Fun In St Petersburg - 1860's Style
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Dostoyevsky's talent is unique in that he manages to convey all the subtleties and complexities of ordinary human behaviour and social interaction in stories that are peopled almost exclusively by psychotic or psychopathic characters whose behaviour is generally absurd and over the top. "The Idiot", perhaps the most accessible of his great novels, conforms to this paradigm, telling, as it does, the story of Prince Myshkin - an epileptic youth who finds himself suddenly immersed in all the vagaries of Petersburg social life, following his return from a long sojourn at a Swiss sanatorium. Myshkin, a likeable young man, soon finds himself caught up in various love triangles, and effortlessly becomes the centre of everyone's interest - both favourable and unfavourable. The novel contains all the Dostoyevsky motifs: domestic scenes that erupt in "scandal"; characters that suddenly "rush up" to each-other for various reasons; headlong dashes from rooms where some "disgraceful" incident has just taken place; emotional outbursts that occur God knows why - it's all here. The whole thing is exceedingly entertaining, engaging and - not least - funny. Dostoyevsky is so outstandingly good a writer that it really is rather difficult to convey the wonder of it all in a mere few words. Take the plunge - you won't be disappointed.
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You won't read this in an afternoon
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This is a superb book. Yes, it's repetitive, obsessive and claustrophobic, and it's certainly not easy going. But this is a classic study of bourgeois hypocrisy, deceit and corruption, with a quite brilliant central character (prince Myshkin, The Idiot) and a supportng cast of neurotics, narcissists, snobs and exploiters to whom the prince holds up the mirror of naive honesty and depth of character.
The Idiot is a tough read, but Dostoevsky's literary genius makes it worthwhile to persevere to the end of this dark and uncompromising book.
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Inspiring
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Perhaps the only criticism I have for the book is the ending. Indeed, Dostoevsky himself seems to have been under pressure when completing the novel. It finishes in a rather undeveloped hurry and abruptness which should not be the case, judging by the quality which is emanated from its pages. Overall, however, this book is typical of the master's style with its detailed and intense psychological studies which reveal a huge amount about the characters.
What I find particularly interesting is that when the reader first picks up the book, he/she knows that the main character, Prince Myshkin, is an individual of purity and innocence as well as naivety. While this is certainly the case, it would be rather cliched to assume this and thus skip some pages. In fact, what Dostoevsky does is bring the character of Myshkin to life but he does it with the use of such powerful situations that at times, the Prince even experiences genuine anger which you wouldn't expect from a person such as himself. Indeed, do not judge him as an innocently passive person, but as one who could always advice you of the most sincere and righteous solution to any problem or question, you are in struggle to give an answer to. The character of Prince Myshkin is one that has so much perception and deep understanding that it should serve as a source of inspiration for the reader, and that's solely why it deserves 5 stars.
One cannot turn a blind eye on the cover which magnificently well-chosen. In fact, it fits perfectly with what the image of Prince Myshkin should be in your mind.
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Confused
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I've read this twice now. Once when I was around 15 and once at the age of thirty something ( yes, I'm being coy ). At the age of 15 I didn't so much read it as count the pages to the end. I hoped that maturity and wisdom of the years woudl mean I would uncover insights that had escaped my youthful self.
Sadly not. This book seems to attract mixed views - leading me to suspect that it is at best flawed. My take on it is that it's really just not that good.
OK - here's my reasons. Firstly D's use of 'patronymics'( basically alternative names for characters ) makes life very confusing. It is initially very difficult to figure out who is who. Secondly, the characters are not well realized. Much of the book is dialogue - so they are what they speak, making it hard to mentally turn them into solid objects. The reason this is important is that there are lots of characters and the result of the failings is a multitude of cipher like protagonists you care little about. Furthermore - if you don't care about them it's a long and wearing journey to the end of the book.
The behaviour of the characters is so jagged that that their actions lose coherence. They are outraged/turn white hot with anger/ecstatic in the blink of an eye, with no just cause. It's all intense, but without cause, fevered emotion for no apparent reason. You will get lines like 'suddenly the news was all over town' following a limited conversation between two people in a street. Hard to express but it's just not the way people act so I wind up not caring.
The plot is not great. If you read the intro to this edition you discover that at the end of Part One ( of four ) D. himself had no idea where the book was going. That's not a good omen, and to my mind without a target the book is directionless and without purpose. The behaviour of Nastasya is not really explained, and the ending ( involving a death ) serves only to end the book - I do not think it is a logical inevitability.
There are bad books you should read just to make up your own mind. This isn't one of them - just save your time. By the way I'm no philistine, and wholeheartedly recommend 'Crime and Punishment' - but this one - just walk on by.
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The Saint and the sinners!!!
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Reading about Prince Myshkin (the `idiot') and the characters orbiting his life felt like being imprisoned in some surreal reality game show, where the participants were infused with varying degrees of personality disorder, paranoid delusions, and fits of manic euphoria. Consequently the substance of the narrative is immersed in an oily sea of wilful gossip, self-interest and brinkmanship. For instance the birthday scene, culminating in a wrapped bundle of bank notes, nonchalantly discarded into a fire by the manipulative and power crazed Nastasya, is witnessed by a seething mass of guests itching and sweating in anxious excitement as the flames eat into the precious fortune. Along with the spectators I wanted to thrust my hand into the burning grate before all was lost. This example is one of many in the novel and Dostoevsky exhibits supreme control of the emotional forces that are thrust upon the Christ-like Prince. Indeed Myshkin often seems to be the victim yet it is his presence that dictates the destructive actions of the people around him. In this game there are no winners! An epileptic masterpiece that displays the cost of greed, uncontrollable passion and misdirected ambition.
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