Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - The Idiot

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wadajoobadude
03-22-07, 10:30 PM
I just started The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky and am about 80 pages into, and I am absolutely blown away by one passage in particular. Its where the prince is describing to Alexandra what she should paint, and says the face of a man who is about to go to his death. Then the prince goes on to describe the mentality of the prisoner. I was blown away by how excellently and powerfully it was described.

No one around here has read The Idiot except for my friend who is in chicago for 5 days so I have no one to discuss this with. I thought there has to be a few people who have read it and can appreciate it here on Bike Forums.

blueskytheory
03-23-07, 01:24 PM
I haven't read The Idiot, but I have read Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment (both excellent, the latter especially.) Is The Idiot your first Dostoevsky? He's not my favorite prose-artist, but I agree that he paints psychological portraits very well, particularly tormented characters. I have Brothers Karamazov sitting on my shelf but am not ready to start another epic-length book yet ;)
jacob
03-23-07, 01:27 PM
The Idiot is in my list of top 5 novels of all time.
A great read!

Jacob

jacob
03-23-07, 01:28 PM
My favorite translations of Dostoyevsky are actually the most literal (or non-poetic prosaic).

Jacob
apricissimus
10-22-08, 12:15 PM
I just started The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky and am about 80 pages into, and I am absolutely blown away by one passage in particular. Its where the prince is describing to Alexandra what she should paint, and says the face of a man who is about to go to his death. Then the prince goes on to describe the mentality of the prisoner. I was blown away by how excellently and powerfully it was described.

No one around here has read The Idiot except for my friend who is in chicago for 5 days so I have no one to discuss this with. I thought there has to be a few people who have read it and can appreciate it here on Bike Forums.

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread in a forum that no one reads, but I'd like to point out (if you didn't already know) that Dostoevsky was at one point sentenced to death himself. A mock execution was held where he was actually brought before a firing squad, only to be given a reprieve at the last minute. So he was very well equipped to write the passage in question.