Paperback, 648 pages
English language
Published April 2014 by Alma Books.
After spending several years in a sanatorium recovering from an illness that caused him to lose his memory and ability to reason, Prince Myshkin arrives in St Petersburg and is at once confronted with the stark realities of life in the Russian capital - from greed, murder and nihilism to passion, vanity and love. Mocked for his childlike naivety yet valued for his openness and understanding, Prince Myshkin finds himself entangled with two women in a position he cannot bring himself to resolve.
Dostoevsky, who wrote that in the character of Prince Myshkin he hoped to portray a "wholly virtuous man", show the workings of the human mind and our relationships with others in all their complex and contradictory nature. Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters, from the beautiful, self-destructive Nastasya Filippovna to the dangerously obsessed Rogozhin and the radical student Ippolit, The Idiot is one of Dostoevsky's most …
After spending several years in a sanatorium recovering from an illness that caused him to lose his memory and ability to reason, Prince Myshkin arrives in St Petersburg and is at once confronted with the stark realities of life in the Russian capital - from greed, murder and nihilism to passion, vanity and love. Mocked for his childlike naivety yet valued for his openness and understanding, Prince Myshkin finds himself entangled with two women in a position he cannot bring himself to resolve.
Dostoevsky, who wrote that in the character of Prince Myshkin he hoped to portray a "wholly virtuous man", show the workings of the human mind and our relationships with others in all their complex and contradictory nature. Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters, from the beautiful, self-destructive Nastasya Filippovna to the dangerously obsessed Rogozhin and the radical student Ippolit, The Idiot is one of Dostoevsky's most personal and intense works of fiction.
Got about a third through and realized there are so many books in the world that are not boring or written by christian supremacist, anti-semitic, nationalistic schmucks. I think I'll go read one of them.
Great work!
Although reading it was a bit tedious sometimes and it took me about a month to finish, it is really worth it. Many times I had to put down the book and reflect about what I just read and it's deeper meaning. A book that made me think and grateful.
It certainly takes some effort to get through this book, but it's worth it. Nothing much seems to happen and some parts are quite tedious (e.g. some of the long speeches), but in the end, I found I wanted to read through to see what would happen to the prince and the other characters next.
However, the story did sometimes get confusing due to the large array of characters that are frequently called by different names (according to the Slavic customs) and the quite archaic English translation (I was certainly happy with the built-in dictionary of my e-reader).
