The Idiot (Wordsworth Classics)

It is fantastic that a sublime work of art such as this can be purchased for such a low price, this is an epic tale about a social misfit. Prince Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to Russia after a long absence. Myshkin suffers from epilepsy - just like Fyodor Dostoevsky himself - and is prone to periods of blackouts. The central idea of The Idiot as Dostoevsky wrote is "to depict a completely beautiful human being". Myshkin is simple and pure, his biggest hindrance to fitting into society is his honesty, naivety and the fact that he is a good man. He lacks any deviousness and has nothing but good intentions in all of his actions. On the train to Saint Petersburg, Myshkin meets and befriends the dark character Rogozhin. Although Myshkin and Rogozhin are opposites in everyway, they share a mutual attraction to one another. Myshkin's attire and stories both suggest that despite his ancient Russian family line, he is like a lost foreigner in his own country. This is because Myshkin has spent the last four years in a mental institution in Switzerland. Without any reserve, however, Myshkin shares this fact with Rogozhin. He takes no offence at the sarcastic tone of his new friend and he even laughs with him. As Rogozhin states, Myshkin has the character of a holy-fool. In his own words, he tells Myshkin: "You're an out-and-out holy fool, and God loves the likes of you." The latter tells the prince about his passion for Nastasya Filippovna, a beautiful woman with a bad reputation. The prince feels an intense desire to meet her after hearing about her and even more so when he views a picture of her. This leads to conflict as the friends become love rivals with very different intentions. The stage then moves to the house of the Yepanchins, a family of emerging Russian bourgeoisie. Myshkin has come here to meet his distant cousin, Madame Yepanchina, General Yepanchin's wife. So begins Myshkin's introduction into a society that can never understand him and are bound to take advantage of him. By making Myshkin a symbol of kindness and humility, Dostoyevsky illustrates what can happen when such a man is confronted by society. Myshkin frequently confronts society's norms with his "idiocy", which is merely his naive and innocent approach to life. He is not naive about what others say to and about him; he merely assumes they're true because he does not believe that human beings have any need for falsehood or deviousness; Myshkin has no façade. I believe the The Idiot is a masterpiece - it is indeed flawed and occasionally tedious like many masterpieces. There are long passages of dialogue and this is not always an easy read. I wouldn't not recommend this to be the first of Dostoyevsky's books anyone reads, I would instead recommend the simpler Crime and Punishment for that. If you have the patience and can invest the time this book is moving and deeply involving, one of his best.

Excellent

The cover on book advertised is different from what I received will update review once read.

Great book

My son love it

Book made me feel like an idiot so, amazing.

The book itself is a masterpiece, the translation however is sloppy in places - for a few more £/$ It's definitely worth getting a better translation

Great product

Libro indispensable para tu lectura en inglés.

you really get what you pay for here , and I mean look its a book it will last you maybe 1-2 read throughs but after it will probably be in tatters , paper is ok , cover was a bit beat up. Overall buy it if you wanna try Fyodor Dostoevsky like I did

One of Lex Fridmans favorite book is the best reason to read any Russian literature.

To my pleasant surprise , i received a new cover version. Really pleased.

A edição é boa, mas poderia ser melhor se tivesse um índice. Conta com algumas notas explicativas que ajudam bastante para entender o contexto da época, do lugar e da vida do Dostoevsky. A única ressalva dessas notas é que elas se encontram no final do livro, por isso precisamos ficar indo e voltando. Mas pelo preço, vale cada centavo. Sobre o texto, ainda estou na primeira parte mas é muito bom, não consigo parar de ler. O Inglês é bastante simples considerando a obra. Quem tem nível avançado e está acostumado a ler outros livros em Inglês não vai encontrar grandes dificuldades nesse. 5 estrelas pelo custo-benefício.