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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
There are flashes of brilliance here, but there are also pockets of sentimentality that make me cringe. I enjoyed the novel, but I have to stop short of calling it a masterpiece. I don't always agree with Vladimir Nabokov, but I think he nails it in [b:Lectures on Russian Literature|631671|Lectures on Russian Literature|Vladimir Nabokov|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328876450s/631671.jpg|956479]:
Dostoyevsky as we know is a great seeker after truth, a genius of spiritual morbidity, but as we also know he is not a great writer in the sense Tolstoy, Pushkin and Chekhov are. And, I repeat, not because the world he creates is unreal -all the worlds of writers are unreal - but because it is created too hastily without any sense of that harmony and economy which the most irrational masterpiece is bound to comply with (in order to be a masterpiece). Indeed, in a sense Dostoyevsky is much too rational in his crude methods, and though his facts are but spiritual facts and his characters mere ideas in the likeness of people, their interplay and development are actuated by the mechanical methods of the earthbound and conventional novels of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Dostoyevsky as we know is a great seeker after truth, a genius of spiritual morbidity, but as we also know he is not a great writer in the sense Tolstoy, Pushkin and Chekhov are. And, I repeat, not because the world he creates is unreal -all the worlds of writers are unreal - but because it is created too hastily without any sense of that harmony and economy which the most irrational masterpiece is bound to comply with (in order to be a masterpiece). Indeed, in a sense Dostoyevsky is much too rational in his crude methods, and though his facts are but spiritual facts and his characters mere ideas in the likeness of people, their interplay and development are actuated by the mechanical methods of the earthbound and conventional novels of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Loveable characters:
Yes
protect Aloysha at all costs <3
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
sad
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
emotional
slow-paced
At last! I have finished this book! What a slog. It picked up towards the end but a lot of it is monotonous rambling.
This translation doesn't help. The prose is ungainly. The narration and dialogue both include digressions and quirks which imply a naturalistic style, but there's nothing natural-sounding about what the translator actually gives us here.
I couldn't get any sense of a coherent narrative. The novel is full of tangents and digressions and subplots. The characters are mostly caricatures, one dimensional extremes, described in odd physical details. There's no resolution. I couldn't even work out what I was supposed to feel about anyone or any events, let alone what I do feel.
Still. I have now read a classic Russian novel. So I did get that accomplishment out of it.
This translation doesn't help. The prose is ungainly. The narration and dialogue both include digressions and quirks which imply a naturalistic style, but there's nothing natural-sounding about what the translator actually gives us here.
I couldn't get any sense of a coherent narrative. The novel is full of tangents and digressions and subplots. The characters are mostly caricatures, one dimensional extremes, described in odd physical details. There's no resolution. I couldn't even work out what I was supposed to feel about anyone or any events, let alone what I do feel.
Still. I have now read a classic Russian novel. So I did get that accomplishment out of it.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Che libro eccezionale!
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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