Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
How does it compare to similar audio books?
Very good
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Very good
Advantages:
Dostoevsky at his best - for just £1 . 50
Disadvantages:
It is long - but in a good way
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I find Dostoevsky to be an interesting and clever writer. I have read his short stories and this was the first of the "big" novels that I picked up. Dostoevsky held strong beliefs and whilst he supported Monarchy per se, he did not agree with serfdom and censorship. Under the tyrannical reign of Nikolay I, Dostoevsky and other members of the intellectual Petrashevsky group (Utopian Socialists) were sentenced to death for their opposition to his rule. A last minute reprieve forced Dostoevsky to serve four years hard labour which was followed by four years in the army. Dostoevsky, like many Russian writers, turned his back on a career in the civil service in order to pursue his writing talents.
The Idiot, published in 1868, after his best known pieces Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment. The story follows Prince Myshkin who is the idiot of the title. Myshkin is naive and basically honest, and represents Dostoevsky's ideas of the ideal Christian - some would even say Myshkin is representative of Christ. Having been released from a mental asylum Myshkin returns to his Russian homeland in an attempt to establish a new life for himself. Dostoevsky presents the world of nineteenth century Russia beautifully and truthfully with a mixture of fact and fiction. For example, some of the crimes and actions of the novel's characters were taken from actual events in Russia. This works very well in the text and would probably have had even greater effect at the time when such events were common topics of the national press.
Myshkin is an outsider to Russian life and knows nothing of it. This naivety is his strength and his weakness. Being a Prince he begins to move in the upper echelons of society and it is within this class of people that the story precedes. Myshkin is childlike in his thoughts and this honesty finds no place in the modern world of nineteenth century Russia. Although he is physically weak and his presence is not inspiring we find all the other characters are drawn to him whether it be through love or fear, for advice or for empathy. Myshkin wants to help but ultimately the other characters are using him to achieve their own aims. Myshkin never fits into this way of life in which friendships and marriages are based on the benefits to each party involved.
To me the story is a sad one, but a very enjoyable read nevertheless. Myshkin is not really an idiot, he is just trying to live his life in a different way. For Dostoevsky it is a better way and the fact that Russia cannot accomodate an honest individual forces Dostoevsky to present a bleak outlook and a tragic conclusion. The reader is left questioning their own lives and asking themselves if Myshkin was right. I don't feel that anything is lost in reading this tale today. Whilst the setting is nineteenth century Russia, the ideas are universal and the insights will be relevant to any reader. The story is well told and the characters have a life of their own so that the pages flow by, and never once are you forcing yourself on to the end against your wish.
Dostoevsky is a writer that makes you think, without sacrificing the enjoyment of reading and I would recommend him to anyone. My personal favourite tale is The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and I feel that The Idiot accompanies the ideas of that short story very well. If you are a fan of Dostoevsky, Gogol, Gorky and/or Chekhov then you will certainly enjoy this novel. If you've never read Russian literature before this book is easily accessible, although perhaps not considered one of the definitive canonical texts. Don't be put off by the length, the language is flowing. However, if you feel that you would like a little taster before plunging into the big works, there are numerous collections of Dostoevsky's short stories which introduce his style and prose - e.g. The Honest Thief, White Nights, and A Gentle Spirit.
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