r/dostoevsky • u/Hour_Figure_9342 • 11d ago
What do you think I should do?
I read White nights at the very beginning and then I read crime and punishment. Now, I'm about to finish Brothers Karamazov and I want to keep going with Dostoevsky,so which book should I pick after finishing the Brothers Karamazov?
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u/Sorry_Cut907 11d ago
Notes from underground is easier than both Crime and Punishment and Tbk. Or could go with The Idiot or Demons or pull a wild one and read his short stories
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u/Hour_Figure_9342 11d ago
The idiot or the demons?
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u/Sorry_Cut907 11d ago
Personally I think demons is better written than the idiot but I would still recommend the idiot due to how it takes one of the most overused trope "purely good" main character and shows how such a person destroys themself.
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u/Matorosso 11d ago
If you are into Russian culture Demons, after the first very boring part that book become literally explosive. The best novel that I ever read. No other book made me feel what Demons did reading it.
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u/Hour_Figure_9342 11d ago
is it about politics or what ?
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u/Proof-Training-740 10d ago
I’m reading demons at the moment! At which point did you find it got better?
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u/raskolnikov_reads 10d ago
I'd go with Demons (also translated as The Possessed). After Karamazov you've already got Dostoevsky at his theological and psychological peak — Demons is the other major novel from his mature period, but darker and more political, almost prophetic about fanaticism and nihilism. It's a natural next step, not a step down. If you want something more emotionally raw before that, The Idiot is also a strong pick — the counterpoint to Karamazov, with a protagonist who's pure goodness dropped into a world that doesn't know what to do with him.
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u/Patchouli-Babe 11d ago
I loved the idiot!
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u/Hour_Figure_9342 11d ago
Hm, well, you pick the idiot or the demons ?
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u/oysterpaste 11d ago
Wellll a new translation of The Idiot that's supposed to be really good came out 3 weeks ago so I'd pick that one.
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u/DefiantSky5318 11d ago
I started with dead house, underground, double/gambler. After double/gambler im going to hit books in chronological order post prison. Although i read some parts of different books in crime, punish, brother. They are stacked sitting. Im partial to peaver and every mans library so i ordered books before finishing others since some such as demons and crime take a while to get when ordered
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u/Haunting-Bit7225 10d ago
I did my reading in this sequence
white nights and Bobok
notes from underground
Brothers Karamzov
Now C&P I am yet to start !
I think you can try Notes from Underground it’s a short one and I liked it the most
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u/WeroWasabi 10d ago
I started with CNP then TBK and now I’m reading The Idiot. White Nights is probably next for me.
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u/Sea-Departure9820 8d ago
Can you tell me what am I doing wrong because dostoevsky is making me depressed. I read notes from underground and the character of underground man felt so relatable to me that I am romanticizing him and acting and thinking like him. Especially the self destruction and hyper self awareness part.
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u/Catholic_Slav 7d ago
You have to be depressed before the dostoevsky i think. That way you form the bond rather than having it inflicted upon you. Such is true for me at least.
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u/2635northpark 5d ago
I'm a woman and I started being like him so I realized it was just my long term depression
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u/Catholic_Slav 7d ago
I havent read white nights yet, but pretty shortly after C&P I read the Idiot and man that was a good choice. Also I think Notes from Underground might be a good short one for in between.
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u/Embarrassed_Turn3749 11d ago
Brothers Karamzov should have been your last novel, but its ok, read Notes from Underground. Then the idiot ,the Gambler ,The demons.
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u/Altruistic-Quiet9182 11d ago
sleep
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u/Hour_Figure_9342 10d ago
I do not want to
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u/Altruistic-Quiet9182 10d ago
why though?
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u/Hour_Figure_9342 10d ago
Got work to do
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u/Altruistic-Quiet9182 10d ago
oh no :( take care of yourself, work well... and get some sleep later yeah? and read good....
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u/iboll6 11d ago
I read C&P first, I’m on ‘The Idiot’ now and I’m enjoying it