/lit/ - Literature

Newfag to literature.
I've started reading a bunch of Dostyovesky's stuff. I've covered C&P, Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot.
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed so I worry that a large chunk of the meaning and lessons in the books are going over my head.
My question is this, would it be a good idea to wait until I've read more and understand more, before reading the rest of his stories for the sake of understanding them better? Also, which authors/books should I read that would expediate the learning process? I had a quick poke on the wiki but it doesn't seem to have tools to help with this specific problem.

No, but this book is. As you can see from the cover, the protagonist of the book suffers from Down syndrome.