Dostoyevsky's The Idiot opened with the electrifying tale of a noble prince's return home to lush and vibrant St. Petersburg. In the short portion I've already read of the novel the Prince crosses paths with kings, magicians, and priests, each with their own interesting and vivacious personality. I can't wait for Prince Lev to find the golden treasure!
Actually the novel is very bland and uneventful. Almost all scenes that have taken place are in formal, serious dialogue between old, rich, Russian men. The main character Lev is returning home, but "home" as in Russia in general, considering he doesn't have anywhere to actually go. Those he has met are other rich Russian families characterized mostly by alcoholism, bribery, and subtle acts of domestic abuse; also the fact that each character has three different names each consisting of about 12 letters and a slew of nicknames casually used depending on the audience. The setting is bland and cold. Each house is described either as large and hollow or small and uncomfortably compacted.
All of the native Russians seemed to be perplexed by the fact that the prince is highly intelligent, thus further indicating the lack of independent thought coming from these noble families. One specific family, the Epancins, has a set tradition of what each of the daughters do. Every single day in the common room, one daughter paints, the other plays the piano, and the last one, Aglaya, “just sits there and does nothing.” Households are flowcharts of power, with the eldest military man being at the top. Most all of the elderly men relate to each other through an addiction to alcohol and killing Ottomans near the Turkish border at some point. One old man told the story of how he threw a dog out of the window of a train, to which the room responded with a hearty laugh and moved on. Each daughter patiently waits for the day she can be sold to the man who brings the greatest dowry. Each wife patiently waits to die. The life of 19th century Russian aristocrats seems exhilarating.
The only real literary significance I can draw from the reading so far is the fact that the prince is not similar to other characters. He has the ability to draw the truth out of people, and because of it is usually hated by those who don’t have the same ability. His title, the Idiot, comes from people usually mistaking him for someone mentally handicapped. Many characters grow angry with his questions and inquires because they poke the truth at sensitive subjects. I think of the prince as a mirror, being passive enough to only reflect back the bad things that people give to him. So far, the prince is the only one is the story not to be depicted as gloomy and hateful.
P.S. Google Slavic patronymic names and figure out yours. Russians use them a lot I guess. I personally think it's just to make everything harder.
Love Owen Robertovich Geary
Nice post Owen, your tone and descriptions made the post enjoyable to read even if the book was bland. The blandness and mechanical manner of the people almost make it sound like a dystopian novel. Do you know the time in which the novel takes place? You mention princes and kings, do you know if the book is linked to the Russian revolution?
ReplyDeleteGreetings Owen! Felicia here. So I have a couple of questions about your novel having read your blog post. Here they are:
ReplyDelete1. So is the title considered irony because the Prince is actually the most intelligent man in the book and none of the other characters are on his level so they consider him the idiot because he's different? If so, I guess we could make that a parallel between nineteenth century Russians and the terrify world of twenty-first century high school.
2. How do you like the book so far? It sounds like it could be an interestingly accurate insight onto the culture of nineteenth century Russia, or it seems like it could just be sad and confusing. For your sake, I hope it is the former and not the latter.
3. And lastly, do you have any predictions about the end of the book? Will there be a happy epiphany where these "Rich, Old, Bitter Russian People who drink and complain" will become tolerant and welcome the Prince as a not so idiotic man after all? Or will it be anti-climatic and end with them all getting liver cancer due to the lack of medical knowledge about alcoholism that was present in the nineteenth century?
Anyways, thanks for sharing! Hope the book brightens up a bit for you!
A nice intro to your book, Owen. One of the issues I have with the book is understanding the tone of some of the passages and characters. For example, when the Prince talks to the mother and all of the daughters, the daughters' understanding of his stories and what they reveal seems very different from my own. They still call him an idiot, and yet he's told his stories very well. While it certainly seems ironic, the irony doesn't seem as strong or as powerful as in other satirical novels I've read. I wonder if it's just lost in translation.
ReplyDeleteOwen,
ReplyDeleteПривет! This book reminds me of one I was reading many moons ago (wink wink!), and I find that both of us have similar ideas regarding Dostoyevsky's characters and the techniques he uses to develop them. The Prince is clearly standing out, and he is looked down upon, there is no question about that. What is less clear is why. Is he viewed as an idiot because he is simply different than everyone else? Because he doesn't care about money or power or women? Or because (as you have inferred) he is able to read others' emotions and there are really no secrets when he is around? This is clear in the sequence when he is speaking to Mrs. Epanchin and her daughters and he casually brings up Ganya and Nastasya Filippovna, ruffling Ganya's feathers prompting him to call the Prince an idiot, the first one to openly do so in the novel. I am very interested to see how Myshkin and his relationships develop. Until we meet again, keep reading, and I will stay tuned in to your blog, as second opinions only strengthen the existing ones!
Прощай!
Kenny