Hardcover, 776 pages
Spanish language
Published Dec. 29, 2020 by Alba.
Escrita después de Crimen y castigo y antes de Los demonios, de nuevo en un largo período de penurias, El idiota (1868-1869) inicia el ciclo final de obras maestras de Dostoievski. Como todas ellas, ha propiciado múltiples lecturas: Hermann Hesse veía como la característica fundamental de su héroe el hecho de tener «una relación con el inconsciente más íntima y menos oscura que los demás»; Antonia S. Byatt decía recientemente que «como sus cómicos antecesores don Quijote y el señor Pickwick», la suya era una «inocencia que causaba daño». En cualquier caso, la fuerza de la novela estriba en situar a un personaje cándido, inteligente y a la vez lastrado por un déficit mental, generoso y en paz consigo mismo y con las adversidades del destino, en una sociedad no tanto frívola y volcada en lo material como desquiciada por la duda, la ansiedad y la insatisfacción.
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).
