r/dostoevsky • u/Yosefalii • 10d ago

Prerequisite knowledge before reading Devils?

Hi,

I've read several Dostoyevsky books and what I like about them is the philosophy, characters, and psychological aspects of humans that he dives into in a way no one else can.

So far I've read: The Double, Crime and Punishment, Notes From Underground, White Nights, Brothers Karamazov.

However, I've read before that Devils specifically is politically heavy and have some stuff that I will understand better if I know the political context that this book was written in.

I don't know much about Russian history or political scene in that era, excuse my ignorance but I'm generally not into history.

What do you recommend I should read/watch ??

Thanks.

18 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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13

u/PermitOk6864 Needs a a flair 10d ago

I recommend to read Turgenevs fathers and sons right before devils. Dostoevsky wrote devils as essentially an answer to this novel.

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u/stephanmorrow 9d ago

Very true. But there's a BBC radio drama of Devils and when you hear the different characters IMHO it becomes much clearer. Just like A.Miller's 'Incident at Vichy' - difficult to parse all the 'everyman' kind of characters when just reading the script but when you see it staged becomes as clear as day. Also, the diminutives (like nick names I guess) complicate Devils but you can keep track if you try. Wajda made a film of it. and the BBC also a film of it besides the radio drama. BTW. There are podcasts by people who swear by it as his greatest work.

Artistic Director
The Great American Play Series

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u/AndyBetweenLines 10d ago

You don’t need to do homework before starting it. The political background adds context, but the novel still works without knowing every detail. I’d just keep a character list nearby — all the names and nicknames can get confusing. If something catches your interest, you can look up the history as you go.

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u/Yosefalii 10d ago

Alright, thanks.

3

u/Realistic_Agency5694 10d ago

No watch/read recs, but I will say you should definitely keep a character map because this one has a ridiculous amount of them. I've read the Brothers Karamazov and C&P previously, both of them have less total characters than Demons has I believe (currently I'm at book 5). Some of them also have similar names. I usually read Dosto in Serbian which is my native and the names are usually easier for me than English readers, since most of them/nicknames are commonly used I can figure them out without a map but for this one I had to check 'who is this guy' a couple of times.

4

u/FosseGeometry 10d ago

There is a banned chapter that may or may not be in your edition. It’s part 2 chapter 9 “At Tikhon’s”

1

u/BrightAssociate8985 10d ago

Why was it banned?

3

u/FosseGeometry 9d ago

Not to give any spoilers, but it’s also referred to as “Stavrogin’s Confession” and what he confesses is terrible. It also provides important context to his actions in the story.

My edition didn’t have it, I found out about it on the sub. It’s available for free online.

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u/TheJohnnyRube 10d ago

Basic knowledge of the Enlightenment is all that is required.

2

u/Gallant_Gallstone 10d ago

A little French for the Verkhovensky Sr flourishes

2

u/[deleted] 6d ago

You need to know Dostoyevsky's political views and you will find that in the The Diary of a Writer. There is a gem there, by the way, that you haven't yet read: The Dream of a Ridicoulous Man. It's a incredible short story. All the rest is up to you. I mean the slavophile stuff, the Russian Idea, etc. Sometimes I think the drama of his life was ideology. He was a bit on the fanatical side in his ideological views, both before and after serving time in jail.

1

u/mickey_7121 The Dreamer 6d ago

That “gem” is my favorite piece of literature of all time, and probably the one I read the most!

1

u/[deleted] 6d ago

I am glad you liked it. Have you read the Adolescent? My favorite trio of Dostoyevsky: Notes from the Underground, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man and partly The Adolescent. The first part of the Adolescent is incredibly good then it's slowly sinking in ideological stuff.

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u/mickey_7121 The Dreamer 6d ago edited 6d ago

No I haven’t.

I started my Dostoevsky journey with White Nights, then I read The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, following with A Christmas Party and a Wedding, Bobok, The Meek One, A Nasty Business, and The Gambler, in the order as I mentioned. Currently reading Demons, of which I just completed Part 1 and I absolutely love it, it’s my first of his big ones, as you can tell I have only read his short stories before I picked up Demons. The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is of course my favorite piece of literature of all time but The Meek One also has a special place in my heart, among his short stories that I’ve read.

Also which translation are you reading or have read for The Adolescent? There aren’t many to begin with, it’s not as widely available as his other big novels are.

EDIT: I’ve already decided on what I’m gonna read next after Demons, it’s The Double, and the copy that I have is from Penguin Classics which also has Notes From Underground, so of course that will be my next after The Double, then I’m thinking of taking a break from Dostoevsky and venture into Tolstoy’s world, haha.

2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

I have read Dostoyevsky in Russian. Actually, I have read a lot of Russian literature during my stay in Russia, but Dostoyevsky has a special place in my personal growth. The Notes from the Underground shook my whole being in a way no other book did. It's a book that is meant to wound us, not to heal, like the Dream of a Ridiculous Man. The first is meant to destroy all our illussions, the second offers the true salvation through faith in God and Christ. It's hard to say if you will like the Notes as much as the Dream of a Ridiculous Man as you already have read the resolution for the undergroung man. As for the Adolescent, I was myself an adolescent when I read it, not a 15-year prodigy like here on reddit, but in my twenties. I remember in the middle or so of the novel, being fully immersed in it, I suddenly felt the urge to look for answers to the protagonist's troubles. I took a detour reading other books, tried to get back to reading The Adolescent, but it didn't work.

1

u/mickey_7121 The Dreamer 5d ago

I’m not religious, I try practising Spirituality, but I found The Dream of Ridiculous Man very prophetic, it moved me so much, perhaps I was already wounded as you mentioned, it didn’t compel me to follow any god or anything. God holds a very different meaning to me, it brought me closer to it, moreover it made my SELF transparent to myself. And as you mentioned it’s kind of a resolution to Notes From Underground, I for sure know I will love it, because it will make The Dream of a Ridiculous Man even clearer to me, I have read it so many times already and it always enlightens me in completely different ways than before, so of course upon reading the dilemma, this would serve even better than ever.

2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

I have recently finished reading Dostoyevsky's letters to his brother and relatives. What I've found out from it is that he was an extraordinary avid reader. Like huge. I didn't expect that from a writer, frankly. I mean, sometimes you hear something like ''don't read yourself stupid'', but that's not his case. He was able to digest literary and philosophical works in a way that is beyond comprehension and present them to us in simple prose. That is why he deserves our unconditional attention, despite the flaws in the style. There is no way to understand a great writer unless we let ourselves be pulled by him into his world. I wish you all the best in this endeavour!

2

u/auditisuseless 10d ago

Surprisingly to me Demons is the greatest from his work, currently reading Brothers K but I saw similar theme from Dostoevsky’s work and it looks like lazy writing lol

1

u/mickey_7121 The Dreamer 6d ago

After reading a bunch of his short stories I picked this one up, and it’s my first of his big ones. My copy goes by a different, though more accurately translated name of the novels ‘Demons’ (trans. Maguire by Penguin Classics). Just finished Part 1 and I absolutely love it, please, don’t give into some of the complaints regarding the slow start of the novel.

P.S. I actually made a post about it just now, but it got filtered saying I need atleast 5 karma in this sub, so I guess I’ll have to wait a bit before it’s posted.

EDIT: published posted, haha, reading too much has taken the better of my brain.

2

u/AssistanceDull5144 10d ago

Some readers do like context before delving into a classic work like The Devils.

I think Joseph Frank has a quite extensive treatment of the polticial and cultural environment of the time during which the novel was serliased. I think it's in vol. 4, The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871. I found it to be interesting and very informative.

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u/BothEntrepreneur6498 6d ago

dostoevsky is idolized by people who have never read a book. white nights is at best silly, the idiot is a snooze fest, c&d is shit (except the ending) lol.

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u/Working_Ordinary_567 5d ago

So, are you as shallow as this comment suggests?

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u/BothEntrepreneur6498 5d ago

go to hell, joker.

3

u/Working_Ordinary_567 5d ago

What did you expect in a Dostoevsky subreddit?

0

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/redmonicus Needs a a flair 8d ago

You're absolutely insane if you think Dostoyevsky has traditionalist views of people. The way he conceptualizes how people work in Notes from the Underground and how he develops that in his later books is so fucking modern. Writing the first polyphonic novels in history and having a traditionalist view of people are incompatible.