Customer Reviews

The Adolescent (Everyman's Library)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Adolescent (also known as A Raw Youth) is the least well-known of the five long novels written by Dostoevsky from 1866 to 1880. Briefly, it deals with a 19-year old illegitimate youth, Arkady Dolgoruky, who comes to Petersburg to join his family, which he barely knows because he was shipped off to boarding school throughout his childhood. In the brief time during which the action takes place, he becomes embroiled in the intrigues surrounding his family and its close acquaintances, culminating in a blackmail scandal surrounding a letter which the young widow Katerina Akhmakov (with whom both Arkady and his father Andrei Versilov are in love) had written a couple years earlier which expresses her interest in having her wealthy, aging, and mildly senile father declared insane--she is expected to be disinherited if her father finds out about the letter.

The greatest strength of the novel, to my mind, lies in its intriguing characters. In particular, both Arkady and Versilov are rather deeply probed, and instead of hastily fitting into certain types as can often be seen in Dostoevsky's work, they both emerge as extremely complicated individuals pulled by multiple conflicting forces, and their confusion about themselves and the world around them is a superb reflection of the confusing atmosphere that prevailed in Russia in the 1870s (and in Arkady's case, also the confusion inevitable for a 19 year-old young man with no strong roots). In addition, the cast of female characters is probably as strong and diverse as I've seen any of Dostoevsky's works (with the possible exception of The Idiot), and the saintly old Makar (Arkady's mother's husband and hence his legal father) is an excellent precursor to Zosima from The Brothers Karamazov.

The plot, though, leaves a bit to be desired, and that's probably why The Adolescent is less noted than its sister novels. Part of the problem, I suppose, is that the fate of a letter is not quite as interesting a thing to center a novel around as murder (as in Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov), radical political mayhem (as in The Possessed), or a meek hero's Christian love for humanity (as in The Idiot and, to an extent, Karamazov again). Also, Dostoevsky inserts a few too many somewhat implausible plot twists (in particular, characters randomly run into each other in the street so often that you'd think Petersburg was no bigger than a small village), and the whole plot, especially the ending, is really quite melodramatic.

The weak plot doesn't prevent The Adolescent from being a very engrossing novel (and as an aside I might mention that translator Andrew MacAndrew's introduction is the best introductory essay I've read to any of Dostoevsky's works). If you're a Dostoevsky fan, consider it required reading; if you're not, you'll probably still enjoy it, but I'd say that The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot share most of its strengths and have more to offer overall, so you should read those first.

Written before The Brothers Karamazov in the later part of his life, this novel again demonstrates the Russian masters ability to meld heavy characterizations with the Dark vs. Light moral and spiritual conflict. Again somewhat autobiographical(as many readers are already aware of this pattern), the story concerns a 19 year old bastard son of a cultured nobleman and a simple peasant wife. Determined to break his awkward social position, since he is the son of an ambiguously respected man yet cannot carry his namesake, Arkady begins an intellectual and moral quest to discover more about himself, his dichotomic parents and the people most closely with which they are entangled. Yet beginning to burn beneath the surface are other queries as well: his attraction to an older woman whom he knows is maybe linked romantically to his father, his mysterious "other father"(his mothers' serf husband until her affair with Arkady's father ended that, yet he carries this man's name), and a dangerously rebellious group of young men that succeed in rousing his moral and intellectual curiosity. Beautifully complex in its many layers, I believe this particular novel of Dostoevsky most vividly displays the authors genius. He is an artist who can only be compared to the best the world has ever known. Russia's most prolific artist ever, PERIOD. Also, not to go unmentioned, Macandrews' translation is by far the best I've ever found for any of Dostoevskys work, PERIOD. If you have never gotten around to reading any of the many great 19th century Russian novels, I recommend this novel with the highest possible honors.

I picked up this book not knowing much about it and not having read any of the reviews here on Amazon. Being a big Dostoyevsky fan and having read most of his other books multiple times, my first thought after reading about 20 pages into The Adolescent was, "why didn't I read this sooner!" What I like most about Dostoyevsky is his ability to develop such vivid characters, mostly through dialogue. In this book, the eponymous main character is also the narrator (the book is meant to be his memoirs) so the reader gets an even deeper insight into character. We get to read how the young man wants and intends to behave, and then we get to see him repeatedly fail to come across as the dignified adult he wants to be as he behaves more like the adolescent he is. It's often pretty funny--I found this book far more humorous than Dostoyevsky's others.

That being said, I agree with the other reviewers that some of Dostoyevsky's other books are probably a better place to start for people who have read none of his books. I think of Crime and Punishment as being the best introduction. Any of his more well-known books gives a more fully-explained intro to his thinking and style and will probably make The Adolescent a more enjoyable read.

Without doubt one of his great novels. It is the second time i've read it in quiet awhile and am struck by how modern it really is. The narrative structure of using Arkady as the story teller helps explain the rushed, uneven and feverish pace at with the book unfolds: but it is an example of the blending of form and content. All Dostoevsky's great themes are here but on a smaller scale. The novel is a clear example of a great writer warming up to the themes and ideas that he was to explore fully in his next work and masterpiece, 'The Bros K.' 'The Adolescent' is an excellent introduction to the thematics and style of the world's greatest novelist

The Adolescent must, in my opinion, be acknowledged one of Dostoevsky's masterpieces. The Adolescent, Dostoevsky's second-to-last novel, stands on par with The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, Crime & Punishment, Devils, and Notes from Underground.

It difficult for me to understand why some critics have dismissed The Adolescent as a substandard work, or, as is the case in some instances, why others have omitted entirely a discussion of the novel in their critical works.

The plot centers around the narrator Arkady, who, having graduated from High-School, arrives in Petersburg to become acquainted for the first time with Petersburg society, as well as with his biological family, with whom he had had very little contact with since the days if his early childhood. Arkady is an illegitimate son: his father a nobleman; his mother a former household serf.

Adding to the drama is the fact that when Arkady arrives in Petersburg he has with him a sought-after document that could be used to extort and control several important people. One such person is the beautiful and enchanting Katerina Nikolaevna, with whom Arkady and his father, Verislov are both madly in love.

Similar to all of Dostoevsky's great novels, the greatness of The Adolescent is not in the actually plot, but rather, is a result of the deeply insightful, brutally honest and endlessly fascinating portrayal of man and society.

The most noticeable difference in The Adolescent is the narrative form. The novel is written in the first-person, expressing the point of view of the Adolescent himself.

Another difference in The Adolescent is that it does not contain the absolute forms of personality-types that are prominent in the other major novels. This is true more for Arkady than for Verislov. Instead one finds layered hybrids and a more ordinary

As a result of these differences -- which, by the way, I consider to be a great strength of this novel -- one will find that the character of the adolescent (that is, of Arkady Makarovich Dolgoruky) offers the most in-depth, most layered, and above all the most realistic psychological portrait of Dostoevsky's entire literary output. In Arkady one finds traces of a number of Dostoevskian character-types, i.e.: the Underground Man, Prince Myshkin, and Aloysha Karamazov. Yet, unlike those characters, Arkady is a much more ordinary, familiar and altogether realistic character in terms of both his personality and the circumstances in which he is to observed.

If you are new to Dostoevsky, I recommend starting with Crime and Punishment and then moving on to The Brothers Karamazov. If you enjoyed those books and find yourself left wanting more, then The Adolescent, in my opinion, would be a good place to turn and is sure to be an enjoyable and memorable reading experience.

First things first: this is not a book for the faint of heart. There are four or five suicides, two affairs, and one character with a split personality. Also, I'm actually thirteen. I just don't like to give out my e-mail address.

Arkady Dolgoruky is the narrator of the story. He accidently becomes embroiled in a nasty (and rather strange) blackmail plot.

The narrator is very sympathetic, as are his mother, his sister, and several other characters. The portrayal of an adolescent is quite convincing (to my mind) especially as it was written by a fifty-two - year - old man! The narrator has a disgusted, confused, almost dreamy, air to his voice, making for a rather pleasant read.

While the chacters are well drawn, I have to concede that the plot is not the best. Dostoyevsky can do better (and it pains me to critisize the master).

The translater can do better, too. Some parts are so confusing, it's hard to tell who is being introduced. I couldn't tell who le grand dadais was until I read the epilogue!

That said, though, this book really does deserve to be noticed. Why should such a valueable work by such a valueable author be so ignored?

The Adolescent, previously translated as A Raw Youth, came after all of Fyodor Dostoevsky's great novels except his masterpiece The Brothers Karamazov yet has long been considered minor. Indeed, it not only failed to enter the world canon but had long been hard to find in English before this recent translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, the Russian to English translators now most in vogue. Pevear's Introduction seems determined to rescue the book from the critical gutter; he has legitimate points and argues well but is not quite convincing, though he and his wife did at least succeed in getting renewed readership. In the view of this long-time Dostoevsky fan, the novel does deserve more readers and acclaim but is clearly below his major work. Fans will of course want it, as his genius was simply too great to be held back, and those not normally fond of him may be pleasantly surprised by this generally uncharacteristic work.

The novel is essentially a bildungsroman and is quite successful on this front - is indeed one of the popular genre's most underrated entries. Even its many critics have long praised its believably detailed and forcefully presented picture of adolescence, and Arkady, the troubled nineteen-year-old intellectual protagonist, has particular verisimilitude. It has often been said that this was the most convincing adolescence depiction before The Catcher in the Rye, which is truly high praise. Arkady was a more or less representative young Russian male, and many initial readers no doubt found him very relatable. However, since so much of adolescence is universal, his experience still speaks to many across decades and cultures; few cannot relate to his doubts and uncertainties, and even fewer will be unable to sympathize. He is essentially like any young man struggling to find an identity and place in the world. That he is not put on a pedestal makes him easy to relate to and gives much of his appeal. Arkady has many conventionally admirable qualities, not least intelligence and ambition, but is also often impulsive and reckless in a way very familiar to anyone who has dealt with promising but undisciplined youth. However, he learns much in the course of the book and comes to a sort of equilibrium after the dramatic climax, rounding out the classic bildungsroman pattern. That Dostoevsky was able to write all this so plausibly despite being well past middle age and not having such an upbringing himself is a true testament to his artistry.

Many will see the similarities between Arkady and Crime and Punishment's more famous Raskolnikov, and the book is in many ways a less serious version of Crime. Like that novel, it is highly influenced by Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, particularly its dramatization of the intellectual conflict and larger generation gap between Arkady and his father. They symbolize their generations, making the discussion relevant to Russia in a larger sense. This is now of course mostly of historical interest, but associated domestic issues like responsibility of fathers toward children will surely always be relevant and also hinted at what was to come in The Brothers.

The weakness is primarily in the plot - or lack of one. The bildungsroman format gives a framework of sorts, but much of the action is essentially episodic, which is fine with some but rankles many. Execution is also less than deft, with an overreliance on coincidences, chance meetings, etc. Above all, though, much of what happens is simply uninteresting in itself, though Arkady's thoughts and the greater significance usually make it worthwhile. Finally, the more conventionally exciting bits - e.g., the mysterious letter - are so highly wrought as to be melodramatic. It is very possible that this is intentional - Dostoevsky's way of showing Arkady's, and thus youth's, exaggerated self-absorption -, but most will be unconvinced as to its artistry.

As all this suggests, the novel is considerably less serious than usual. There is a certain lightness to much of the material and significantly more humor than one would expect - though, being Dostoevsky, the humor is very black. This may disappoint some fans but could well be a surprising delight to others, while it is one of several factors that could attract those usually averse to Dostoevsky. Less debatable is the lack of philosophical dramatization that is one of his hallmarks; this certainly does not tackle the weighty issues of thought and theology that his best works do. His other hallmark - psychological perspicuity - is here in full force, which atones to a large degree, but it is hard not to miss the heavier elements.

All told, anyone who likes Dostoevsky should read this, though all his major works should be read first, while those who have read a novel or two and not been particularly thrilled may wish to skip to it.

The novel is good, though it drags, sometimes like a soap opera, and finally after 300 pages[which consisted of a lengthy introduction to the St. Petersburg society of The Adolescent's(Arkady Dolgorky) friends, family, and acquaintances] begins to take form. The novel seems to survive like any good story, on the "idea" as Dostoyevsky puts it. The relatibility of Arkady, as a 18-19 year old searching for himself and his identity, which has been confused due to his own illegitimacy of familial relations, is striking and moving. The author's portrayal even in his old age of adolescenthood reflects the author's love of children and acknowledges that even in his old age, he never lost touch with the innocence of our youth. Anybody who tells you this book is not representative of the days of youth is in denial, because though it is far from pretty at times, it is honest.
The novel has many twists and turns, a variety of seemingly unimportant subplots, that in the end serve to further strengthen the emotional bond between the reader and the characters. Though the author sometimes sweeps you away too much, he always brings you back down to earth. The narrator's search for his identity and an answer to the questions that have haunted him since his childhood lend the novel to everyone. We all have questions about the early years of lives, the brighter days some might say, and Dostoyevsky shows us in many ways to how to find them; how to resolve ourselves to those we love. Being adopted at the age of 6, I often wonder a great many things about my birth parents, and the Adolescent taught me something fundamental about my own relationships with my family. As the novel is so presented in the introduction as a "family novel" to prove the genre is not dead. Though sometimes the lessons are hard to apply into my life, I was still moved. And I think anyone who is "wandering" will find many answers about their soul in the Adolescent, if only they exert patience and openness on their reading of the novel. Nothing greater than the speck of light that shines at the end of the tunnel.

If you judge this book on plot and style - you would probably be inclined to toss it after the first hundred pages. However, plot and style are not parts of what modern art is all about. Every reader is, essentially, a passive consumer, sometimes endowed with a degree of healthy curiosity. And every writer's goal today, in my opinion, is to penetrate deeply into the heart and mind of such a consumer, shake him up, wake him up from his slumber, and, if possible inspire him to "create". Not to the extent of turning him into a writer, but at least into a "co-creator", raise a storm in the reader's soul, so that both the writer and the reader now participate in building this amazing world that only a human mind can build.

Dostoyevsky achieves this par excellence. The long and tedious phrases, the weird characters, their strange, bizarre actions, their mood swings from one extreme to the next within a sentence, and, above all, the grotesque that this novel is saturated with to such an extent, I am almost tempted to call it a farce.

Above all, if one were to think about it in context of modern Russia, one would be shocked at how nothing has changed in more than a century.

If, when you pick up a book, you seek entertainment - don't pick up this book. If, however, you like to embark on self-exploration rollercoaster rides, then, by all means, buckle up!

This book is certainly one of dostoevsky's best. I have read this in a fairly late time in my life (aged 21) but still managed to identify rather easily and completely with the young protoganist (19 years old). The movie contains some very suspensful scenes and a very suspenseful intriguing plot, even more than in the other great dostoevsky novels. it had been said that 'idiot' had enough plots for 4 books, 'devils' had enough plots for 7 and 'the adolescent' for 9 or 10. They say Dostoevsky tried to form in this book the literary figure of chaos, which he managed alright! The book is still very intriguing, only the plots are a bit to messy, which leaves less place for dostoevsky's philosophy than in his other great masterpieces such as 'Idiot', 'Devils', and 'Brothers Karamazov' or even 'Crime and punishment' or 'Notes from underground'. Containing a very apt description of an adolescent soul, this book was indeed 80 years ahead of the 'cathcer in the rye' as some people claimed, and for me Arkady Dulgoruky is probably an even more interesting character than Holden Cauldfield. Also containing some very interesting, abstract discourses, and very moving rurals tales (as expected from dostoevsky). If you love Dostoevsky you can't go wrong with this one, it contains all the factors that made him my favorite writer - but if you haven't read 'devils' 'Brothers Karamazov' or 'Idiot' : read them first as they are this book's superiors.