I want to read Dostoyevsky and I have The Brothers Karamazov but it's just too big and intimidating for a brainlet like...

Just be consistent in trying to get a couple chapters out of it every day, user. Some parts wiz by and others you need to go over carefully. Go at the pace you feel comfortable at and don't berate yourself when you need to go slow.

It's only the turbo-autists that worry about how fast you read. They're all getting btfo by little Asian kids quantum reading anyway.

user plz. It's a chapter of the book.

Don't listen to these pedantic fucks, OP. I know jack shit about the translations, but it definitely wasn't easy to me to read the original text, and I'm a russian native speaker.
I also highly recommend to start with something different than the writer's fucking final work. The Idiot or C&P will do. Check out the brief biography of the author, too.

Came in here to suggest this or White Nights, which is even easier to read. Notes from the underground is a fucking masterpiece that I can't wait to read again.

Notes from the underground is divided into a first part (the monologue, which is basically Dostoevskij speaking) and a second part (the narration that ties directly to the monologue).

The monologue is a bit hard to follow at first. Stick through it. It's worth it.

What's the difficulty in reading a fucking fiction? Or English translations are fucked up?

C&P -> The Brothers Karamazov -> The Idiot -> Demons.

Why is it intimidating? It's a literary daytime soap opera crusted with the dry jizz of nonsensical "spiritual" ramblings. Ends on a cliffhanger, never completed part one of two.

Start with crime and punishment.

There are basically two approaches to reading Dostoyevsky. They center on the fact that Karamazov is the summation of all his thought and writing, and so they are 1) read other writings of his first, saving Karamazov for last; and 2) reading Karamazov fairly early and then noting the seeds of its contents when reading his earlier works. I personally encourage waiting until later to read Karamazov since I think it spoils the reader for enjoying his other works, but that's not critical.

For his long novels, I think the best starting point is Crime and Punishment. It's his other essential work and exemplifies a spiritual arc present in other works and, I would say, that Dostoyevsky saw reflected in his own life. The Idiot and Demons are also definitely worthwhile, although the latter is more complex and calls for a knowledge of the politics of the time. The Adolescent is inferior.

Another good approach is to start with his shorter works. You will see Notes from Underground recommended here a lot, but other titles deserve attention too (and are better, I think). One very good choice is The Double, a very early work. (Poor Folk was his first published work, but I don't think it holds up; it's like a lesser Dickens.) Other very good ones are Notes from the House of the Dead and The Gambler. Also he wrote several excellent short stories, the best of which is 'The Dream of a Ridiculous Man'.

I agree that Karamazov is not complicated, simply long. Also some might find it slow to get interesting, given the time it takes to set up the characters etc.

Definitely look a bit into the author's life, especially the major turning point of his arrest and mock execution and the subsequent changes of his thinking

Notes From Underground

It's basically Elliott Rodger's manifesto 150 years early.

>taking Notes unironically
>taking the Underground Man and the Disturbed Murderboy as role models

I would not put it this way, but I also felt that TBK was quite a thrilling / suspenseful read from fairly early on.
There is just something in the air (and it’s also hinted at quite explicitly) of an impending catastrophe.

There's nothing complicated about the writing in The Grand Inquisitor

I wouldn't start reading Dostoyevsky from BK.

I'd read
Poor Folk
then
The Insulted and Injured
then
Notes from the Underground
then
Crime and Punishment

See, I found The Double much harder to read than BK. maybe it was the translation, but I found the style a lot more confusing because of how stream of conciousness it felt. It's a book I like a lot, but I definitely found it harder to read (from an understanding point of view) and I think it is supposed to be harder to read (because you're following the thoughts of a man going insane)

What? The Great Inquisitor it's pretty amusing and self explanatory, like most of the book

Trust Anons here when they say TBK is Dosto's sum of thought and aesthetic. Being his magnus opum makes it better to being read to the end after his other major works. In the other hand, don't let the length of the book intimidate you, it is big because it's like a lot of stories inside of big picture.

>TBK
>Demons

Which one first? I heard Demons needs some kind of basic understanding of political context?

it's a parody of Chernechevsky and other Russian socialists who believed they could form the basis of a utopia through purely rational means (the theme of 2+2 in part 1). However the narrator goes against this by being rebellious and exerting his free will. It's a little difficult

Brothers K was one of the first books i read after finding an interest in literature around 17. I had just read 1984 and some tolkien before that. brothers K blew my mind right open, and i understood maybe a third of what was going on.
just jump in user, and youll be surpised at what you can find in there

Just wipe your mind clean, don't come with any preconceptions... ok first step is done now:

Now carefully read best translations of:
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Soren Kierkegaard
Augustine of Hippo - particularly just Confessions but be careful and make abstraction of his tone, details, occurrences around the events he describes - pay maximum attention to his voice, his thought - and obviously safely ignore the dogmatic / Christian stuff.

Now when you finish reading the works of these three guys - if you paid attention and thought for yourself, and discussed their ideas with others that have read them you have a good understanding of human mind.

Time to read actual applied psychology and neurosciences. That's about it.

Also for everyone else that reads, I know these three authors and they're great in this topic of human "soul", which authors are equal to them if there are any? I'm new in the world of literature, I never saw its usage until recent in my life and now I'm reading non-stop, trying to formulate a discerning spirit. I'm not interested in mediocre works on this subject, just giants.

New to Veeky Forums. Came here after picking up Crime and Punishment on a whim and thoroughly enjoying it. this isn't the only place I've seen it recommended to keep Brothers for last as its his Magnus opum, so I'll probably read others before it such as Idiot and Demons. Not sure to what extent you're looking to read Dostoyevsky but Crime and Punishment was not very challenging imo, and as I said, a great read

Don't mind this much, OP. TBK was my first Dosto reading (I wasn't comfortable with reading often) and was a walk in the park. Great book, finished somewhat quick. Just go for it.

I tried reading Notes from Underground 3 or 4 times and gave up each time within the first 10 pages. But I had no problem reading Brothers Karamazov within 3 weeks. What mode am I?

I was the same. But stick through Notes, the second part is a cringey joy that makes the first part hilarious

Try In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust