Scan barcode
A review by kartrick
The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3.0
I am very much torn between 3 and 4 stars.
The flow of the story was great. The stream of consciousness style, although new to me, was enjoyable. His imaginative descriptions were vivid and beautiful, especially his recounting of the Dream! It certainly makes the reader think and reflect, so going by Anton Chekov's opinion, this story is a good work of art.
While it is not clear whether the preaching of the Ridiculous Man was something Dostoyevsky himself believed in, or was satire, I still have some criticism for the story. Interestingly, most readers disagreed with the pre-Dream Ridiculous Man and his outlook on life, and connected with the post-Dream version, while the transformation in my case was in the opposite direction. I agreed to a certain extent with his opinion that nothing really mattered in the world, possibly evidencing my slight nihilist tendencies. There is no one Truth, one is not "destined" for anything in particular. If the newfound "Purpose" in the Ridiculous Man's life was to preach of the Truth, then that is just crap to me.
First of all, the Truth is very ambiguous. What exactly is the Truth as seen in the Dream? The fact that we as humans once had all the qualities of purity, innocence and beauty? The frailty of this very nature that led to our corruption? Or that these qualities are the goal, items to be sought out in life, hence, the Purpose? Or accepting that anything seemingly perfect is vulnerable to corruption, which leads to true inner peace?
"love others as you love yourself"
While this sounds good morally, it is not something I would agree with and practice. After all, I am not inspired by the people of the Dream; it may seem blissful at first sight, but on closer inspection, at least to me, seems pathetic and more meaningless than the Ridiculous Man's life. I am one who believes that "consciousness of life is higher than life" and as such I can make no sense of being happy but unaware about everything. Existing just because I exist? Nah, not for me.
The Dream did not show me any new meaning or Purpose. It did not give me a totally new outlook on life. It did not make me look at things from a different perspective. Because, like he says, the Truth is something we all know.
I too am one of those who will ridicule the preaching Ridiculous Man.
The flow of the story was great. The stream of consciousness style, although new to me, was enjoyable. His imaginative descriptions were vivid and beautiful, especially his recounting of the Dream! It certainly makes the reader think and reflect, so going by Anton Chekov's opinion, this story is a good work of art.
"The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them."
While it is not clear whether the preaching of the Ridiculous Man was something Dostoyevsky himself believed in, or was satire, I still have some criticism for the story. Interestingly, most readers disagreed with the pre-Dream Ridiculous Man and his outlook on life, and connected with the post-Dream version, while the transformation in my case was in the opposite direction. I agreed to a certain extent with his opinion that nothing really mattered in the world, possibly evidencing my slight nihilist tendencies. There is no one Truth, one is not "destined" for anything in particular. If the newfound "Purpose" in the Ridiculous Man's life was to preach of the Truth, then that is just crap to me.
First of all, the Truth is very ambiguous. What exactly is the Truth as seen in the Dream? The fact that we as humans once had all the qualities of purity, innocence and beauty? The frailty of this very nature that led to our corruption? Or that these qualities are the goal, items to be sought out in life, hence, the Purpose? Or accepting that anything seemingly perfect is vulnerable to corruption, which leads to true inner peace?
"love others as you love yourself"
While this sounds good morally, it is not something I would agree with and practice. After all, I am not inspired by the people of the Dream; it may seem blissful at first sight, but on closer inspection, at least to me, seems pathetic and more meaningless than the Ridiculous Man's life. I am one who believes that "consciousness of life is higher than life" and as such I can make no sense of being happy but unaware about everything. Existing just because I exist? Nah, not for me.
The Dream did not show me any new meaning or Purpose. It did not give me a totally new outlook on life. It did not make me look at things from a different perspective. Because, like he says, the Truth is something we all know.
I too am one of those who will ridicule the preaching Ridiculous Man.