/lit/ - Literature

it didnt

for me it certainly helped broaden my perspective and made me a little less closed minded I think, and I suppose I can see that sort of experience having a sort of revelatory effect on some people

>>18065348
Have yet to read it. I've read C&P, currently reading The Gambler. Should I read more (of Dosto) before getting into this one?

>>18065863
I think most people do Notes>C&P>Brothers K and read other works after. I'd highly highly recommend Notes from Underground tbhfam

>>18065890
I'm thinking about reading, given your advice:
Finish Gambler->Notes->The Idiot->Bros K

>>18065863
some people say to wait and read TBK last, but i say go for it. it is a very very very good book. i still think about it in the shower like 7 years after i first read it

>>18065938
Sounds really interesting. I throughly enjoy Dostoevsky and I think I'll like Bros K alot

It's too long and it goes on and on about nothing for most of the book, like all dostoevsky. I was forced to read this in high school and thought it was one of the worst mandatory books they make children read. You have some kind of disorder if you voluntarily subject yourself to multiple of these books

>>18065980
you didn't even like the grand inquisitor part? i mean i can understand disliking a book you're forced to read (especially a long one), but surely there were some parts that grabbed your attention?

>>18066019
I don't remember, that was over 10 years ago now. I only remember having hated the experience and the book.

>>18065348
No.

Its a great book but I don't think i'm a different person after reading it. If I was catholic maybe some of Ivan's criticisms would have cut deeply but i'm not.

Demons did more to change the way I look at the world in that its observations on extremists and ideologues are extremely relevant right now. Its a very measured cynicism that recognizes the deeply personal motivations behind the facade of high minded political idealism and that cut me right to the core.

>>18066033
that's really a shame. i suggest you give it another read now that you're older and not under any obligation. it's really great

Dostoevsky’s stories are etched into my brain in a way that almost no other stories are.
I can conjure up extremely vivid images of each and every one of his novels. I read the Brothers Karamazov just over a year ago and it has really aged in my mind well. It’s so good it makes me want to cry tears of joy

>>18066050
I need to reread Demons I think. I read it early on in my literary career

Only insofar as it was the first big boy literary fiction I read of my own volition after schooling and it convinced me to stick with reading as a worthwhile endeavor. Specific to the contents, no

>>18066166
Same. The ending really threw me off and I never really contextualized it

>>18066156
this exactly

how does dosto manage to be so soulful? the whole "Im a scoundrel but not a thief" thing seems silly to a lot of people but I thought it was exceedingly quaint

Reading the last few pages was one of the most powerful experiences with art I’ve ever had. Actual tears of joy .

>>18065348
>Yes, it changes my life, why?

Honestly it was probably the novel of his that changed my life the least.

Crime and Punishment pretty much single handily sparked my love for literature last year when I read it, and set me off on what I hope will be a lifelong intellectual pursuit.

Notes From Underground caused quite a bit of self-reflection for me.

The Idiot, my personal favorite of his despite the obvious lack of polish that people have been keen to point out over the years, showed me a positive vision of Christianity, and how a truly good person should try and strive to act like. Of course, that's not all the book did for me, I could go on for ages about how beautiful I found the novel.

The Brothers K, while certainly a masterpiece and I think objectively his best work, was a bit of a slog for me at times. With that being said, the high points of the book were, for me, the highest of any of his books. Specifically when Father Zosima talk's about his life, and the relationship between Ilyusha and his father, were two of the most beautiful moments I've ever experienced in literature.

It just did desu

I've become an expert on Troy because of it.

No, but i read it at a time where my life was changing (getting sober) and it played a key role in quelling cravings and giving me something outside myself to pour my energy into and get positivity out of.

the only part that really did impact me was the second epilogue
brought me to tears at work

>>18065928
Gambler's funny but the plot is paper thin and full of tropes
decent introduction to his writing style i guess but mostly written from personal experience and not very interesting apart from that
also has a lot of the same dynamics that were in The Idiot
notes from the underground didn't affect me nearly as much as it seems to have with a lot of robots on /lit/, i guess it's a common trap to fall into these days.
You'll like The Idiot, it has very good scenes in it and the main character's a lovable autist.
Brothers Karamazov is his most profound work and i reccomend reading it at least twice.
After that there are other works that have weaker aspects but are overall fantastic like The house of the Dead - a very sobering story about the incarceral system's dehumanising effects and privilege - and one of the underrated gems i really enjoyed Humiliated and Insulted, which was written for a journal his brother in law was publishing i think, and written in quite a rush but has some very good scenes in it.
Haven't finished Demons as i thought the first 200 pages were of an unparalleled bore, this book also being my sister's abusive ex's favorite.

>>18068029
forgot about Crime and Punishment, which despite having a lot of tropes and being somewhat bloated is fantastic. Because the main character has a fever and is delusional the whole length of the novel, the writing can get pretty surreal and mirrors Kafka's trial in some places.
top 3 of his for sure

It definitely left a very strong and long-lasting impact on me. I was either 19 or 20 when I first read it, and happened to be deeply submerged in a pretty severe bout of adolescent nihilism. I really didn't know what I was in for when I picked the book up; my roomate really wanted me to read it and I agreed, despite its daunting length, only because I was a bit if a pushover kek. Thus, I was caught completely off my guard by the experience. The book almost immediately directly confronted my most troublesome grievances; problems that had been weighon me, though I could never clearly percieve or describe them, and hadn't yet consciously acknowledged as the sources of my confused anguish. I'm specifically referring in the chapter Rebellion, but also the later theme of vile sins going unpunished: how unacceptable the idea of the worst sinners successfully escaping punishment is (this idea bothered me a lot when a was a bit younger, and still does if I'm being honest)
Anyway, by the end of the book I was convinced that I had just experienced the absolute maximum height of possible beauty, and was thoroughly overwhelmed with complete awe and gratitude - gratitude to the universe for allowing me to accidentally discover this oasis of beauty, and gratitude to Dostoevsky for magically thinking up and then writing that epic shit down. What a guy, damn

bump

>>18068029
Hey! Demons is my favourite too!

Maybe we should hook up? I could beat your sister up if you'd like.

>>18066751
based, same here
the final page was a life changer, for some reason that talk about how we'll all meet in the afterlife really did it for me