Customer Reviews:
 Among Dostoevsky’s finest November 13, 2005
34 out of 34 found this review helpful
‘The Idiot’ is the story of Prince Myshkin, a young Russian noble. In his infancy, he was diagnosed with a form of ‘idiocy’ and sent to Switzerland to be cured. The book begins with his return to Russia as a young man, apparently cured. However, he is still labelled an ‘idiot’ because his sheltered upbringing abroad means that he doesn’t understand the complex rules governing social interactions among the Russian middle classes, and approaches these interactions with a simple good-heartedness and a willingness to do the right thing.
The main story involves the competition of several young men for Nastasya Fillipovna, a self-destructive beauty whom the rules of society have labelled a fallen woman through no fault of her own. She is forced to choose between a happiness that she is told that she doesn’t deserve with Myshkin, a dangerous existence with the unstable Rogozhin and a loveless life with Gavril Ardilionivich. The rules of society tell her one thing, her heart another. She becomes increasingly agitated, precipitating a descent into near madness and a truly shocking conclusion.
The clash between Myshkin’s ‘idiocy’ (really Dostoevsky’s image of the perfect Christian) and the realities of nineteenth century Russian society is repeated throughout the book. Dostoevsky never tells just one story where a half dozen can be fitted in, and narratives about money, social status, religion and love are all intertwined to illustrate his point. This can become a little disorientating, but Dostoevsky never loses the thread of the book, keeping one eye firmly on his message throughout. The result is a rather complex series of narratives, requiring a lot of concentration, making ‘The Idiot’ a fairly involved read. However, Dostoevsky never allows ‘The Idiot’ to meander or sprawl, sticking closely to his central themes. It is perhaps less concise than ‘Crime and Punishment’, but I found it every bit as powerful, and although Dostoevsky’s language and pace can be slow and ponderous I was gripped throughout. The ending in particular is breathtaking and shocking, hauntingly written and desperately sad.
The only negative was that the translation I read (Wordsworth) was clumsy, starchy and, at times nonsensical. This was annoying, because it did make certain passages slow and even difficult to work out what was going on. I was caught up enough for this not to be a big problem, but I would advise against the Wordsworth edition (though the translator is wisely anonymous, so I can’t tell if there are other editions using the same translation). This aside, ‘The Idiot’ is brilliant. Dostoevsky at his best, and the very definition of a 5 star read.
Good Format March 4, 2004
10 out of 19 found this review helpful
I tried to read the Penguin Classics version of The Idiot, but the print was too small and the pages were that grubby cheep colour that Penguin tend to use. It was a struggle. This has slightly larger type, nice white paper and good margins (for notes if you like that sort of thing). It also has a list of characters, a map and a cronology of Dostoevsky; not that they're that useful, but it's nice to have something to refer to now and again. The translator's different, but I can't comment on the different translations cause I've not read them all. Basically if you're going to read the book anyway, I'd recomend this copy. Slilghtly bigger to carry around, but cheeper and nicer to read.
 Sadly off the Mark November 1, 2002
14 out of 39 found this review helpful
Having read Crime and Punishment last year, I was looking forward to plunging back into some Dostoyevsky. Crime and Punishment is an awsome novel, and a pleasure to read. It is the work of a true genius writing at his best. Perhaps the first 'Modernist' novel.Unfortunately, this book does fall some way short of his earlier effort. The first two hundred pages are well written, and the story is intriguing. Prince Myshkin is introduced and set against the demonic Rogozhin for the affections pf Natasya Fillipovna. Fillipovna, loves the Prince but believes herself worthy only Rogozhin (who will most probably kill her). Then, quite inexplicably, Rogozhin and Natasya take their leave from the book and the story becomes confused, disorganised and aimless. Prince Myshkin, rather than being a Christian spirit in the modern world, is merely a "good egg" - who would rather lie than upset anyone - not the true Christian, who would battle with money lenders in the Temple. In this way, he comes across as being rather feeble, and although he doesn't really do much to warrant those about him to freely call him an idiot - one imagines that he probably deserves it for being such a sap. As the story progresses, numerous minor characters seep into and out of the story, with little or no direction - adding to the confusion. In the end, it is difficult to maintain interest, although by about page 500 the increasing eccentricity of the General does become more entertaining, although by that time, one is already lost to whatever Dostoyevsky was meaning to say. Perhaps the biggest clues to this novels failure lie in the details that accompany the Penguin edition. This work was written whilst the author was suffering from intense bouts of epilepsy, and the work under went many many redrafts. The result is as confused as it should be. Undaunted, I shall read the Brothers Karamazov next year in the hope Crime and Punishment was not a one off.
Dostoyevsky at his best July 7, 2002
21 out of 23 found this review helpful
This is the one novel, where Nabokov's criticism ("wastelands of literary platitudes" and all that) is least justified. For a start, here Dostoyevsky achieved one thing that Nabokov himself consistently failed to: writing in clear and unpretentious everyday language. To what extent this comes across in the translation I don't know. The story is basically about the sudden appearance of a near perfect Christian (or Dostoyevsky's idea of one) and the effect he has on a small group of middle class characters. They ask for his judgement and support in various mucky disputes and dilemmas, try to rob him of his inheritance, pick fights with him, fall in love with him, present him to each other as a prophet, a freak, a status symbol etc. Between them they land him in a psychiatric clinic, which, incidentally, is where he originally appears from. As ever with Dostoyevsky, the moral of the story is spelt out in big letters (the possibility of being a good Christian in a materialistic society and all that comes out of that). And, as ever, you can drive a freight train through the holes in it (this charachter is brought out of nowhere, put back into nowhere in the end and in between given a fairytale inheritance). But, never mind that. "The Idiot" reads like an account of a random section of everyday life. The charachters are real people, for whom I found myself developing real sympathies and antipathies. Even in the most outlandish scenarios everyone reacts in an entirely human and ultimately understandable way. My advice is same as for "Crime and Punishment": read it just for the characters. The moral message you are always free to re-interpret to your own liking. In fact, because Dostoyevsky's own philosophical framework is so shaky, you have all the room for manouever you could wish for.
excellent June 28, 2000
4 out of 19 found this review helpful
No one writes better stories than Dostoevsky. Im sure this is where Jung+Freud got a lot of their material. As with all of his big works, I couln't put it down
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