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diana_eveline 's review for:
The Idiot
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
"A coward is a man who is afraid and runs away; the man who is frightened but does not run away, is not quite a coward."
This is the story of a gullible, kind-hearted Russian aristocrat, named prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, who is labelled an idiot for his child-like faith in the words and deeds of others. Some pity him but most take the opportunity to take advantage of his vulnerabilities. However, there is more to Myshkin than many think. The prince sometimes experiences revelations so profound that his mind cannot handle them and this leads to epileptic-like seizures.
The novel is quite long and not exactly made easier by the extensive list of characters with difficult foreign names. That said, that is my only negative commentary on the book. It was brilliant. The prince appears to be this clumpsy misplaced aristocrat that cannot hold his own at a social event. He is, in fact, so much more than that. His criticism on public hanging, the Roman Catholic hurch and christianity were clear evidence of that. He thinks beyond the here and now, when most of the people around him are preoccupied with their social status and appearance.
I very much favour The Idiot to Crime and Punishment. I was more invested in this character than I was in Crime and Punishment's Raskolnikov. Perhaps because I could relate more to the prince.
I consider this novel a must-read for those who are stuck in the here and now and are not afraid to face the bigger picture, even if it might be more grim than expected.
This is the story of a gullible, kind-hearted Russian aristocrat, named prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, who is labelled an idiot for his child-like faith in the words and deeds of others. Some pity him but most take the opportunity to take advantage of his vulnerabilities. However, there is more to Myshkin than many think. The prince sometimes experiences revelations so profound that his mind cannot handle them and this leads to epileptic-like seizures.
The novel is quite long and not exactly made easier by the extensive list of characters with difficult foreign names. That said, that is my only negative commentary on the book. It was brilliant. The prince appears to be this clumpsy misplaced aristocrat that cannot hold his own at a social event. He is, in fact, so much more than that. His criticism on public hanging, the Roman Catholic hurch and christianity were clear evidence of that. He thinks beyond the here and now, when most of the people around him are preoccupied with their social status and appearance.
I very much favour The Idiot to Crime and Punishment. I was more invested in this character than I was in Crime and Punishment's Raskolnikov. Perhaps because I could relate more to the prince.
I consider this novel a must-read for those who are stuck in the here and now and are not afraid to face the bigger picture, even if it might be more grim than expected.