Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Beerfish
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 03 May 2016, 15:13
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Re: Fyodor Dostoevsky
The story line was quite good but as with most books I read it is the characters, especially the ancillary characters that shine. (One reason I'm such a Dickens fan.) From this book I added another character to my little internal hall of fame list in this regard, that being Porfiry Petrovich the police detective.
Another good feature of the book was that the protagonist (the ultimate anti hero) and how he should be viewed was not thrust down the readers throat, it was pretty well left up to the reader to make up your mind about him. Raskolnikov would be worth about 3 volumes in a psych study as he seemed to have almost every mental illness in the book.
I'll for sure pick up some more books from this author.
- lily_kh87
- Posts: 257
- Joined: 31 May 2016, 07:03
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 35
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lily-kh87.html
- Latest Review: Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas
- Dashkova
- Posts: 35
- Joined: 26 Aug 2016, 21:48
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Gnj wrote:I've read two of Dosteovskys novels now - Crime and Punishment & The Brothers Karamazov.
I have to go against general opinion and say that I found it difficult to enjoy these novels. The writing was nothing out of the ordinary, and I felt like I didn't get much out of the stories. I feel like I'm really missing something, given the reputation of all of these works and the fact that many of my favourite authors cite his work as their inspiration - perhaps these are novels I need to come back to when I have had a bit more 'life experience.'
All I can say for now is that when reading his novels, I don't feel like I'm reading a story as much as an essay about Psychology and Philosophy. And of course I love novels to have these types of nuggets stored inside them - but I'd rather have to go digging for them inside a well-written and in-depth story arc.
I do feel quite bad for having a negative view of such a prolific writer.. I'm just not 'getting it.'
Same. I have only read the Brothers Karamazov and it's one of the few books I could actually not bring myself to finish, I was more than halfway through it and just had to make the decision to close it and put it away on my shelf for forever(I googled how it ended lol). I have been told that the person who translated mine is known for having done a 'boring' job with it so maybe it's her fault. I do agree too that it felt more like reading philosophy and theology essays than it did an actual story and I feel like my issue with that is that it's very dated, like maybe the ideas in it were very revolutionary and ground-breaking in 1880 when it first came out but not-so-much in this day and age and so it's not very impactful for a lot of modern readers.
I'm obsessed with Russian history and it makes me too feel bad about not enjoying such a literary Russian staple but hey if something doesn't grab you, it doesn't grab you I guess.
- DATo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 5813
- Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
- Bookshelf Size: 0
― Steven Wright
- Taylor Razzani
- Posts: 319
- Joined: 08 Jan 2016, 19:56
- Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... 59294">The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books)</a>
- Currently Reading: The Bachman Books
- Bookshelf Size: 56
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-taylor-razzani.html
- Latest Review: The Hand Bringer by Christopher J. Penington
Did you ever consider reading some of his shorter works? Maybe it will be more enjoyable and it won't seem like it is dragging. I don't remember much of The Brothers Karamazov except it took me forever and it wasn't one of my favorites! Notes from the Underground was pretty good if you ever want to try again. I love Dostoevsky but I can understand that his books are really slow at times and nothing seems to be happening, so they can be tough to get through.Dashkova wrote:Gnj wrote:I've read two of Dosteovskys novels now - Crime and Punishment & The Brothers Karamazov.
I have to go against general opinion and say that I found it difficult to enjoy these novels. The writing was nothing out of the ordinary, and I felt like I didn't get much out of the stories. I feel like I'm really missing something, given the reputation of all of these works and the fact that many of my favourite authors cite his work as their inspiration - perhaps these are novels I need to come back to when I have had a bit more 'life experience.'
All I can say for now is that when reading his novels, I don't feel like I'm reading a story as much as an essay about Psychology and Philosophy. And of course I love novels to have these types of nuggets stored inside them - but I'd rather have to go digging for them inside a well-written and in-depth story arc.
I do feel quite bad for having a negative view of such a prolific writer.. I'm just not 'getting it.'
Same. I have only read the Brothers Karamazov and it's one of the few books I could actually not bring myself to finish, I was more than halfway through it and just had to make the decision to close it and put it away on my shelf for forever(I googled how it ended lol). I have been told that the person who translated mine is known for having done a 'boring' job with it so maybe it's her fault. I do agree too that it felt more like reading philosophy and theology essays than it did an actual story and I feel like my issue with that is that it's very dated, like maybe the ideas in it were very revolutionary and ground-breaking in 1880 when it first came out but not-so-much in this day and age and so it's not very impactful for a lot of modern readers.
I'm obsessed with Russian history and it makes me too feel bad about not enjoying such a literary Russian staple but hey if something doesn't grab you, it doesn't grab you I guess.
- David_Fields
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 13 Oct 2016, 23:13
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-david-fields.html
- Cyndel Maria
- Posts: 37
- Joined: 03 Mar 2017, 22:45
- Bookshelf Size: 6
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-cyndel-maria.html
- constantine265
- Posts: 46
- Joined: 01 Mar 2017, 04:12
- Bookshelf Size: 11
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-constantine265.html
- Latest Review: "(Ways to) Lucena" by Mois Benarroch
- Lincoln
- Posts: 260
- Joined: 25 Nov 2015, 11:49
- Currently Reading: The Very Loving Caterpillar
- Bookshelf Size: 48
- Publishing Contest Votes: 9
It is great. He was a master at crafting these situations, though it can be laborious to read.sweetos wrote:i just finished dostoevsky's book, "the idiot". it's amazing. it's just disappointing that not a lot of people have read this book. and it's even less popular than dostoevsky's other work, "crime and punishment". i haven't read that one but i'm sure that if people recognize c&p as one of the best classics, the idiot should receive the same recognition.
View Raven's Peak on Lincoln's website.
View Raven's Peak on Bookshelves
- Mallory Porshnev
- In It Together VIP
- Posts: 426
- Joined: 20 May 2018, 17:52
- Currently Reading: Moloka'i
- Bookshelf Size: 332
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-pricklypurple.html
- Latest Review: The Paradize Inn by Sheri O'Sullivan
- nicole-adrianne
- Posts: 165
- Joined: 03 Oct 2019, 13:25
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 25
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-nicole-adrianne.html
- Latest Review: Chubby Wubbles by M. J. Abrams
One feels like a duck, splashing around in all this wet. And when one feels like a duck, one is happy!
-
- Posts: 786
- Joined: 29 Sep 2019, 04:18
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 285
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-nickolas-farmakis.html
- Latest Review: Cynthia and Dan by Dorothy May Mercer
-
- Posts: 786
- Joined: 29 Sep 2019, 04:18
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 285
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-nickolas-farmakis.html
- Latest Review: Cynthia and Dan by Dorothy May Mercer
- Bigwig1973
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 1007
- Joined: 16 Apr 2020, 19:57
- Favorite Book: Notes from Underground
- Currently Reading: The Elements of Style
- Bookshelf Size: 503
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bigwig1973.html
- Latest Review: You, This Is Me...OVER?! by Clinton Beaudel Dooley
La Belle Dame Sans Mercy, Merci, Maria - Chartier, Keats, Hamik?