Demons

Mar 16, 2008 brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

all dostoevsky's usual tricks are here: his dense, documentary-like prose, succession of dialogue-heavy scenes leading up to a huge scandal, all his idiots and villains and beggers, his dark and keen psychological insight... yup, it's all in demons, but, goddamn, did i find this a chore to read. the characters, to me, felt too much as stand-ins for (albeit, insightful and interesting) ideas, and the plotting was laborious and repetitive... that said, it's amazing how the man laid out the breadcr...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: translated-from-russian, philosophy, literary, review

The quality and mastery of Dostoevsky’s vision, and his use of character and plot and pacing, are all on display in this marvelous work. It’s true that perhaps it doesn’t hold together as strongly as some of his other works; but it’s not true that this is a poor example of his work. In some ways, it exceeds all of them, particularly through voice and narrative instability.

There perhaps is some reticence to include it amongst the ‘greats’ due to politics and religion, both then and now. Dostoevs...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

My favorite extended quote from Demons:

“Having devoted my energy to studying the question of the social organization of the future society which is to replace the present one, I have come to the conclusion that all creators of social systems from ancient times to our year have been dreamers, tale-tellers, fools who contradicted themselves and understood precisely nothing of natural science or of that strange animal known as man. Plato, Rousseau, Fourier, aluminum columns—this is fit perhaps for...more

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Jan 11, 2013 [P] rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bitchin

I remember my Mum once telling me and my brother, when we were young children, “girls will like you [my brother] because you’re very attractive,” and [turning to me] “girls will like you because you’re naughty and cheeky.” [thanks for this, by the way, Mum]. And she wasn’t wrong, as I have always been a great one for mischief. In fact, as an undergrad I spent an entire module arguing that feminism is lesbian propaganda because it pissed off the liberal ninnies in my seminars; while walking aroun...more I remember my Mum once telling me and my brother, when we were young children, “girls will like you [my brother] because you’re very attractive,” and [turning to me] “girls will like you because you’re naughty and cheeky.” [thanks for this, by the way, Mum]. And she wasn’t wrong, as I have always been a great one for mischief. In fact, as an undergrad I spent an entire module arguing that feminism is lesbian propaganda because it pissed off the liberal ninnies in my seminars; while walking around campus I would always stop and harangue the socialist worker reps outside the union about their legalizing cannabis policy, and actually ended up running as a Conservative candidate [despite being left-wing myself] just to wind them up. My favourite though was the time I managed to convince two girls in a club that I was a singer in a relatively famous band who were playing the Leadmill [a local music venue] the next evening, and that they ought to come along and watch us. I didn’t anticipate that they would actually go, but I was wrong; a few weeks later I was stopped by one of them outside a cinema, and was met with the immortal words “you’re not that singer; I was there and he doesn’t look anything like you.” *Shrug*

There are many other stories I could tell you, but nothing of mine can hold a candle to the mischief-making that goes on in this novel. Remember these guys:

description

Well, the ‘baddies,’ or demons, in this novel, are a bit like a Russian version of those creatures; they thrive on chaos and disorder. Indeed, these two words go a long way towards summing up the book as a whole, which is written as though Dostoevsky were in the grip of a powerful fever. The plotting, the writing, the structuring of the work mirrors the action of the novel and the attitudes of the characters in that these are just as messy, chaotic, and disordered. With that said, and bearing in mind that I read this a couple of years ago, I’ll let someone with a clearer vision of the work than me sum up what happens. My overriding impressions, however, are that although this is certainly a political and philosophical novel, one that deals with the emergence of Nihilism as an approach to the world, with revolution, the death of God, radicalism, conspiracy, murder and terrorism, one never feels either bogged down in political or philosophical theory or that the characters are mere mouthpieces for certain ideologies.

As with all Russian literature there are a mind-boggling number of characters with near-unpronounceable names, but there is one character who dominates the book, and the rest of the cast. He does so, even though he, peculiarly, often seems to be uninvolved in the action, or is ‘off-stage,’ and yet he simultaneously appears to direct or influence or motivate this action. His name is Stavrogin, and he is one of the most memorable characters in the history of literature. Stavrogin is a Nihilist, a quasi-sociopath, who embodies the Neitzschean idea that if God is dead, then anything is permissible.

He is, himself, however, almost a messianic figure, especially for the anarchist Verkhovensky [the demon responsible for most of the chaos, the aggressor for much of the novel, the one who, most of all, wants Russia to become embroiled in violent revolutionary civil war] who is impressed by his charisma and wants to make of him a figurehead for his band of proto-revolutionaries. Stavrogin as a Nihilist, not an Anarchist, is none too interested in this proposition. He is a man responsible for some morally dubious acts, to say the least [marrying a cripple seemingly for the hell of it], and some downright criminal ones [abusing a child], but he is overall only interested in himself and not the state of the country.

All of this is, I imagine, giving you some idea of just how dark and foreboding Demons is, but I’m not finished yet, because it also includes what is, without doubt, the most terrifying scene in any novel I have read, and this is, of course, worthy of some discussion. Verkhovensky plans to murder a man called Shatov in order to bind his band of radicals together in a shared act of wrong-doing; his plan hinges on the ingenious idea of letting another man, the perpetually suicidal Kirillov, accept responsibility for it by confessing in his suicide note and then killing himself. However, after the murder, Kirillov gets cold feet about ending his life and has to be ‘talked into it.’ What is involved in this talking him into it genuinely made my skin crawl.

So, what is Demons? A thriller? Yes. A novel of ideas? Of course. A satire? Well, it is often underplayed but the novel is very funny; especially the way that Dostoevsky shows how the liberal well-to-do locals are so keen to appear cool and fashionable by flattering and indulging ‘the young ones,’ who are in reality little more than violent hooligans. Yet Demons is, ultimately, simply a sardonic, mesmeric, masterpiece. One of the finest novels ever written.(less)

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Dec 16, 2008 Bruce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Dostoevsky’s novel, Demons (often falsely translated The Possessed, thereby erroneously stressing the object rather than the subject), is one of his most powerful books, a socio-political work exploring 19th century ideas (the “demons”) current in Russia at the time, specifically European liberalism and nihilism in contrast to what was most important to Dostoevsky, Russian Orthodoxy, and in this sense the author seems a forerunner of Solzhenitzyn a century later, in our own time. At times the no...more

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Apr 10, 2010 blake rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-classic

It's amazing that such a long, boring book without any main characters -- or any sympathetic characters at all, aside from the suspiciously reasonable and omniscient narrator -- has achieved distinction as a classic, or even as a good novel. Here, Dostoyevsky failed miserably in crafting an interesting narrative. There is little plot, and the book doesn't even become remotely engaging until halfway through. After that, the action picks up, but it splits so often between different characters -- e...more

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Aug 01, 2007 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was my first foray into Russia's master of literature. I have to admit, I was on my way to the beach when I read this and I couldn't wait to start....I read this outloud to my husband as we drove.

A tale leading up to a political nightmare that was much too close to not be effected. The characters were diverse and yet none went untouched by the tragedy of men becoming slaves to their own ideas and fears.

I must admit that this is probably the only tale I've ever read where nearly everyone f...more

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Feb 06, 2009 Adrian rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who enjoyed other works by Dostoevsky

This isn't my favorite work by Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov takes that title - but it very good, and it may be the most explicit rejection of materialistic ideology in his oeuvre. The characters, as always, are intriguing and well-portrayed, although some of them do lapse into stereotypes. Stavrogin, Kirilov, Verkhovensky pere and fils, and Shatov, are among some of Dostoevsky's most compelling and, in some cases, disturbing and vile, creations.

This would get 5 stars from me, but for two...more This isn't my favorite work by Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov takes that title - but it very good, and it may be the most explicit rejection of materialistic ideology in his oeuvre. The characters, as always, are intriguing and well-portrayed, although some of them do lapse into stereotypes. Stavrogin, Kirilov, Verkhovensky pere and fils, and Shatov, are among some of Dostoevsky's most compelling and, in some cases, disturbing and vile, creations.

This would get 5 stars from me, but for two things: first, there are some sections where the narrative drags. Secondly, I disagree somewhat with Dostoevsky's ideology. Dostoevsky rejects strict materialistic ideologies that attempt to solve the world's ills through hardline rationality, where everything is set "just so" and there is no room for the variety or multiplicity of the human soul. This much I agree with. However, Dostoevsky's counter to this way of thinking is spiritual - Christ, specifically the Christ of the Russian Orthodox church, is the true light, and to deny him and embrace materialism is to deny not only God, but the reality of the world that He created and in which we live.

I do agree that a hardline, materialistic attitude does lead to a denial of reality, because reality is not a simple thing, but I do not accept that this must necessarily lead us into spirituality. If we understand that a single paradigm cannot encompass everything there is to know and explain, we can then move to a point where multiple paradigms, joined by shared characteristics or different portions of which work well together, perhaps give us a fuller explanation. By using reason and rationality to find the bits of truth or utility in many different ways of thinking, and finding the intersection point between different modes of thought, we eventually come closer to actual reality, and we do so without the hardline, inflexible and dogmatic ideaologies that are the Demons in the title of the book.

In any case, an excellent rejection of radical lunatics, fringe ideologues and people driven to arson and murder by the manipulations of a devious, sociopolitical charlatan. I would add that this book may also be the most depressing book I've ever read, somehow managing to outdo Zola's Germinal.(less)

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Apr 05, 2007 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Excellent book, though you really have no clear idea of what is actually going on in the plot until about 300 pages in, so if you're reading it purely for a story, you may be tempted to put it down early.

If reading about a bunch of young anarchists causing trouble in a provincial Russian town, while various characters take a time out to discuss their atheism sounds like your idea of a fun Saturday night, order it now!

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Sep 24, 2012 Bethan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: regular-fiction

A huge, deeply disturbing and creepy novel. The madness and lunacy of people and the appalling poverty of life, physically, mentally and emotionally, is covered here. Stavrogin seems sociopathically cold at heart, Kirillov constantly 'rational' about his suicide plans but crying out for help in his own way - into a void of black nothingness that is the wall of the world - and then there is the irritating and insane Stepan Trofimovich with his flapping about and reams of endless words. His verbal...more

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Mar 18, 2010 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very few times do I feel like I’m in a grudge match with a book. Dostoevsky’s Demons had me feeling that way. I refuse to blame the book for that because in this case I was a very poor reader. My faults include the following; I have literally no understanding of Russian history, why the characters acted they way they acted, what even the whole point of the novel was, all of this was lost on me due to my ignorance. Even sadder is I could barely keep the characters straight because, well just look...more

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Dec 01, 2008 Scott Gates rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A book rife with “vile occurrences,” “degrading circumstances,” “scandalous events,” and “disgraceful affairs.” No character in the Devils has a job, aside the life-long task of creating scandals and uproars in provincial towns.

At this point, nothing Dostoevsky does should surprise me. But even still I was taken aback by some parts of the Devils (for example, “Stavrogin’s Confession,” which was published posthumously because it was too crazy to publish at the time). The ending of the novel is b...more A book rife with “vile occurrences,” “degrading circumstances,” “scandalous events,” and “disgraceful affairs.” No character in the Devils has a job, aside the life-long task of creating scandals and uproars in provincial towns.

At this point, nothing Dostoevsky does should surprise me. But even still I was taken aback by some parts of the Devils (for example, “Stavrogin’s Confession,” which was published posthumously because it was too crazy to publish at the time). The ending of the novel is brutal and depressing. Suicide is a constant preoccupation, beginning with a scene early on in which some ladies and gents out on a stroll (I think in Petersburg) decide to peer in on an apartment of a recent suicide just for fun. They’d heard about this diversion from others. The suicide is still in there and the door is left open for people to observe. There are no police or medical personnel present. The men make jokes and the women talk about how they wish looking at the suicide was more entertaining. I can’t imagine this scene being written by anyone in the nineteenth century besides Dostoevsky.

The psychology of people who experience intense exhilaration from malicious buffoonery (a la Fyodor Karamazov) is one of Dostoevsky’s main preoccupations and is given full vent in the Devils. The society of spectacle was alive and well in Dostoevsky’s Russia.

Like in a lot of his works, there is a high level of political intensity and philosophizing. When Dostoevsky pursues some of his fringe ideas to their limit he sounds like Nietzsche. Lots of characters involved in political journals/pamphlets and minor uprisings. Dostoevsky usually lampoons these people’s motivations.

The narrative is sprawling and meandering. Like in the Idiot and the Adolescent it often reads like a mess; the Brothers is the best organized of the novels and this is part of what makes it his greatest work. There is a sense of writerly confidence in every scene of the Brothers whereas in his other novels it sometimes seems as if Dusty wanted to go in three directions at once.
(less)

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Dec 28, 2007 Vanja Antonijevic rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel ("Demons") works on many levels. For example, in terms of plot, this book is a (1) suspense story about conspiracy and political mischief in a city. In within the suspense, (2) there is also a disheartening love story, and (3) a political element. Also, it is a philosophical novel (4) which discusses the existence of God, as well as (5) the corruptive power of some ideas.

At its most important, philosophical level, this book’s title hints at the main theme: “Demons”. What are these de...more

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Aug 04, 2007 Miriam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-it

I read this book because it had a censored chapter, which has now been included as an appendix, and I wanted to know why it was considered so appalling at the time. Now I know. The guy went to disturbing places with this story. It's pretty dry reading and nothing much seems to happen for a long time, but I'm glad I perservered with it. A story of murder, revolution and guilt (or lack of it). Best chapter was the one they had censored, but I'm not saying anything more about it, except it's truly...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Tom Choi rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read a version that carried the translated title of "The Possessed." Similarly, Albert Camus' dramatization of Dostoevsky's tale of foolhardy Russian nilhists shares the same title. But "Demons" may very well be a more faithful translation of the Russian title as it also evokes the episode from the Gospels (Jesus casts the demons out of men and the fleeing demons enter a herd of swine, and fall off a cliff...).

Of the 4 great novels by Dostovesky, C&P, The Bros K., "The Idiots" and this (a...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Pat rated it 3 of 5 stars

Demons is a very political novel about extreme political views and the ineptitude of the conservative status quo to control them. The book centers around Pyotr Verkhovensky, who is a nihilist and a bit of an opportunist, whose political views lead to death and destruction. Also present is Shigalovism, which is kind of a twisted sort of Communism, and the conservatism of the local governor, Lembke. Meanwhile, the reader is left to make sense of Pyotr's intellectual father, Stepan, who seems to be...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Ioannis Savvas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: Ρώσοι-λογοτέχνες

Το μοναδικό βιβλίο του Ντοστογιέφσκι που είχα διαβάσει ήταν το Έγκλημα και Τιμωρία, πριν από πάρα πολλά χρόνια. Με είχε συγκλονίσει ο φοιτητάκος Ρασκόλνικοφ, η τραγικότητά του, η μάχη με τις τύψεις του. Ωστόσο, δεν νομίζω ότι είχα συλλάβει το μεγαλείο του συγγραφέα, τότε, στην ηλικία αμέσως μετά το λύκειο.

Ύστερα από τόσα χρόνια, ξαναδιάβασα Ντοστογιέφσκι, έναν από τους μεγαλύτερους (ίσως ο μεγαλύτερος) συγγραφείς όλων των εποχών, από τη σειρά Βιβλιοθήκη του Κόσμου – Ρώσοι Λογοτέχνες της εφημερίδ...more Το μοναδικό βιβλίο του Ντοστογιέφσκι που είχα διαβάσει ήταν το Έγκλημα και Τιμωρία, πριν από πάρα πολλά χρόνια. Με είχε συγκλονίσει ο φοιτητάκος Ρασκόλνικοφ, η τραγικότητά του, η μάχη με τις τύψεις του. Ωστόσο, δεν νομίζω ότι είχα συλλάβει το μεγαλείο του συγγραφέα, τότε, στην ηλικία αμέσως μετά το λύκειο.

Ύστερα από τόσα χρόνια, ξαναδιάβασα Ντοστογιέφσκι, έναν από τους μεγαλύτερους (ίσως ο μεγαλύτερος) συγγραφείς όλων των εποχών, από τη σειρά Βιβλιοθήκη του Κόσμου – Ρώσοι Λογοτέχνες της εφημερίδας Το Βήμα. Πρόκειται για ένα τεράστιο έργο, όχι τόσο για τον πραγματικό όγκο του (770 σελίδες στους δύο τόμους αυτής της έκδοσης), αλλά κυρίως για την πλοκή του. Οι χαρακτήρες πάμπολλοι, τα γεγονότα αναρίθμητα, οι αλληλεπιδράσεις αμέτρητες, τα συναισθήματα άπειρα. Το μεγαλείο ενός δημιουργού κρίνεται κυρίως από τη σύλληψη της ιδέας και ο Ντοστογιέφσκι είναι αναμφίβολα ένας ογκόλιθος της παγκόσμιας λογοτεχνίας.

Οι Δαιμονισμένοι αντανακλούν μάλλον τη θύελλα στο μυαλό του συγγραφέα, τον πυρετό του να αποτυπώσει ολόκληρη τη ρωσική κοινωνία μονομιάς, τις χαοτικές αλληλεπιδράσεις των ανθρώπων της, τα κινήματα, τα πάθη, τη μιζέρια, τα βάσανα και την (αυτο)καταδίκη τους. Αποτυπώνουν την αναζήτηση και την απάρνηση του Θεού, την ιερή τρέλα της ύπαρξης, την τραγικότητα της αυτοσυνειδησίας. Οι χαρακτήρες ξεδιπλώνουν τις ψυχές τους και τις παραθέτουν γυμνές στη θέαση του Ανθρώπου.

Οι Δαιμονισμένοι είναι ένα ανεπανάληπτο έργο που σε αφήνει άναυδο. Ένα έργο αντάξιο της φήμης ενός μεγαλοφυούς συγγραφέα.(less)

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Feb 14, 2013 Ioannis Savvas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: Ρώσοι-λογοτέχνες

Το μοναδικό βιβλίο του Ντοστογιέφσκι που είχα διαβάσει ήταν το Έγκλημα και Τιμωρία, πριν από πάρα πολλά χρόνια. Με είχε συγκλονίσει ο φοιτητάκος Ρασκόλνικοφ, η τραγικότητά του, η μάχη με τις τύψεις του. Ωστόσο, δεν νομίζω ότι είχα συλλάβει το μεγαλείο του συγγραφέα, τότε, στην ηλικία αμέσως μετά το λύκειο.

Ύστερα από τόσα χρόνια, ξαναδιάβασα Ντοστογιέφσκι, έναν από τους μεγαλύτερους (ίσως ο μεγαλύτερος) συγγραφείς όλων των εποχών, από τη σειρά Βιβλιοθήκη του Κόσμου – Ρώσοι Λογοτέχνες της εφημερίδ...more Το μοναδικό βιβλίο του Ντοστογιέφσκι που είχα διαβάσει ήταν το Έγκλημα και Τιμωρία, πριν από πάρα πολλά χρόνια. Με είχε συγκλονίσει ο φοιτητάκος Ρασκόλνικοφ, η τραγικότητά του, η μάχη με τις τύψεις του. Ωστόσο, δεν νομίζω ότι είχα συλλάβει το μεγαλείο του συγγραφέα, τότε, στην ηλικία αμέσως μετά το λύκειο.

Ύστερα από τόσα χρόνια, ξαναδιάβασα Ντοστογιέφσκι, έναν από τους μεγαλύτερους (ίσως ο μεγαλύτερος) συγγραφείς όλων των εποχών, από τη σειρά Βιβλιοθήκη του Κόσμου – Ρώσοι Λογοτέχνες της εφημερίδας Το Βήμα. Πρόκειται για ένα τεράστιο έργο, όχι τόσο για τον πραγματικό όγκο του (770 σελίδες στους δύο τόμους αυτής της έκδοσης), αλλά κυρίως για την πλοκή του. Οι χαρακτήρες πάμπολλοι, τα γεγονότα αναρίθμητα, οι αλληλεπιδράσεις αμέτρητες, τα συναισθήματα άπειρα. Το μεγαλείο ενός δημιουργού κρίνεται κυρίως από τη σύλληψη της ιδέας και ο Ντοστογιέφσκι είναι αναμφίβολα ένας ογκόλιθος της παγκόσμιας λογοτεχνίας.

Οι Δαιμονισμένοι αντανακλούν μάλλον τη θύελλα στο μυαλό του συγγραφέα, τον πυρετό του να αποτυπώσει ολόκληρη τη ρωσική κοινωνία μονομιάς, τις χαοτικές αλληλεπιδράσεις των ανθρώπων της, τα κινήματα, τα πάθη, τη μιζέρια, τα βάσανα και την (αυτο)καταδίκη τους. Αποτυπώνουν την αναζήτηση και την απάρνηση του Θεού, την ιερή τρέλα της ύπαρξης, την τραγικότητα της αυτοσυνειδησίας. Οι χαρακτήρες ξεδιπλώνουν τις ψυχές τους και τις παραθέτουν γυμνές στη θέαση του Ανθρώπου.

Οι Δαιμονισμένοι είναι ένα ανεπανάληπτο έργο που σε αφήνει άναυδο. Ένα έργο αντάξιο της φήμης ενός μεγαλοφυούς συγγραφέα.(less)

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May 03, 2012 Hayley Smith-Kirkham is currently reading it

Shelves: literature

Why I love Dostoevsky, in Three Parts:

I. "You should have seen him when he sat down to play cards in our club. His whole look seemed to say: 'Cards! Me sit down to play whist with you! Is it compatible? Who must answer for it? Who broke up my activity and turned it into whist? Ah, perish Russia!' and he would trump majestically with a heart."
He's hilarious. All of the time. Seriously, ALL OF THE TIME. His description of Karmazinov's article describing the shipwreck he witnessed almost brought me...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Roman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic prophecy of horror of anarchism and communism: "as the revolutionary democrats begin to rise in Russia, different ideologies begin to collide. Dostoevsky casts a critical eye on both the left-wing idealists, exposing their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences
-Anarchism, embodied by Pyotr Verkhovensky, is an extreme ideology that demands the destruction of the current social...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Yves rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: russie, xixe-siècle

Ce que j'aime dans les romans de Dostoïevski, c'est la psychologie des personnages. Tous les personnages de ses romans ont une vie, une histoire, des qualités, des défauts et des vices. Il n'y a jamais un personnage qui ressemble à un autre. Il prend énormément de pages à les développer et on en vient à vivre avec eux et à les apprécier pour ce qu'ils sont. Dans les possédés, tous ces personnages ont des démons intérieurs auxquels ils doivent faire face et qui parfois les entraînent à faire des...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Nick Tramdack rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found it hard to look away from this book.

-101: "Liputin spread his arms in the guise of oppressed innocence."
-255: extraordinary moment: "I'm sorry I cannot love you, Shatov," replies Stavrogin... all at once this line illuminates everything that was really going on in this long but fascinating scene about ideology and charisma.
-318: "Yulia Mikhailovna observed that sometimes the mixing of ranks even ought to be allowed, "otherwise who will enlighten them?" "- an attitude in a way even mo...more I found it hard to look away from this book.

-101: "Liputin spread his arms in the guise of oppressed innocence."
-255: extraordinary moment: "I'm sorry I cannot love you, Shatov," replies Stavrogin... all at once this line illuminates everything that was really going on in this long but fascinating scene about ideology and charisma.
-318: "Yulia Mikhailovna observed that sometimes the mixing of ranks even ought to be allowed, "otherwise who will enlighten them?" "- an attitude in a way even more disgusting than the class system.
-347: One of Dostoevsky's strengths is that he often leaves it to the reader to draw the conclusion. These revolutionary pamphlets show up just as the factory workers are agitating for the pay they deserve. Will this be an excuse to suppress them?
-362: "Like every morbidly insecure man, Andrei Antonovich, each time he emerged from uncertainty, was for the first moment extremely and joyfully trustful."
-Karmazinov, the Turgenev parody, is indeed really foppish and amusing
-369: Dialogue marking secret: don't even express speech or thought.
"This ignoramus," Karmazinov sudied him pensively out of the corner of his eye as he finished the last little morsel and drank the last little sip, "this ignoramus probably understood all the sharpness of my phrase just now... and he certainly read the manuscript eagerly and is just lying with something in mind..."
-373; ingenious and appropriate, the suicidal maniac Kirillov is also a health nut.
-388: here and somewhere earlier, pregnancy is "an interesting condition".
-D never fails to have 15 people in a room when necessary, describing them all.
-548: an idiom frequent in this text: "I have no right to X"... even the idioms of these revolutionaries rely on unexamined notions - that is, an ideology.
-569: "However, it's all nonsense" - this phrase must appear every 25 pages in D's work.
-575: "Erkel was the sort of 'little fool' whose head lacked only the chief sense; he had no king in his head, but of lesser, subordinate sense he had plenty, even to the point of cunning."
-584: The doomed Shatov's musings attract pathos: "Maybe in many ways I'm guilty before them!" [Them being Virginsky's family; Virginsky being one of the fivesome.]
-591: D remixes the bit from The Idiot about Muhummad being an epileptic.
-595: I'm not sure I understand this bit about naming the infant; will it be named after Stavrogin?
-600: the child is definitely Stavrogin's... but how does Pyotr Stepanovich know? Dostoevsky's plotting is so fucking difficult sometimes, you can't forget a detail!
-649: "The fogginess increased for poor, trapped Sofya Matveevna when the story turned almost into a whole dissertation on the subject of how no one had ever been able to understand Stepan Trofimovich and of how "talents perish in our Russia." It was "all so very intelligent," she later reported dejectedly." S. T. is truly a pathetic character. (less)

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Mar 25, 2011 Christy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011

Well, those little stars never seemed more irrelevant. This novel challenged any idea of value I might have wanted to attribute to the reading of it; I knew its politics would be antagonistic to mine, but I didn’t think I’d find it such a painful, absurd mess in so many ways, so full of what seems like amateurishness in both ideas and in style, and still not want to set it aside, because of the absolutely unique and compelling way the contest of ideas is dramatized, even if many of the foundatio...more Well, those little stars never seemed more irrelevant. This novel challenged any idea of value I might have wanted to attribute to the reading of it; I knew its politics would be antagonistic to mine, but I didn’t think I’d find it such a painful, absurd mess in so many ways, so full of what seems like amateurishness in both ideas and in style, and still not want to set it aside, because of the absolutely unique and compelling way the contest of ideas is dramatized, even if many of the foundational ideas themselves seemed bizarre, pernicious, or just outright irrelevant to me. In this supposedly thoroughly “political” novel, I never really came to believe the issues Dostoevsky cared so passionately about had anything to do with what I understand and what I’ve experienced as political struggle—his portrayal of revolutionaries and revolutionary ideas was about on the experiential and intellectual level of Glenn Beck. And his strongest defenders acknowledge the point by resorting to calling him prescient or prophetic, even though the situation he describes, if it resembles anything in the real world, resembles the onset of fascism more than the rise of authoritarian socialism, which is what it’s always supposed to be prophetic of. Yes, there’s a lot of egotism involved in contests for power, a tremendous amount of hypocrisy, and people do betray one another, but that seems as endemic now in the religious right or even in bland opportunistic liberal capitalism as in any kind of radical left politics.

Because of the novel’s non-stop hysteria, and the absolutely sensationalistic things that happen in it, it was, at one level, a guilty pleasure on the order of reading a tabloid newspaper story, or watching a soap opera, or even reading Stephen King. As either socio-political realism or as metaphysics it fails, but all that said, Dostoevsky is still a masterful writer in his own way; I don’t mean to imply he’s not. (Otherwise he would be impossible to read intelligently, and he isn't). Just look at the characters he creates, the gothic madness, the atmosphere of souls in torment… Those ghastly drawing rooms full of dreadful people screaming and fainting constitute a fully imagined reality as vivid and distinct as Kafka’s, and almost as compelling in the sheer completeness and power of the authorial pessimism they represent. If he is not quite as gnomic or willfully perverse in his belief system as Kafka, he is, as the hipster poet said, “a big pole on a hill on the way there.” He has the crazy-like-a-fox shrewdness to parody his own beliefs almost as relentlessly as those of his straw man opponents. In Demons he is also bold enough not to punish the central character who is the Iago-like, motiveless force of evil, nor to present any character at all as even mostly sympathetic, and certainly not as the ethical center of his moral universe. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen in literature to psycho-pathology as art. (less)

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Mar 08, 2011 Gabi Ghimis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Loved this one. Very enjoyable set of characters contoured in a dark and unforgiving Dostoyevsky style. And Dostoyevsky creates amazing characters that you don't care what they look like but know what they're thinking. This is one of those books where the plot is secondary to the characters. A bit of a heavy read and very much a reread.

“Make him obey you. If you can't make him you'll be a fool. He'll want to hang himself and threaten, to--don't you believe it. It's nothing but nonsense,” Varvara...more Loved this one. Very enjoyable set of characters contoured in a dark and unforgiving Dostoyevsky style. And Dostoyevsky creates amazing characters that you don't care what they look like but know what they're thinking. This is one of those books where the plot is secondary to the characters. A bit of a heavy read and very much a reread.

“Make him obey you. If you can't make him you'll be a fool. He'll want to hang himself and threaten, to--don't you believe it. It's nothing but nonsense,” Varvara Petrovna advises the potential bride of Stephan. Like with all other people in her life, Varvara tried to persuade the girl of the benefits of marrying Stephan, although none of those benefits are related to the quality of the union; Varava seems to understand the function of marriage rather than the value of it. She herself has an odd symbiosis with Stephen whose material support she provides, but with whom she doesn’t develop a genuinely intimate relationship. She tries to find him a wife and exposes his character weaknesses with succinct nonchalance: “He's frivolous, shilly-shally, cruel, egoistic, he has low habits. But mind you think highly of him, in the first place because there are many worse.”

She appears emotionally sterile when relating to the men in her life, except perhaps with her son. He son who never developed or wanted to develop a relationship with his mother, seems the most apt and willing to hurt her as he sparsely corresponds with her and knowingly tarnishes her reputation—perhaps aware that Varvara’s ego is her most prized possession—by causing disputes in town and by leading a debauched life. But even the relationship with the son does not entail a consistently high emotional conviction: Varvara Petrova becomes jealous of her son’s social licenses to frequent the high, urbane society in Petersburg from which she had been enstranged. When he falls to his debauched habits, she hurries to restore his reputation rather than to cure or care for his drinking and philandering habits.

(less)

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Sep 14, 2011 David Williamson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: great-fiction, essential-philosophy

The role of madness in society and its structure. The true purpose of power. Farce. The prophetic nature of Dostoyevsky. Wow! How can you not read it?

The book is in three parts; social farce, political nihilism and then the psychology or rather the madness. The book is rather funny in places with a very critical eye on suburban/inner city life. The strange parallel nature of the 'Revolutionist's' and certain aspects of modern day terror. The length of the book allows Dostoyevsky to then impart d...more

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Jun 28, 2010 Crossett Library rated it 2 of 5 stars

Reviewed by Jared
This book...nearly killed me. Never have I struggled so hard to get through a novel! There are a few problems that occur when reading The Possessed. Typical of Dostoevsky, each character is known by not only their formal birthname, but multiple nicknames, thus allowing for confusion by non-Russian readers. Second, while the novel is translated from Russian, some passages of dialogue are uttered in French, which is naturally not translated, leaving the reader stymied. Third, and...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Katya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Читается трудно, в первую очередь потому, что примерно до сто пятидесятой страницы ничего не происходит. Сюжет стоит на месте, нельзя сказать, что буксует, явно все это не зря и, как потом оказывется, не впустую, но движения нет. Зато потом... оторваться невозможно! И не столько из-за сюжета, а от того, как постепенно, слоями, раскрываются перед тобой характеры героев. И оказывается, какие они, в большинстве своем, уроды. Причем уроды и подонки не от жизни тяжкой, а от природы. Казалось бы, и ар...more

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Jan 04, 2011 kyle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Yes it is very long. (Read it during vacation in August then didn't even attempt to finish it till Christmas.) And yes there is that sense I often get in Dostoyevsky of the whole thing seeming a little too contrived. And yes I for one was often a bit confused on who was really telling the story. And yet. And yet Dostoyevsky's signature blend of philosophy, modern psychology, and good old fashioned melodrama proves once again an intoxicating concoction. Contrived? It's based on true events and if...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Rose added it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 09, 2012 Svetlana Dotsenko rated it 3 of 5 stars

Waaay too depressing...

The book is about the Russian revolution of 1917. It shows how resentment, betrayal, and hate start slowly seething below the surface, ultimately erupting to the surface and taking the lives of those who resent and hate.

The language is beautiful, of course, and the narrator is clever. Narrator admits to "forgetting" certain parts of the story, or on the other extreme, embellishing the story (see the part about the "great poet" Karamzinov). Parts of the narrative are actu...more Waaay too depressing...

The book is about the Russian revolution of 1917. It shows how resentment, betrayal, and hate start slowly seething below the surface, ultimately erupting to the surface and taking the lives of those who resent and hate.

The language is beautiful, of course, and the narrator is clever. Narrator admits to "forgetting" certain parts of the story, or on the other extreme, embellishing the story (see the part about the "great poet" Karamzinov). Parts of the narrative are actually in French, but interestingly, Dostoyevsky uses French to illustrate the confusion and loss. The language reads surprisingly fresh and (dare I say) modern in the 21st century; the novel starts more like a detective story than a story of the decay of the Russian society. The story engulfs, depresses, and subordinates.

Typically for Dostoyevsky, the book shows touching portraits of little people that are ruthlessly swept by the time and the world around them. Shatov's wife; Lisa; Shatov himself... the book feels almost like an earthquake that engulfs the whole city, mindlessly and ruthlessly. At some point, the city literally burns as a result of arson, a mesmerizingly sad metaphor for the Russian society at the time.

There is no savior, no honest, noble character in the book that steps in to stop the chaos. Lisa, an aristocratic lady, spends her personal funds to develop a journal for the enlightenment of masses and the keeping of a historic trail; then gives her diamond earrings to the abused icon; then runs (another shivering image) through the dirty field, in a party dress, to see the fire in the city, only to find the fatal gun near her temple. Shatov, sympathetically nihilist character that becomes a loving father just two chapters before the end of the story, is "calmly" shot in a forest by his former confidants. Nicholas, the main character on the aristocratic side, takes his own life after losing his wife, the love of his life, mother, and hopes for a quite life in Switzerland.

So, frankly - this book takes a large psychological toll on the reader. I love it (not sure about these 3 stars; i would give it 5 - it's hard to give a rating to Dostoyevsky, it's not like a Hollywood movie - arrhh!!) but it leaves me feeling small, desperate, and sad for Russia of 1910s, as it feels uncomfortably similar to the present. (less)

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