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dcrlinqhana 's review for:
The Idiot
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
5 ⭐️
Reading The Idiot was, at different moments, unsettling, funny, and maddening. I won’t pretend otherwise; this book is exhausting. Not because it lacks substance (though it does occasionally drag), but because it is emotionally and structurally overwhelming—it took me almost 2 months to complete! The characters are almost like psychological puzzles. Rogohzin, for example, is a violent man and is possessed by a warped vision of beauty that confuses love with control. Nastasya Filippovna believes that she is ruined but desires dignity. Then there’s Prince Myshkin, our beloved protagonist and the so-called “idiot,” who is, paradoxically, the only true sane character in the novel. He is a Christ figure placed in a society that doesn’t know how to respond to radical compassion. Structurally, the novel is reminiscent of a soap opera. People are shouting at eachother and throwing fits with emotional breakdowns. There are even romantic entanglements. But to dismiss the book as a mere melodrama undermines its deeper meaning. The Idiot endures not for its convoluted plot but for its moral ambition. Dostoevsky isn’t just telling a story; he is conducting a philosophical experiment. What would happen if Christ entered the 19th century? Well, it results in clash between Christian kenosis and a utilitarian, pride driven society.
Prince Myshkin famously said, “Beauty will save the world.” Dostoevsky pushes us to ask, what kind of beauty redeems? It is not the cold and lustful beauty that drives people to Nastasya, but the beauty which lies in Myshkin’s acts of mercy, his refusal to judge others, and his insistence on seeing every person as an end in themselves. What Dostoevsky is getting at is that beauty and morality are inherently tied together (referring to the Christian doctrine of transcendentals). Truth and goodness (the other two facets of the doctrine) are often viewed as too moralizing or inconvenient, but beauty affects us universally and viscerally, without opposition or resistance. Beauty captivates our hearts and is felt deeply and immediately, which is why it will save the us all.
In the end, The Idiot is a tragedy. Not because Myshkin (or Christ) fails but because the world fails him. It ends with collapse of relationships and sanity. Although there is no happy ending, it is a meaningful and thought-provoking tale that I would recommend to all.
Reading The Idiot was, at different moments, unsettling, funny, and maddening. I won’t pretend otherwise; this book is exhausting. Not because it lacks substance (though it does occasionally drag), but because it is emotionally and structurally overwhelming—it took me almost 2 months to complete! The characters are almost like psychological puzzles. Rogohzin, for example, is a violent man and is possessed by a warped vision of beauty that confuses love with control. Nastasya Filippovna believes that she is ruined but desires dignity. Then there’s Prince Myshkin, our beloved protagonist and the so-called “idiot,” who is, paradoxically, the only true sane character in the novel. He is a Christ figure placed in a society that doesn’t know how to respond to radical compassion. Structurally, the novel is reminiscent of a soap opera. People are shouting at eachother and throwing fits with emotional breakdowns. There are even romantic entanglements. But to dismiss the book as a mere melodrama undermines its deeper meaning. The Idiot endures not for its convoluted plot but for its moral ambition. Dostoevsky isn’t just telling a story; he is conducting a philosophical experiment. What would happen if Christ entered the 19th century? Well, it results in clash between Christian kenosis and a utilitarian, pride driven society.
Prince Myshkin famously said, “Beauty will save the world.” Dostoevsky pushes us to ask, what kind of beauty redeems? It is not the cold and lustful beauty that drives people to Nastasya, but the beauty which lies in Myshkin’s acts of mercy, his refusal to judge others, and his insistence on seeing every person as an end in themselves. What Dostoevsky is getting at is that beauty and morality are inherently tied together (referring to the Christian doctrine of transcendentals). Truth and goodness (the other two facets of the doctrine) are often viewed as too moralizing or inconvenient, but beauty affects us universally and viscerally, without opposition or resistance. Beauty captivates our hearts and is felt deeply and immediately, which is why it will save the us all.
In the end, The Idiot is a tragedy. Not because Myshkin (or Christ) fails but because the world fails him. It ends with collapse of relationships and sanity. Although there is no happy ending, it is a meaningful and thought-provoking tale that I would recommend to all.