.
Insightful psychological observations.
Lots of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. The didactic tone detracted a lot of enjoyment from what was otherwise a well structured, emotionally heated, classic Russian novel.
The free Kindle version may be a bad translation, because I felt that sections of this book were poorly written. A lot of the true action happens "off-stage," so poorly written dialogue is difficult to trudge through. Dostoyevsky gives an interesting account of epilepsy at the time, and the main character is well-developed. For those uninterested in epilepsy or Russian culture, however, I wouldn't recommend this book. Dostoyevsky makes some excellent commentary on his contemporary Russian society, but this commentary actually made me feel like hating Russians, which may not be productive.
(Recensione completa: https://lellettrici.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/la-bellezza-salvera-il-mondo/)
Questo non è un romanzo che si legge con facilità, non è una storia da digerire in poche ore. è un romanzo lungo e complesso, che non si lascia schematizzare, che va a fondo nella descrizione di personaggi fuori dell'umano, che pure sono umanissimi. è una storia toccante, universale, che tocca argomenti ancora attuali, che racconta un'epoca storica con immediatezza, e che pure non sembra così lontana.
è una storia che dà falsi giudizi, impressioni fallaci, che racconta buffoni, imbroglioni, saggi, ignoranti, marionette e burattinai, ladri e ubriaconi, madonne e prostitute, e tutti appaiono poi avere ben più le maschere, i tipi fissi, sembrano persone vere, molto più complesse di quanto possa apparire dalle loro terribili azioni.
Qui tutti sono colpevoli, nessuno è propriamente condannabile.
Questo non è un romanzo che si legge con facilità, non è una storia da digerire in poche ore. è un romanzo lungo e complesso, che non si lascia schematizzare, che va a fondo nella descrizione di personaggi fuori dell'umano, che pure sono umanissimi. è una storia toccante, universale, che tocca argomenti ancora attuali, che racconta un'epoca storica con immediatezza, e che pure non sembra così lontana.
è una storia che dà falsi giudizi, impressioni fallaci, che racconta buffoni, imbroglioni, saggi, ignoranti, marionette e burattinai, ladri e ubriaconi, madonne e prostitute, e tutti appaiono poi avere ben più le maschere, i tipi fissi, sembrano persone vere, molto più complesse di quanto possa apparire dalle loro terribili azioni.
Qui tutti sono colpevoli, nessuno è propriamente condannabile.