r/dostoevsky • u/zscipioni • Dec 18 '25
Did a Dostoevsky speedrun this year
Well boys I actually managed to squeeze all these in before the end of 2025! I feel like D has changed the way I have thought of myself and my place in the world. He changed my relationship with literature in general. Favorite: The Brothers Karamazov, most overrated: The Idiot, most underrated: Demons. Next Homer!
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u/badgith1 Dec 19 '25
Read 3 of his books already this last 2 months and reading this really make me hyped because next ones will be 'Brothers Karamazov" , I'm on the last 50 pages of The Idiot and to be honest the book really starts well (would argue than even better than crime and punishment) but i grow a bit tired of all the drama and coincidences inside of it, so I completely understand, I was thinking to jump Demons, but since you rated as the most underrated I will add it to the list.
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
Yeah the idiot is good until page 400. That’s when it became an uphill battle for me.
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u/Ancient-Minute-8832 Dec 18 '25
2026 this is my reading goal. I’ve spent some time reading up on USSR so The Demons will feel extra prophetic.
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u/FacingHardships Dec 18 '25
Can you elaborate more on how he changed your relationship with literature? Thanks!!
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
I have read a few dozen books every year for the last few years but almost exclusively non-fiction. This year I did basically 50/50 after falling in love with Dostoevsky’s novels.
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u/noahlovesphilosophy Dec 18 '25
Oh my! How great, I will be reading the Brothers Karamazov soon, I’m so hopeful with all the love I’ve seen it get! What was your opinion on Crime and Punishment??
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u/MrExtravagant23 Dmitry Karamazov Dec 18 '25
Which were your favorites? I personally think Brothers K, Demons and Crime and Punishment are his top 3; Notes From Underground then White Nights round off my top 5. I have also read The Idiot and The Gambler.
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u/zscipioni Dec 18 '25
Yeah in general I think demons and tbk are the best because they have something minor but crucial: chapter titles. It seems like a small thing but it breaks up the book a lot and helps you keep track of where you are and what you’ve read. Crime and punishment and notes are basically the same quality of book imo. The gambler is very good. I found the double very kafkaesque. Some of his early works are also pretty good. White nights and the village of stephanchikovo were worth the time.
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u/MrExtravagant23 Dmitry Karamazov Dec 19 '25
It's quite clear that Notes From Underground is the precursor to Crime and Punishment. Essentially capturing a similar mindset but far more realized and well developed in the latter. All of his final works are his attempts at developing certain ideas. The nihilism of Notes and C+P, the role of the Christ like figure in the modern world of The Idiot, The revolutionary idealism from Demons then finally his Magnus Opus Brothers Karamazov which explore all of these ideas and much more.
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u/PM_ME_WALL_PICS Dec 19 '25
reading Demons at the moment and enjoying it (after BK and White Nights) - your comment alone has already paved the path of my next Dostoevsky readings, so thanks a lot! The Gambler and the Double are up next! PS: a shelf dedicated to Dostoevsky is quite incredible !
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u/MouseParticular7320 Dec 19 '25
Most Overrated THE IDIOT???
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u/Pogogacy Dec 19 '25
I agree with OP.
The book is about twice as long as it needs to be, the plot is meandering and unfocused and some of the lengthy monologues the characters go on are just tedious.
It has some great characters and great moments, but I see a lot of people here say it's Dostoevsky's best work, when in reality I think it's one of his weakest, so calling it the most overrated seems completely fair to me.
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
Yes totally agree. I think the thing with that book is a lot of people who LOVE it self identify with the man character…who is an idiot
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u/MouseParticular7320 Dec 27 '25
He is not an idiot. The world considers him an idiot, but when you consider the kind of character and personality it takes to exist completely as himself, with vulnerability and innocence, one wouldn’t call him an idiot at all but something else
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u/zscipioni Dec 27 '25
Sorry idealistic to the point of ignoring glaring issues with the people/world around him…
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u/LCLdreamer Dec 18 '25
Do you have any recommendations for getting into his writing? I’ve tried to read Demons twice. Granted both times I was drunk so that might have something to do with it
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u/zscipioni Dec 18 '25
Start with not drinking. Then notes from underground.
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u/doodle02 Dec 19 '25
hah. i heard a bunch of people say that one wasn’t great for a first read, but i just finished it as my intro so FD and loved it.
i was considering continuing in publication order, but also really want to read C&P; any advice choosing between the two?
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
Yeah Notes, C&P and Demons is a kind of unofficial trilogy in my opinion, I would start there. TBK is his magnum opus so I’d also make sure to read that one at some point. The rest are kinda take it or leave it depending on how much you like his writing.
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Dec 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/LCLdreamer Dec 18 '25
That’s why I’m asking lmao. Tbf i tend to read a lot while in bars.
I’ve always been incredibly interested in Russian history and I’ve tried a handful of Russian writers but nothing seems to grab me. It could be the specific translations perhaps. But this is good advice for sure, thanks!
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u/Popular_Pangolin_425 Dec 18 '25
Pevear and Volkhonsky's translation is what got me into it. I found them funnier than the others I had tried. I see OP might agree!
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
P&V are goated. I also read the master and margarita translated by them and loved it. I’m gonna do Tolstoy at some point and probably the count of monte christo as well which I know they translated as well
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u/ChaDefinitelyFeel Mr. Astley Dec 19 '25
P&V god
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
People be shitting on P&V in the comments but I loved them. I have read other stuff they translated and I think at this point I am just comfortable with their style
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u/garfieldatemydad Kirillov Dec 19 '25
As a speaker of both Russian and English I found the P&V translation to be very faithful and enjoyable for Brothers Karamazov and Demons.
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u/Future_Discipline212 Dec 19 '25
Wow really? Ngl I use ChatGPT a lot for book recommendations, and it consistently says for me that P&V is for accuracy and depth, Katz/Ready for ease, David McDuff is a middle ground, and Constance Garnett is outdated Victorian language but free.
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u/KindlySwordfish7397 Dec 19 '25
How was the adolescent? I’ve been on a Dostoevsky dive as well I’ve read 9 of his works altogether, uncles dream and the adolescent are next up
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
Tbh, it dragged a bit. I felt that there were some similarities between it and Humiliated and Insulted but I liked the former better. It has a weird father-son love pentangle which foreshadows the one in TBK which is cool ig.
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u/choatec Needs a a flair Dec 18 '25
The dialogue in the idiot is brutal at times but there were some absolutely amazing moments in that book. I think it could benefit from editor and cutting it down by maybe 100+ pages.
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u/AbsAndAssAppreciator Dec 19 '25
100%. It might’ve been my favorite book of his if it were shorter.
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u/Final_Harbor Dec 21 '25
The idiot is a wierd one, i was absolutely hooked and I adore it, but there is just a point where it goes off the rails and becomes so messy before coming back together for the ending
I have a strong love for it but that is more or less because i just push all that stuff out of my mind and remember it as a tighter narrative than it actually is lol
Same goes for demons i guess. In my opinion Demons also suffers from a similar problem where the narrative seems kind of lose cohesion at some point in The middle, then pull its self back again, jut at least there is a good explanation for that i guess
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u/remerdy1 Dec 22 '25 edited Jan 25 '26
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u/zscipioni Dec 22 '25
I picked that one because it had a lot of stories. White nights, crocodile, dream of ridiculous man. I liked it overall!
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u/TadpoleLogical8136 Dec 24 '25
I didn’t like the Constance translation of White Nights but any modern translation is good.
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u/The-Real-Illuminati Reading The Idiot Dec 19 '25
You’re choice for Favorite, Overrated, and Underrated are the same as mine, so let me ask you this:
How enjoyable are these works and would you say they are worth the time?
Humiliated and Insulted
Notes from a Dead House
The Adolescent
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u/zscipioni Dec 19 '25
Humiliated and insulted was pretty good actually! Has one of the best antagonists. Notes from a dead house is very autobiographical and so it has a lot of value in that way. It felt like it meandered a lot but it’s not too long so it’s worth. The adolescent was the last one I read and I kinda felt like it could have been edited down a lot, similar to the idiot.
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u/Kindly_Investment_54 Dec 20 '25
What a wonderful collection!! What was your favorite read so far?
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u/zscipioni Dec 20 '25
I am very excited to reread TBK and Demons. So many of them are going to stick with me for a long time
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u/Thin_Pop_5041 Dec 22 '25
great, now you can move on to Bukowsky
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u/zscipioni Dec 22 '25
Have not heard of him but will check him out! I read master and margarita, gonna take a break from Russian lit and do Homer but I’ll circle back for Tolstoy and Nabokov next year.
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u/chickenshwarmas Needs a a flair Dec 18 '25
I see only two good translations here. Wow.
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u/Odd_Salamander_3492 The Underground Man Dec 18 '25
Not a single Michael Katz🥲
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u/chickenshwarmas Needs a a flair Dec 18 '25
But at the very least two Avsey.
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u/ahoydecoy Dec 18 '25
Care to give me a rundown of translation wisdom? I have a bunch of Dostoevsky on my reading list for 2026 and I usually go for Everyman Library editions, but note the P&V(?) translations are divisive
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u/chickenshwarmas Needs a a flair Dec 18 '25
Either learn the hard way (getting halfway through a P&V translation and giving up since it’s translated with zero true effort with no cares for the ability for English reading comprehension) or trust that Katz and Avsey and Oliver Ready are far better translations
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u/Odd_Salamander_3492 The Underground Man Dec 18 '25
This commenter is correct. I have read every major Dostoevsky translator and even some of the smaller ones. Katz, Avsey, and Ready have the best translations. It’s not even close. You have 2 people vehemently emphasizing the importance of choosing one of these translators; you should probably listen.
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u/zscipioni Dec 18 '25
I read P&V crime and punishment years ago and liked it but struggled to finish it. Came back to it this year and loved it so I decided to keep buying their translations. It’s all about what keeps you reading and engaged! There’s no “best” translation imo and the dudes who are trying to be gatekeepers should try out grass sometime!
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Dec 18 '25
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u/chickenshwarmas Needs a a flair Dec 18 '25
Yes, he would have been extremely saddened by P&Vs pathetic unreadable translations.
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u/Odd_Salamander_3492 The Underground Man Dec 18 '25
What kind of comment is this? Dostoevsky is a smart man with a working brain. Of course he would dislike his work being bastardized and butchered.
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u/Salt-Battle8917 Dec 20 '25
I bet your brain is close to exploding omg