Reading Dostoyevsky's Works in Chronological Order

[poncho]

I've read (in this particular order):
Crime and punishment
The house of the dead
Poor folk
White nights
The gambler
The idiot

I was planning on saving The brothers Karamazov for last (till I had already read all his previous work), but I'm so anxious about it that it might be the first one I read next year.

Even though C&P is probably his most famous work, you could see the kind of writer he would turn into by reading Poor Folk, which is his first novel. However, in House of the dead, you can appreciate how his major concerns are awaken and why it is so, being an autobiographical work—that's why I think this one's really helpful to understand him. On the other hand, if TBK is as great as some people say it is, The Idiot might be an intermediate point between C&P and TBK; and although some, including himself (since he had some struggles through the creative process of it), find if a little bit 'weaker', it's a great book. However, the one that seemed to me to be quite different from what I had already read is The gambler. I mean, you can see traces of the same Dostoevsky, though in a different way.

I would like to re-read some day all his novels and short stories in a chronological order, but, like I said, I'm so curious about TBK. So when I'm done with it, I'd like to catch up on this dicussion.

[Daphne]

Here are the FD books that I have read so far:
>The Idiot
>Crime and Punishment
>The Gambler
>Notes from Underground
>The Brothers Karamazov

I'm also planning to read FDs The Double and some of his short stories but with work now on the way I will have to see how I'll manage. So I guess at this moment I cannot arrive at any solid conclusions on the matter but simply in expressing an observation I noticed that Notes, The Gambler and C&P have some similar themes of Psychological decay and Nihilism. The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot on the other hand are more concerned in spirituality, and how altruism thrives(or dies) among humanity.

[Amyjzed]

I don't think you lose anything by reading TBK next. What else was on your list?

I read Demons/The Devils recently. That was kind of tough to get through so I was glad I had read some of Dostoevsky's other major works first so I felt like there was something worth working for in it.