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A review by imscrem
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Did not finish book.
2.0
DNF
I was really trying to get through this book because it was a gift from an acquaintance, but I found the pacing demotivating and couldn’t bring myself to finish. (I find this a shame, because the first 180 or so pages captivated me and I thought that it would carry on that way!)
The book was brilliant at times, but often had long stretches with barely anything happening. To me this seemed like it might in large part be due to the context of publishing (The Idiot was published serially, with stretches of time between the book's four parts, iirc). Perhaps a reader with more appreciation for 1800s Russian class culture would enjoy this more. As for me, this wasn't the right book for a fun read on my own time.
I did end up reading the Sparknotes summary, and found that quite engaging — I'd recommend that, but as for the book, not so much.
I was really trying to get through this book because it was a gift from an acquaintance, but I found the pacing demotivating and couldn’t bring myself to finish. (I find this a shame, because the first 180 or so pages captivated me and I thought that it would carry on that way!)
The book was brilliant at times, but often had long stretches with barely anything happening. To me this seemed like it might in large part be due to the context of publishing (The Idiot was published serially, with stretches of time between the book's four parts, iirc). Perhaps a reader with more appreciation for 1800s Russian class culture would enjoy this more. As for me, this wasn't the right book for a fun read on my own time.
I did end up reading the Sparknotes summary, and found that quite engaging — I'd recommend that, but as for the book, not so much.