Dostoyevsky

Any fans?

I loved The House of the Dead and The Idiot.

Karamazov bored me though.

Just curious.

I read Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov (my favourite!), Crime and Punishment, and The Gambler.

There are at lest two theatrical version of TBK: one made in Hollywood, starring Yul Brunner, and one made in the Soviet Union; the latter one is the better one.

Yes, I'd consider myself as a fan.

The Brothers Karamazov is my favorite novel (until I read some other thick novel all the way through, I'm sure).  But yes, definitely.  When I was reading Ivan's conversation with Alyosha in 'the Grand Inquisitor', it was around 3 in the morning, and I sensed that I'd happened onto something extremely important.  Later I learned that that segment of the book was important to Freud, and is sometimes published individually in minute editions.  Also, Notes from Underground beats The Stranger (fucking dull) for an existentialist novella any day.  For a time, I resisted the general consensus that Brothers Karamazov was his greatest work, preferring the psychological tension of Crime and Punishment.  However, for the most part, every philosophical or theological 'germ' present in the latter is expanded upon more fully in the former ('all are responsible for all', contemplation of damnation, etc).  And yes, while the whole latter half of the novel basically focuses on the minutae of Dmitri's trial, a number of things redeem it.  Someday I'll sit down, read an anthology of his short stories, re-read (or read) 'the big four'-Crime and Punishment, TBK, The Idiot, and Demons, and then AFTER that I'll read Mikhail Bahktin's theory of Dostoevsky's work.

One of the things that blows me away about him is that he's a religious man working at a historically distant period from myself, and he still generates thought experiments which resonate with agnostic me-and in spite of this, he is faithful.    He has a complete understanding of the heathen's point of view, you might say.  -York

I have it sitting on my shelf.  Convince me to open it.

The Brothers Karamazov has to be the most mind-numbingly boring novel I have ever laid my hands on, and is probably the only novel I decided not to finish reading in the last five years. I bought it on a whim because I remembered a friend saying he loved it and I was utterly disappointed.

I read a couple hundred pages and got bored. I'm sure I'd appreciate it if I could finish it, but I wouldn't exactly recommend reading it, since it's the sorta book that's more difficult to pick up than to put down.

'ah.. Crime and Punishment.  Dostoevsky.. The mad russian.  Good stuff.. good stuff. you know-'

'you're not gettting the $26 and you're despicable for trying.'

old thread is old

I've started reading The Double and it's alright so far, much better than Notes from Underground which I had to give up on. I notice that Dosty has a penchant for creating deeply unlikable characters who seem insane rather than misguided and weak rather than exhausted. It's hard to care enough to keep reading, really.

>>9
Which of his other novels have you read? I must confess, and perhaps this is blasphemy on 4chan, but Notes from the Underground is my least favorite of the ones I've read.

I really loved Crime and Punishment, picked up The Brothers K. enjoyed the first 50 pages, but then started reading The Idiot which I think I loved even more than C&P. But finishing that, now I just want some light 'easy' reading...for now.

House of the Dead is fucking awesome. Crime and Punishment and Karamazov are okay, but they're too DEEEEP for their own good. They both, and especially Karamazov Brothers, often stop being entertaining, and that's a flaw.

I enjoyed The Idiot the most; The rest I found rather boring, though well written enough I enjoyed reading them nonetheless.

I've only read C&B and Bros. K., and I really liked both. The Brothers Karamazov stretched on for a long time, but there was a lot of beautiful writing in there and the DEEP spiritual stuff made it interesting. I liked how all the different parts of the story came together as a coherent whole.