The Idiot (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

At its essence, The Idiot is the tale of a good man in a bad world.  Prince Myshkin, recently returned to Russia after years in Switzerland to treat his epilepsy, is introduced to distant relations and others as he re-acclimates to Russian society and claims wealth left for him in a will.  In the process, he's swept up into the collective insanity and selfishness of society.  Frequently called an idiot because people don't know how to handle his honesty, kindness, and lack of any self-serving agenda, the Prince eventually loses it and checks in to a sanitarium.  "The main idea of the novel is to depict the positively good man.  There is nothing more difficult than this in the world, especially  nowadays," says the author.

The concept of this book is fantastic- I wholly agree with Dostoevsky's assessment of humanity (we're all dark, self-serving fools), and it makes sense in such a world that truly good men are viewed with suspicion, ostracized, and destroyed by society.  Elsewhere, Fyodor once wrote "Men do not accept their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and worship those whom they have tortured to death," and you see elements of this here.

The execution of this concept disappointed me, however.  The book failed to grab me- even after 250 pages (40% through)- and I had to put it down.  It is rambling and hard to understand at times.  It seems inconsistent and slow.  The characters are more than self-serving here; they're out-and-out insane.  It reminded me of Wuthering Heights (review), in a way.

The more I read great Russian works, the less I understand the Russian psyche.  A decade ago, I read Crime and Punishment, and was instantly captivated by Dostoevsky's understanding and treatment of our dark nature.  That book is one of my favorites.  Ever since, though, any Russian work I've read has given me the impression that Russia is  populated solely by insane, self-serving drunkards.  Between The Idiot, Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground (review), Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich (review), and Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita (review), I see the same themes over and over again.  I think I'll focus on other areas for a while, before further exploring Russian literature.

Rating (concept): A+
Rating (execution): C+
Rating (overall): B