Title: The Idiot

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Genre: Classic Literature

Publisher: Alma Classics

Format: Paperback

Pages: 704

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

After spending several years in a sanatorium recovering from an illness that caused him to lose his memory and ability to reason, Prince Myshkin arrives in St. Petersburg and is at once confronted with the stark realities of life in the Russian capital—from greed, murder, and nihilism to passion, vanity, and love. Mocked for his childlike naivety yet valued for his openness and understanding, Prince Myshkin finds himself entangled with two women in a position he cannot bring himself to resolve. Dostoevsky, who wrote that in the character of Prince Myshkin he hoped to portray a “wholly virtuous man,” shows the workings of the human mind and our relationships with others in all their complex and contradictory nature.

Review:

This book is fascinating! I really enjoy Dostoevsky’s writing, and this did not disappoint.

The story follows a number of interesting characters. It’s kinda hard to describe the plot, as so many things happen in this book, so I’m going to try and explain the characters.

First we have the prince, who was away in Switzerland and has now returned to Russia. He connects with a number of fun characters: we have a General and his 3 beautiful daughters (and eccentric mother), and we have the beautiful Nastasya, who is a character that seems to be mentally ill. She was interesting because she shows how people saw mental illness back then. Others thought she was strange, but the prince felt for her and was willing to do anything to protect her (which pretty much meant marry her). The prince is called an idiot a number of times throughout the book, but really he is just trusting, and speaks his mind. This is different from the other characters because they try and follow the norms of society, so the prince seems a bit strange to everyone.

I really enjoyed this book and if you like Russian literature, I definitely recommend!

Happy reading!