21–30 of 47 posts
Russian literature in a nutshell: https://img0.liveinternet.ru/images/attach/d/0/142/711/14271... Translation: Russian classical literature New man | Odd man | Small man SUFFERING
I thought that cycle was the nutshell of Russia. Then again I only know Russia through her authors. Holy S*^% they’re brilliant!
That was a very good read. Thank you very much. I purchased the Kindle version of "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" after reading this. I have never read Dostoyevsky before. Any recommendations on where else to start?
Crime and Punishment is a wonderful deep dive into the mind of a really messed up person. If you like the film Taxi Driver, it is sort of similar, but with a lot more direct philosophical underpinnings. Raskolnikov has a whole philosophical framework on why he's allowed to murder the pawn shop owner* and he spends time explaining and discussing it. The motif of the nihilistic, disaffected young man is something Fyodo…
This was an incredible read! This is my first introduction to Dostoyesvky and I’m engrossed. So from these excerpts, his profound writing reminds me of another great writer I admire the most; Poe. Poe’s writing has had a profound effect on me and so has this story by Dostoyesvky. I see the similarity in the sense that both of these writers seem to distill such great truths about life and translate them into poetical…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parsons,_3rd_Earl_of_R...
The picture was made by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parsons,_3rd_Earl_of_R...
As the point in the sky what we today call the "Whirlpool galaxy" was discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier and "in 1845, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, employing a 72-inch (1.8 m) reflecting telescope at Birr Castle, Ireland, found the Whirlpool possessed a spiral structure."
Only during the last 100 years we have obtained proofs that a lot of these objects that what were before called "nebulas" are the galaxies with many billions of the stars in each of them, and that the Whirlpool galaxy is a galaxy.
It seems that just the author of the mentioned book from 2014 claims that that 1845 picture inspired Van Gogh. While it's true that the picture was published in the books at the times when Van Gogh could have seen it, it seems it's still not proven, and I'm surely not convinced: in the painting of Van Gogh we can't actually see any spiral star, all shine circularly, and the spiral shapes are something else (air movements?):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starry_Night
so, beware of internets bearing gifts.
On another side, the awareness of the planets being planets and of comparable size to Earth existed of course much longer, so Dostoyevsky's hero could write in 1877 something that the readers would even then easily understand (as quoted in the article):
"If I had previously lived on the moon or in Mars, and I had there been dishonored and disgraced so utterly that one can only imagine it sometimes in a dream or a nightmare, and if I afterwards found myself on earth and still preserved a consciousness of what I had done on the other planet, and if I knew besides that I would never by any chance return, then, if I were to look at the moon from the earth — would it be all the same to me or not?"
This struck me as the revelation that changed the protagonist's perspective. And Dostoyevsky presents this using the irrational, symbolic language of dreams: a vision of human dignity. He concludes by quoting Christ's commandment... showing that this isn't new knowledge. It's been known for a very long time, but one must experience suffering and a spiritual death before the full significance of the commandment can be understood.
Kierkegaard's book on Christian love provides an in-depth (and sometimes tedious) discussion of the necessity of love of ones neighbor. Recommend checking it out if you're curious to read why one could come to view such love as necessary for life.
That was a very good read. Thank you very much. I purchased the Kindle version of "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" after reading this. I have never read Dostoyevsky before. Any recommendations on where else to start?
I loved Brothers Karanazov. Brilliant. In fact the Russian authors are amazing. It’s a shame I discovered them when I was in grad school and not earlier.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How?
I can’t speak for the OP, nor can I express how D. changed my life. Perhaps D. is the exact opposite of a self-help book at the airport. It’s hard to read and emotionally devastating. You go into the depths of human depravity. Sin is real. Modernity is fraught with contradictions, with danger. Modernity offers mechanical band aids for what are sicknesses of our souls. For Doestoyevsky the greatest man is Christ but h…
This was an incredible read! This is my first introduction to Dostoyesvky and I’m engrossed. So from these excerpts, his profound writing reminds me of another great writer I admire the most; Poe. Poe’s writing has had a profound effect on me and so has this story by Dostoyesvky. I see the similarity in the sense that both of these writers seem to distill such great truths about life and translate them into poetical…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
the big 3 are "Notes from the underground", "Crime and Punishment", "The brothers Karamazov" (from this podcast https://historyofliterature.com/169-dostoevsky/ )
I'd only recommend to take out Notes from the underground and replace it with Idiot , which Dostoevsky himself liked the most of all his works. Devils and Gambler are just below these three. Also, Humiliated and insulted allegedly made Nietzsche cry. But that one I haven't read (yet).
