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A review by mollybonovskyanderson
The Idiot [With Ribbon Book Mark] by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4.0
This was a much more difficult, and unfortunately less enjoyable read for me than Crime and Punishment (and everything else pales against The Brothers Karamazov), but that said, it's still a fine work by one of my favorite writers.
I'd like to review it blind, that is, not reading other reviews first or diving into interpretations or explanations, and instead go at it purely from my impressions. Prince Myshkin is undoubtedly NOT an idiot, rather, a man who thinks and speaks freely, albeit insecurely, his innermost thoughts and his absolute truth. Of course he's received as an idiot amongst the pseudo-aristocratic Epanchins and others, because he doesn't adhere smoothly to their social graces and communication style. It took me until the very end, when Lev Nikolaivich expresses his love for both Aglaya Epanchin and Nastasya Filipovna, to really understand him; that his feelings don't make sense, and so his actions are easier to see as a result of those feelings, rather than some plan or greater intent. Aglaya, however, confuses the heck out of me because she seems to dote on the prince, then laugh in his face, send him a hedgehog, and then laugh in his face again. If she really did love him, which I'm still not sure of, she had an absolutely terrible way of showing it. It was frustrating watching the prince agonize over her, and Nastasya, who was equally horrid to him. He seemed to just take everything and, rather than stand up to these women who abused his emotions, but again, his confession to Evegeny Pavlovich towards the end, of loving both women, and seeing nothing wrong with marrying one for no other reason other than to placate her, because he was frightened of her, made his previous behavior easier to understand.
Ultimately I felt sorry for the prince, and for Rogozhin as well, who, as unlikable as he was throughout the book, was also clearly driven mad. The most interesting characters for my money were Ippolit and Elizaveta Prokovyena, rather than the prince himself.
The murder of Nastasya at Rogozhin's hands was shocking, and it was utterly surprising that the prince didn't have a stronger reaction at the outset.
This story would have been stronger for me if Dostoevsky had not left what I consider big chunks of time out, for instance, Lev Nikolaivich's time with Nastasya, when she first ran away from Rogozhin to him (I felt like pages were missing! Shouldn't that time have been integral to explaining and illustrating Nastasya's growing madness?), and instead, dwelt so much on the story of Burdovsky's attempted claim to the prince's inheritance, although that sub-plot at least introduce the raw and complicated character of Ippolit, who again, was far more interesting than any of the "main" characters.
I'd like to review it blind, that is, not reading other reviews first or diving into interpretations or explanations, and instead go at it purely from my impressions. Prince Myshkin is undoubtedly NOT an idiot, rather, a man who thinks and speaks freely, albeit insecurely, his innermost thoughts and his absolute truth. Of course he's received as an idiot amongst the pseudo-aristocratic Epanchins and others, because he doesn't adhere smoothly to their social graces and communication style. It took me until the very end, when Lev Nikolaivich expresses his love for both Aglaya Epanchin and Nastasya Filipovna, to really understand him; that his feelings don't make sense, and so his actions are easier to see as a result of those feelings, rather than some plan or greater intent. Aglaya, however, confuses the heck out of me because she seems to dote on the prince, then laugh in his face, send him a hedgehog, and then laugh in his face again. If she really did love him, which I'm still not sure of, she had an absolutely terrible way of showing it. It was frustrating watching the prince agonize over her, and Nastasya, who was equally horrid to him. He seemed to just take everything and, rather than stand up to these women who abused his emotions, but again, his confession to Evegeny Pavlovich towards the end, of loving both women, and seeing nothing wrong with marrying one for no other reason other than to placate her, because he was frightened of her, made his previous behavior easier to understand.
Ultimately I felt sorry for the prince, and for Rogozhin as well, who, as unlikable as he was throughout the book, was also clearly driven mad. The most interesting characters for my money were Ippolit and Elizaveta Prokovyena, rather than the prince himself.
The murder of Nastasya at Rogozhin's hands was shocking, and it was utterly surprising that the prince didn't have a stronger reaction at the outset.
This story would have been stronger for me if Dostoevsky had not left what I consider big chunks of time out, for instance, Lev Nikolaivich's time with Nastasya, when she first ran away from Rogozhin to him (I felt like pages were missing! Shouldn't that time have been integral to explaining and illustrating Nastasya's growing madness?), and instead, dwelt so much on the story of Burdovsky's attempted claim to the prince's inheritance, although that sub-plot at least introduce the raw and complicated character of Ippolit, who again, was far more interesting than any of the "main" characters.