Comments on: Book review: “Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

By: eliben

eliben — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:08:06 +0000

Dmitry

It’s not at all amazing that I’m reading in Russian, given that it’s my mother tongue, as you can see here.

The version I read is almost certainly the original one, issued by АЗБУКА

By: Dmitry

Dmitry — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:54:31 +0000

When I read it, the first thing I thought is that Myshkin’s fate is a fate of the Christ in our times. But I never thought about Rohozhin as embodiment of all evil…

Also I saw the movie called “Downhouse”… it’s come kind of comedy with the same characters and the same plot as in “Idiot” but action happens is in our days. It was hard to read the book after the movie. But anyway I like the book.

It’s very amazing that you read in russian! Did you read original or adopted version?

By: avid book reader

avid book reader — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:15:27 +0000

I’m with you, I couldn’t get through the Idiot. Crime and Punishment and the Brothers Karamazov were much better, and so was Messages from Under the Floor Boards (the original title, which I think is much better). Russian writers are hard, you need to be in the right mindset to read them.

By: Ken Dyck

Ken Dyck — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:11:38 +0000

I’d also recommend The Karamazov Brothers, if you are a fan of Dostoevksy. I’ve only ever read English translations, but I enjoyed The Karamazov Brothers even more than I did the Crime and Punishment. And I, like you, enjoyed Crime and Punishment very much.

I’ve never read The Idiot, myself, so I can’t compare it to Karamazov or Crime and Punishment, but after reading your review I’m inclined to avoid it. Thanks for sharing.