I have to admit, I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure I
would, having read Anna Karenina, which I absolutely hated. That book bored me
to tears. But I was assured that Dostoyevsky was much better than Tolstoy and I
was hankering to get back into the 19th century so I went for it. I'm really
glad I did because this was certainly much better than stupid Anna Karenina.
My copy of the book has a quote from Dostoyevsky on the back which says,
"I'd die happy if I could finish this final novel, for I would have
expressed myself completely." I can easily believe that because this book
(at a mere 1045 pages) includes just about everything you can think of. It's
part mystery thriller, part psychological thriller, part philosophical debate,
with social commentary strewn throughout. There's even romance. Seriously, all
he needs is some vampires and/or robots and he'll have all of the genres
covered. But then that would have put him way ahead of his time and, as I said,
at 1045 pages I think this book might just be long enough as it is already.
As much as I enjoyed this book, my favorite parts were probably the parts that didn't feel like what one typically thinks of 19th century literature. The book started off by describing one man's multiple marriages and his penchant for drinking and orgies. Later on this man competes for a woman with one of his sons. It's like Jerry Springer. Only it's Dostoyevsky so that makes it culture.
My only complaint about the book I think stems from the
translation rather than Dostoevksy himself. For example, misusing the word
"literally" I can sort of tolerate in modern writers (to an extent)
but I know that trend had not yet started in the 19th century. There were also some modern-sounding phrases that took me out of the time period. It was minor
things like that that I had hard time with, although I wouldn't say they
affected my overall enjoyment of the book.
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