Going to read this, what am I in for? I read that it's "one of humanities finest achivements"...

Going to read this, what am I in for? I read that it's "one of humanities finest achivements". I read C&P and its probably my favorite novel ever

I've never seen this book described as such. One is actually more inclined to say that it's his worst novel, from my experience at least.

It's not bad of course, it just isn't better than any one of his other four major works.

>I've never seen this book described as such

Im refferinf to this wiki excerpt:

According to Ronald Hingley, it is Dostoyevsky's "greatest onslaught on Nihilism", and "one of humanity's most impressive achievements—perhaps even its supreme achievement—in the art of prose fiction."

Is it better to read the idiot first?

Not the same user but I don't think it really matters what order you read dostoevsky in as long as you start with c&p.

It has a special place in my heart. It's baggy and flawed but wonderful as well

It is awful and boring.

If you seek a similar Russian theme of "trial over nihilism" look up Turgenov's 'Fathers and Sons'.

It's Dostoevsky's funniest book, the most savage satire on the left-wing that has ever been written. Anyone who disagrees is probably just butthurt that the scene in which the anarchists convene but can't decide whether to call their meeting a "meeting" (and put it to a vote!) hits a little too close to home.

Ending is brutal too. The book as a whole is not as well-constructed as The Brothers Karamazov but full of the wonderful madness of mid-career Dostoevsky. Probably my favorite of his tbqh.

it was one of borges' favorite novels

Painful to read at times...I think the plot can drag at times, particularly for the first 50-100 pages. But its last 100-200 pages are unparalleled, even by The BK.

My favorite Dosty novel. It's a fucking shit show in some parts, a truly messy novel, but at the same time I think it has some of the best moments. It does a good job of simultaneously being a revenge tale (by the 'village chronicler), a tale of generational change (a la Fathers and Sons — although Dosty hated that novel and Turgenev), a political commentary against socialism, and a defense of art.

Make sure you read the appendix (At Tikhon's) for some top tier theological feels.

You should read Notes From Underground -> Crime & Punishment -> The Idiot -> Demons

Don't even bother with The Brothers Karamazov.

I'm still reading The Double and The Gambler next so I can't judge.

>Don't even bother with The Brothers Karamazov

what did he mean by this?

He is a pleb and can't read a book of more than 800 pages.

It's a big pile of Christian shit compared to Demons. Demons blows the fuck out of anarchists, nihilists, and other liberals but The Brothers Karamazov is the product of a sick coward who is afraid to die so turns to the church to save him.

are you that 17 year old that just started a thread about reading Nietzsche

No I just don't like The Brothers Karamazov and think it's Dostoevsky's weakest book (out of what I've read). People on this board get ass pained if you dismiss it like that other piece of shit book Infinite Jest.

You have awful opinions.

No, that's me.

>I just don't like The Brothers Karamazov and think it's Dostoevsky's weakest book
>People on this board get ass pained if you dismiss it

>The Brothers Karamazov is the product of a sick coward who is afraid to die so turns to the church to save him.
don't backpedal like you didn't attack the author with edgy teen fedora logic like we can't still see it. If you knew anything at all about Dostoyevsky you would understand why that was a dumbass thing to say about him, or any Russian Orthodox writer for that matter.

Don't read didactic, heavily philosophical works as a teen, it will turn you into a sperg.

>Demons blows the fuck out of anarchists, nihilists, and other liberals

have you read the grand inquisitor?

>when you're so infected with the /pol/ virus your enjoyment of literature is based on how strongly anti-liberal it is