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hannahholm 's review for:
The Idiot
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4.5 stars
Not so much a review as preserving some thoughts. There are lots of huge, thoughtful themes contained in the novel that I’m not even going to begin to touch on.
This book was so Russian. No other better way to describe it. It was thoughtful, funny, dark, philosophical, and ultimately tragic. It felt inconsistent—sometimes dragging—and this is the only reason it was four stars. Knowing that it was published serially and basically an experiment without an end in mind, this makes sense.
I’d heard the idea that Dostoevsky is a psychologist first and a novelist second and after reading this I get it! He captures people and their nuance of motivation in a way that somehow feels both realistic and satirically heightened.
I was interested to see that the particular type of good and gentle soul so endearing that you can’t help but love them (even as you cringe at mistakes and misunderstandings) is a Dostoevskian figure. I loved Alyosha in Brothers Karamozov and here was a similar soul in Prince Myshkin. I do think some of it is the pity-love that Myshkin talks about feeling towards Nastasia Fillipovna and the unnamed woman from his past. I loved Myshkin but as the book went on that love became more pitying. The party scene towards the end was particularly painful. Like I just want to pull him aside and gently tell him why he’s being too trusting and that others are not as accepting and kind as he thinks they are.
Questions I found myself wondering that don’t fit into these notes of mine: How would Myshkin fare in the modern era? How would the story play out differently if he was female instead? Would his goodness even stand out?
Not so much a review as preserving some thoughts. There are lots of huge, thoughtful themes contained in the novel that I’m not even going to begin to touch on.
This book was so Russian. No other better way to describe it. It was thoughtful, funny, dark, philosophical, and ultimately tragic. It felt inconsistent—sometimes dragging—and this is the only reason it was four stars. Knowing that it was published serially and basically an experiment without an end in mind, this makes sense.
I’d heard the idea that Dostoevsky is a psychologist first and a novelist second and after reading this I get it! He captures people and their nuance of motivation in a way that somehow feels both realistic and satirically heightened.
I was interested to see that the particular type of good and gentle soul so endearing that you can’t help but love them (even as you cringe at mistakes and misunderstandings) is a Dostoevskian figure. I loved Alyosha in Brothers Karamozov and here was a similar soul in Prince Myshkin. I do think some of it is the pity-love that Myshkin talks about feeling towards Nastasia Fillipovna and the unnamed woman from his past. I loved Myshkin but as the book went on that love became more pitying. The party scene towards the end was particularly painful. Like I just want to pull him aside and gently tell him why he’s being too trusting and that others are not as accepting and kind as he thinks they are.
Questions I found myself wondering that don’t fit into these notes of mine: How would Myshkin fare in the modern era? How would the story play out differently if he was female instead? Would his goodness even stand out?