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The Idiot (Oxford World's Classics) 1St Edition
- ISBN-100192834118
- ISBN-13978-0192834119
- Edition1St Edition
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateJuly 9, 1998
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions5 x 1.25 x 7.75 inches
- Print length688 pages
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- Publisher : Oxford University Press; 1St Edition (July 9, 1998)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 688 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0192834118
- ISBN-13 : 978-0192834119
- Lexile measure : 1040L
- Item Weight : 1 pounds
- Dimensions : 5 x 1.25 x 7.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #10,068,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #36,005 in Literature
- #161,527 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #313,898 in Literary Fiction (Books)
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About the author

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (/ˌdɒstəˈjɛfski, ˌdʌs-/; Russian: Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский; IPA: [ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ dəstɐˈjɛfskʲɪj]; 11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia. Many of his works are marked by a preoccupation with Christianity, explored through the prism of the individual confronted with life's hardships and beauty.
He began writing in his 20s, and his first novel, Poor Folk, was published in 1846 when he was 25. His major works include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). His output consists of 11 novels, three novellas, 17 short novels and numerous other works. Many literary critics rate him as one of the greatest psychologists in world literature. His 1864 novella Notes from Underground is considered to be one of the first works of existentialist literature.
Born in Moscow in 1821, Dostoyevsky was introduced to literature at an early age through fairy tales and legends, and through books by Russian and foreign authors. His mother died in 1837, when he was 15, and around the same time he left school to enter the Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute. After graduating, he worked as an engineer and briefly enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, translating books to earn extra money. In the mid-1840s he wrote his first novel, Poor Folk, which gained him entry into St. Petersburg's literary circles.
In the following years, Dostoyevsky worked as a journalist, publishing and editing several magazines of his own and later A Writer's Diary, a collection of his writings. He began to travel around western Europe and developed a gambling addiction, which led to financial hardship. For a time, he had to beg for money, but he eventually became one of the most widely read and highly regarded Russian writers. His books have been translated into more than 170 languages. Dostoyevsky influenced a multitude of writers and philosophers, from Anton Chekhov and Ernest Hemingway to Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Dostoyevsky does such a marvelous job of characterizing the prince that I found myself thinking of other people I know that are similarly inept when dealing with others. I also thought about myself and times that I'd said the wrong things in front of others. Let's face it, conversing with one or two people is completely different from saying something in front of an audience or in a group / party discussion, even if its a group you know very well. The whole atmosphere changes and you have to be a bit more careful in your choice of words so that everyone understands what you're saying and also so that their attention doesn't wander. Many of us know someone who never fails to make a fool of himself / herself in these kinds of social situations, from being perhaps too talkative, too nervous, taking friendly jibes seriously, drinking too much, or what have you. The Prince is one of those people that can be completely likable as a friend, but a total embarrassment at a party or in a group discussion.
I read somewhere that Dostoyevsky was describing himself in many ways while writing about the Prince. No wonder the Prince is so astonishingly rendered; the author already knew him intimately. Dostoyevsky does an excellent job with the other characters too, though none are masterpieces like Myshkin. I particularly enjoyed reading about the hilariously different personalities within the Yepanchin family, level-headed Mr. Radomsky, pathetic Lebedev, the sinister Rogozhin, and others.
The story is great, a real page turner. A few other reviews state that the narrative starts out well and then bogs down into disappointment. I didn't think so, I was interested right up to the surprising ending (poor Prince!). I do think that Dostoyevsky need not have concocted the bizarre love triangle that he did; the novel would have been just as effective with a more conventional plot and some other focus for the Prince's compassion and pity, say a family stricken with poverty. It's the characterization of the Prince that makes "The Idiot" what it is.
Btw, I read David Magershack's translation (Penguin Classics). I can't imagine the translation being much better, it flowed so well that I could easily have been fooled into believing that it was originally written in English.
I think that because everyone says what a great book this is, we almost feel as if we too should think it's a great book. It's not. He's written much better stuff and so have other Russian authors.
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The main story is the competition between various suitors vying for the attentions of one Nastasya Fillipovna, a troubled beauty who has been cast off as a fallen women through no fault of her own. But that's summarising the plot in very simple terms as there are an abundance of characters, themes and general philosophising throughout.
Its a packed book and I didn't always remember which character was which (thank goodness for the character list at the front of my edition!) Sometimes while reading it I got a bit lost and became confused by some of the characters behaviour. This wasn't because it was a dense or difficult read, there was just a lot going on and lots of different characters that would suddenly appear. Sometimes a character would suddenly declare they hated another character before suddenly changing their mind again, they all seemed to be very fiery, there was a lot of people throwing their arms up in the air and I just couldn't keep up.
But I kept on with it and it all made sense in the end plot wise but really its not the story arch here that's so important but the conclusions brought up throughout during the dialogue and how characters react to the Prince's behaviour or philosophising. Pure Goodness does not always prevail it seems and the world cannot always accommodate the virtuous and what does that say?
I would recommend The Idiot but its one to take your time over due to the large amount of dialogue which tends to take centre stage over the plot elements (not a criticism)







