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…
Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
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Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#32That 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?
Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#33This 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…
Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#34This 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…
Can you point out what great truths Dostoevsky distills?
Some writers may have some truth that they want to convey in their book and so they create characters that are simply vehicles for these ideas and not much more (ie Ayn Rand). Dostoyevsky's characters are not simply posterboys for some moral agenda but are more like personality archetypes that you would actually come across, that's what makes his writing so relatable and believable, and the interactions between these characters so lifelike.
Some of it does get lost in translation, there's something about Russian dialogue that it translates very awkwardly to English.
PS: Another example where his insight was pretty accurate was his book The Possessed. It was published over 40 years before the communist revolution in Russia but it definitely offered some very on-point commentary about the nature of the people who lead these kinds of movements. It was prescient in many ways, really. It's a lesser known book but I highly recommend it, in many ways I think it's relevant to what's (still) happening in politics today.
Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#35This 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…
It’s wordy and all over the place, but I loved the Brothers Karamazov in my early twenties.
It was supposed to be the first part of two books but he died before he wrote the second. Which is why I think there was much more to the plot and there may have been some more twists beside what was already revealed in the first.
Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#36That 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?
In my experience Dostoevsky novels can be a bit of a slog at the beginning because nothing much happens and it’s lots of character analysis. Then about halfway through some significant event happens and the rest is absolutely fascinating because you’ve spent so much time getting into the characters’ heads.
Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#37That 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.
It was the best class I took in undergrad, it was so interesting to read and discuss. I think I needed to be in that class, though, to really get what I got out of it - so perhaps it is ok to come across them later in life. They almost require experience.
Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#38Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#39Dostoyevsky changed my life.
How?
I'm off to celebrate Christmas with family but I don't think you can be honest with yourself about who you are unless you appreciate the depths of human depravity, with that understanding you can build a truer foundation for your personal convictions about life.
Re: Dostoyevsky's “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (2014)
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
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).
If you're having nihilistic thoughts, Notes from the Underground is a must. Idiot is good if you have a Jesus complex. :)