Will reading Dostoevsky blow my mind away? I've heard a lot about him...

Don't know why people recommend notes from underground as a starter, even though it's short it's pretty fucking challenging. Especially for someone who doesn't read much.

If you go in with those expectations then you'll never be blown away. Books are just thoughts articulated down on paper. The Brother's Karamazov is a fantastic book, Dostoevsky is my favorite writer; but he doesn't blow me away. I'm just able to relate to the way he thinks. It's reassuring.

Don't read books in an attempt to find passages that induce profoundness. That's mental masturbation which is very juvenile.

I'm in a very dark part of my life. Just needed something worth living for. I was expecting a book to give me this epiphany while reading and completely change my mindset towards life

Definitely go for crime and punishment. It can definitely inspire you to become a better person. Literally >tfw too intelligent : the novel. Raskolnikov is a very relatable character, especially on this board.

Crime and Punishment might be a good start then. Notes from Underground is a little dark. C&P is dark, but it is very uplifting.

Notes from Underground and Crime & Punishment both have nihilistic beaten-down main characters to whom you may be able to relate your own suffering

This however takes some responsibility on your end

You have to identify the errors in the thinking of The Underground Man and Raskolnikov. And then apply those realizations to the way you've been living. I.e. these books are fully-stocked pharmacies but you are the one who writes the prescription

Good luck

What's dark about your life right now?

Maybe you should consider getting acquainted with the famous philosophers and understanding the way they thought. A lot of them have come up with valid philosophies. But it's likely that no single piece of work will change your life. I think philosophy is a good supplement to independent thought. You might be able to grab a few things from different philosophies and mould it so that it helps you with your general perspective and attitude. But at the end of the day you have to arrive to all these conclusions on your own. You're an adult and there's no book that will hold your hand through existence. If that's something you truly desire then I recommend Catholicism and picking up the bible.

Start with Notes From the Underground or Crime and Punishment. You can start anywhere with him, but those two are a little more straight forward than his other major works and will give you a better idea of what he's talking about.

Consider Dante.

very funny, user.

Where to start

I started off with his short stories. White Nights and The Honest Thief are pretty good. Then I went with The Idiot. Was never disappointed.

Don't bother. I don't read much but I think about things a lot. Most of what I've concluded about life people like Nietzsche and Jung have already wrote down in books and get heralded for it so take it as you will.

Tl;dr dumb people read 'smart' books

Start with Crime and Punishment.

You have to understand something about great art. It doesn't work on you passively. You don't just sit there while it "blows you away." Maybe you know this already, but I didn't really know it for a long time, so I'll continue. Great art is art that continually rewards your close attention. It's the difference between great art and great entertainment: great entertainment grabs *you*, but great art gives you back what you put in. It doesn't hijack your attention; it rewards it. So don't open Dostoevsky with the attitude of "Impress me," because that's not how it works.

Not OP, but similar book noob here. I want to get started so I figured I'd go for classics everyone mentions first. Iliad & the Odyssey, Divine Comedy, Dracula, Faust, Moby-Dick, Shakespeare stuff and the such. Is it good or am I fucking myself over by reading stuff way above my belt and I should start with some baby stuff beforehand?

Start with the Greeks user!

This,and the lit starter kit might be for you.

Im a Veeky Forums noob too. Just finished C&P and read Notes from the Underground immediately before. I definitely recommend reading him.

One piece of advice: keep a list of characters. Every character is referred to by 2 or 3 different nicknames that aren't obvious to English speakers.

the greeks are no meme, they are great, however you may want to start as user above said with the start kit/entry level, which are lighter and easier to enjoy by people not that experienced.

books in this pic are pretty good, I'd personally recommend the stranger, it is a good intro to actual literature but still easy to read and very enjoyable

speaking from personal experience i read The Idiot in such a shitty time of my life that i used to visit a small orthodox chapel while skipping night classes, stood there alone and wept a couple times and would then read the book on the bus ride home. I would say yes Dostovesky will blow you away and he still does for me (reading Brothers K).

it doesnt matter where you start, but if youre going to read an english translation, see if you can find the MCDUFF translation

AVOID P&V FUCK I DONT KNOW WHY PEOPLE RECOMMEND IT WHEN ITS SO FUCKING UNREADABLE

What is so unreadable about their translations user?

you have to believe me boy just trust me

I'm not believing you, im 100 pages deep into the idiot. Tell me what is so unreadable about their translations?

Investigate the Baha'i Faith, particularly the Kitab-i-Iqan. My gift to you.

Unironically the Bible.

Just read it, read it out loud in a whisper at night.

Will surprisingly help you out more than most queers on lit would ever want you to believe.

Also during the day just keep occupied. Do manual labor.

This cured my depression. Hard Manuel labor, quality food and bible+meditation at night.

Agreed. The Double is perfect Dostoevsky starting point. Not too much philosophy, just good ole Russian psychologism.

Ahhhhh yes. The old P&V meme

What books of the Bible do you think are particularly helpful?

What's the major difference between the Raskolnikov and the underground man? The former overcame his nihilism in the end and the latter did not?

This desu lads

The major difference is that Raskolnikov isn't nihilistic at all.

try shrooms

Could you explain please?

The Underground Man feels isolated from society because of his bitterness and nihilism. Raskolnikov thinks you're either a "Napoleon" (a "great" man who makes shit happen to whom morality doesn't apply) or a nobody, and aims to be the former despite the consequences being morally repugnant

His reason for committing the murder was to prove to himself that he was one of his philosophies' superior beings, like Napoleon was. There's nothing nihilistic about that..

Ideologies like nihilism allow theories like ubermensch to be championed.You could view Raskolnikov as being pulled between embracing nihilism or embracing Christianity.

haha, I know the feeling. I also started with The Idiot, and it blew me away. It was the start of my growth into a religious person.

I'm not that user, but Gospels.