/lit/ - Literature

>>16253850
Which parts were good and which parts were boring?

I enjoyed Crime and Punishment more for an intro to Dosteovsky

>>16253921
Oops oe

>>16253900
I found the parts with Alexei to be most interesting. The parts with dmitri and his trial were the most boring. Ive read an interpretation that the brothers each represent a different aspect of man. Alexei being the spirit, ivan the intellect and dmitri the animal. I guess it makes sense as I would identify most with alexei.

>>16253921
Yeah ive heard a lot of people say that as well

>>16253850
Your are right about it being boring, Dostoevsky is repetitive at times. The more you read him, more dejavu moments you will have and more boring it will get. Imho, he is the most overrated writer ever. Unfortunately I realized it only when I started writing senior thesis on him.

>>16253954
I guess the novel that relates to Ivan's concern the most is Demons and the one that relates to Alexei's concern the most is The Idiot.

>>16254011
>Dostoevsky is repetitive at times. The more you read him, more dejavu moments you will have and more boring it will get
example?

>>16253850
If you haven't read it twice you haven't read it.
I'd say you're probably just young and not a brainlet. Unless you're not young. This book takes life experience to truly understand. And read it twice.
The Idiot is probably his best work after TBK.
The Possessed (don't fall for the 'Demons' Pevear meme) is also up there.
Next is probably Crime and Punishment.
Humiliated and Insulted is hugely underrated and very accessable, maybe more up your alley.

>>16254301
>don't fall for the 'Demons' Pevear meme
heh XD le pevearsion XDDD "spiteful" ;))) not "wicked" ;DDD

Bought this with CP. Going to start after I read Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Read Notes, liked it.

I assume both are way less dense than Notes' rambling?

>>16254301
>don't fall for the 'Demons' Pevear meme
the title literally means "Demons" and while "The Possessed" is a cool title it completely changes the meaning (demons are "the possessors")

I agree but I liked different parts. I thought the murder and the trial were excellent but it did drag in other places. My issue with Dostoyevsky is that he is purported to explore these profound philosophical ideas but this just isn't the case. I used to teach an undergraduate philosophy class and they would have more interesting discussions than you will find in TBK. It is a fantastic novel, of course, I just feel that the philosophical elements weren't interesting enough to warrant their length. Tolstoy is the same in Karenina. The narrative is wonderful but Levin's internal conflict towards the end is again something that I've heard an 18 year old undergrad student come up with. There's no issue with the character having such thoughts of course but they are too dull to be such a large chunk of the book. It is something that anyone over 25 with a kid or two has already considered and digested over a long car ride. Both Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky in are phenomenal novelists but they aren't philosophers, and that's why their books drag in places

>>16254595
theres not even that much raw philosophy in the book. maybe 20-30 pages, the rest is just casual one-liner comments strewn into the plot by the characters.

>>16253850
Not a brainlet. As others have said, parts of it get dull

>>16253850
Should have started with notes from the underground

>>16254301
I'm 24 so not sure if that is young or not

i think a lot of it will go over your head, the first time you read dostoevsky. read some more and go back to it, idk. i'm still doing the legwork, in that regard.

>>16255772
I was 22 when I first read it and I loved it. I've since re read it at 30 and I thought it was good but not brilliant. As has been said, the philosophical discussuon really isn't worth much beyond a college freshman level so that got tedious for me second time around. I think if you found parts dull it has nothing to do with a lack of understanding. Some of it is just a bit dull

>>16253850
You're not a brainlet, it's Dostoevsky and his poor literary skill.

>>16253850
It was published in serial, he drags on so he can get paid for each installment. You could totally just read an abbreviated version but I can't bring myself to do it because I get FOMO

I just finished Demons and it looked to me that it was longer than it needed to be. There are some parts that have no connection to the plot (e.g. the duel part)

>>16257274
>There are some parts that have no connection to the plot (e.g. the duel part)
Uh, wasn't that a pretty major plot point?

>>16257312
how?

>>16257317
Honoring the duel by showing up but intentionally missing to avoid killing seems important character development.