The Idiot (Penguin Classics)

This edition of 'The Idiot' is really nice, very well designed and bound and for that it should get more than the three stars I gave it, but I have to admit that I'm really not liking the story. Since I'm over halfway through it I'm going to ride it out, but uggg I can't wait to finish it so I can move on to something else.

The prince tries this and winds up severely wounded. There are many issues and amazing characters. The Idiot is said to be one of the author's greatest works. I found it challenging and interesting all the way through. The Kindle edition is just fine.

Hard reading well worth the time. It happened in 19th Century Russia but could be applied in contemporary America or any other country for that matter, since the human psyche is rendered perfectly. Is religion really the theme or are corrupted minds the subject matter? Greed thrived well since,thank you very much. Love dramas Madonna/Mary Magdelene have not changed or evolved much. What is interesting is the degree of respect for women found in Russia at that time, their intellectual prowess, their place in society. I wished i had lived in this era, i'm not sure the feminism risen since the last 2 World Wars has been doing any justice to women in society. We work hard, men take us for granted, we die alone. Family values have evolved or rotten down, whatever and however you want to view it...
But it is a long read, needing a few stops to catch one's breath. Zealously religious for sure, and at its best.Incomparable, inimitable...

Russian authors seem to know better than most how to keep a reader interested. This novel almost plays out as a mystery and is hard to put down. Those who have no knowledge of French may be annoyed by the frequent use of the language. But one must remember that French was the language used by the aristocrats in Russia and translating those phrases into English would take away some of the joy of reading this book. Those addicted to so-called romance novels should really try to read this great example of literary fiction.

I bought this to revisit Dostoyevsky's exploration of the epileptic phenom, the loss of certain blocks of neuro-mind or whatever (after encountering some version myself), the dysfunction showing as naivety, innocence. My first thought this time was that D would have been totally dumbfounded by word processor vs quill, with lugubrious diversions spiralling off from each falter of thought to close it out rather than back up and strike through. Oh what a trial of patience. And oh those Russian names, the Prince, Lev Nicholayev, Mishkin, and spelling variants which may or may not be editor typos all being just some of the names for the titular idiot himself. The Russians of that time preferred to speak French, of course, but that did not help the rubble waste of names. In the third book the idiot has a fit-ramble off into hyper nationalist orthodox religion; I have not followed up to see whether critics put this down to D's own rabid melancholic nationalism, or it is thought intended to take a saintly edge off the idiot and relate him to D's Devils, etc. This book is a trial, an effort with dubious rewards. And a bad translation: too many sentences where one stops to reconstruct a piece of clumsiness before moving on, wondering if they were faithfully rendering a piece of D klutziness or taking time out to walk the dog. Constance Garnett is still preferable in the other D books.

The book is spell binding and as always Dostoyevsky goes deep into the psychological makeup of the main character. The only thing is that the book was written, trying to meet a deadline or the translation left something to be desired, but the writing was a little disjointed and not flowing like the other works by the same author.

Dostoyevsky has taken a simple story line - an epileptic thought to be an idiot because others fail to understand the nature of his illness - and has woven it into a novel of intrigue.

In it, he skillfully delves deeply into psychology, sociology, philosophy, theology, and the politics of 19th Century Russia without belaboring the point of any.

His characters, which are many and varied, come to life in their contrasting perspectives on life, social status and interactions with each other.

And, of course, there is the element of love and romance, both offered and rejected.

What appealed to me most in this novel is the virtue of the central character, Prince Muishkin, and how he epitomizes the Idiot in each of us; i.e., how our best intentions at social etiquette often fall short. Add to that the irony: Though far more noble than any of the others, the Prince is taken for granted, ridiculed and called an idiot.

My only disappointment was that I had hoped for a happy ending. Oh, well ...

As a personal testimony to my estimation of Dostoyevsky's work, I read it twice.

Anyone who enjoys the great of Russian writing from the 19th century will surely enjoy this book. I found the antagonizing of the main character to be humorous and the aristocratic wit to be refreshing. This book explore the more bare bone side of the pitfalls of even some of the highest standing people in society. A great read.

Probably my dozenth book or short(er) story by Dostoyevsky. Not one of my favorites. I found the characters quite uninteresting and unlikable other than the "mad" girl, and she was hardly in the book prior to the final part. It often seemed bizarre. Someone tries to kill someone, five pages later they're talking and on essentially fine terms. Someone leaves someone to marry someone else, then leaves that person to marry the initial betrothed, then leaves the initial again for the other person. Then the other person murders her. The main character loves this girl, then that girl, then he's not sure if he loves anyone, but he's going to marry this person in any case, even though he was only just engaged to another whom he purportedly loved with all his heart.
Plot twists are one thing, but I imagine this as something like what a younger child would write. No sensical transitions, no subtlety or build up, just random contorting and derangement of the story. "Bathos" comes to mind. Almost feels like the preceding 450 pages were written by a completely different author than the final 100. In some sense the chaos and turmoil is a fine way to and was probably indeed intended to express the lability and sort of madness inherent in human nature, but it was for me ultimately way too long of a book to invest the time in considering how boring and ridiculous it was.

Equal in psychological depth to Dostoyevsy's best novels, though distinctly different in its study of innocence from the more violent explorations of nihilism in Crime and Punishment and the Brothers K. A vivid, masterful translation

The great Russian classic challenges the definition of success as well as our evaluation of the appearance of failure. Prince Myshkin, the novel's "idiot," is in fact its hero: a person without guile.

The great Russian classic challenges the definition of success as well as our evaluation of the appearance of failure. Prince Myshkin, the novel's "idiot," is in fact its hero: a person without guile.

There is a difference between an unhelpful review and one you simply just don't agree with. Before hitting the "unhelpful" button on my review, why not actually read what I have to say and see if you can possibly think that I might have a point. In any case, I did spend the time reading the entire book and did express my sincere opinion, so if you can't bring yourself to hit the "helpful" button, just do nothing. OK?

Sorry Russian Lit fans, but I really did not like this book. It was tedious for the most part, and the dialogue left much to be desired to put it mildly. When I got to the end, I was relieved to be done with the book, but even the ending was not very good. If there was a real point to this book, I just didn't see it.

I'd say skip this one. I'm giving it 2 stars, and I feel that I am being very generous.

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volonkhonsky's translation provides English readers, maybe for the first time, a glimpse at the visual artistry of story telling through the masterful use of language. What, for a moment, would it take for a Russian to embrace the language in William Faulkner? This is what the Vintage Classic of Dostoevsky's The Idiot accomplishes. Translation not only of words and themes and tone, but a holistic reading.

Don't believe me? Begin, then, from the first words and you will, like the taste of fine wine, discover the world as seen through Fyodor's ability to tell a story like no other.

I took this along for an airplane business trip. While waiting at the gate, my companions finally had to interrupt my reading to ask what I was giggling at. They were expecting something a little less classical.