About this title: Dostoyevsky wanted to create a portrait of a "good man" in Prince Myshkin, a Christlike figure who is the heir to a large fortune and whose simple goodness has a profound impact on those around him. Myshkin's saintly impulses occasionally backfire, as when the prostitute Natasha, believing he loves her, is devastated to learn his love is only pity; she runs away with the evil Rogozhin, who murders her. At times the plot reads like a thriller, though throughout the novel Dostoyevsky probes the meaning of human suffering and the nature of true compassion. In spite of the fact that he felt he ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: New American Library, New York
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good. No dust jacket. Signed by previous owner. Text in English, Russian. xxii, 638 p. 19 cm. Signet books, CQ442.. Bibliography: p. 637-638. read more
Edition: Edition not stated.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Modern Library, New York
Date Published: 1962
Description: Robinson, Boardman. Good in good dust jacket. There is a small nick in th ecloth on the bottom edge of the rear cover, exposing the boards. An H is stamped in red on the FFEP. The text is in very good condition. The jacket is age-toned and rubbed. There is moderate wear... 586 p. [8] leaves of plates: ill.; 21 cm. Modern library of the world's best books. Includes Illustrations. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Edition: 19th
Binding: Paper
Publisher: Signet Classics, N. Y.
Date Published: 1969
Description: Cover Art. Very Good. No Jacket. Vintage Paperback. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. The cover has little to no signs of wear with the front fly missing.. read more
"About 100 pages into this book, I thought I might not love it as much as Brothers Karamazov or Notes From the Underground. I'm easily bored by Christ-figures, and the principle character Prince Myshkin is surprisingly one-dimensional for Dostoevsky. I warmed up to the book when the scandal and intrigue started to heat up, and now that I've finished it I think it's totally brilliant. Prince Myshkin is Christlike, but that's actually his flaw. Being the closest that a human can be to ideal, his divinity is not only flawed but ultimately disastrous and lacking in any of Christ's ability to redeem. The book is ultimately about the tension between abstract ideals, human brotherhood, and the much dirtier experience of living real life.
I obviously don't know anything about how The Idiot reads in Russian, but the translation of the Brothers Karamazov that I read was much easier to read than this translation. On the other hand, Pevear's introduction is excellent. I read it three times."
"This was the third in the three Dostoyevsky books I planned to read. I'm not really sure how this one snuck in alongside the more well-known pair I already read-- maybe it's Myshkin being a type, or maybe it's because it's purported to be Dostoyevsky's favorite, but it doesn't matter much now since I've read it, reason(s) be damned.
I do think it's substantially weaker than the other two. It feels really bloated to me, too much going on-- I like the character of the General (the one who is Ganya's dad), but I don't think I need him, or, let's say, Lebedev's son.... I sort of accept that the goal is to be a sort of comprehensive social portrait of Russia, or at least Petersburg, but few of the portraits hit with the kind of directness that I think would really suit that purpose. And that's putting aside the question of whether or not that sort of programmatic conceit really plays to D's strengths as a novelist.
That's not to say there's not a lot here to like. I think the character of Myshkin is fascinating and weird, that Kolya is a vivid character of a type D does really well. I like Rogozhin, and think that Ganya has more to his credit than D wants to acknowledge. But it's a lot of novel, and has the feel of being written on the fly, needing to be tightened up considerably.
That said, from a distance, I think the broader outlines lend themselves to a really awesome film pitch: a young man has been away for twenty years and must reacquaint himself with the ways of his formerly native culture, along the way running afoul of every kind of intrigue and hypocrisy. Did I mention he might not even be who he says he is? It's the root of 6 Degrees of Separation, rather directly, and less so, of Highsmith's Ripley books. It's a good hook, and maybe that excites me more than the novel that I actually read."
"Ultimately the most tragic of all Doestoevsky's work I've read to date. The story while captivating for the most part does veer off course at times for reasons which are never fully explained. Perhaps I've come to expect complete perfection from Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov, Demons and his short stories come to mind immediately, which is why this work falls just short of a perfect rating from me.
The story is about a "positevely good person", the idiot, as Doestoevsky himself wrote in a letter to his publisher. It depicts the story of a pure and innocent young man in a chaotic world full of intrigue, selfishness and even evil. While Prince Myshkin (the idiot) in his completely unselfish manner tries to appease and ensure the happiness of all those around him, especially his two romantic (if it can be even called romantic) interests, his tragic flaw is his inability to chose his own hapiness over the hapiness of others. Doestoevsky masterfully brings the story to an unforgettable climax which ultimately leads to the destruction of the protagonist and all those he tried to make happy. The ending is decidedly morose and tragic and leaves one almost stunned even if it was foreshadowed throughout.
I would recommend this book to everyone whether you've been introduced to Doestoevsky's brilliance or not."
"930 pages of nonsense. A lot of worthless writing in this book that doesn't lend itself to plot or character, but rather seems long rants of personal views of the author. Story & plotline is really wanting and not at all strong. Not great character descriptions, and leaves a lot of storyline out to include all the rants. If I could only ever put down a book I've started this wouldn't have made it past the first chapter, but I keep reading thinking surely it will get better.....alas it doesn't, and spoiler alert: The book ends right where it begins, and for no apparent reason, which is really maddening after 930 pages. Don't bother with this classic."
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