The Devils- Fyodor Dostoevsky

[Amanda]

I read this book in 2019 for the reading Europe challenge- and I didn't post a review here then. I'm trying to go back now and post reviews for all previously read books that still don't have an index link.

As for the book itself: I was debating between giving this one a 3 or 4 star, but settled on a 3 because despite it being well written, as I find all Dostoevsky books to be, and having some interesting insights about Russian culture and pseudo-intellectualism, but ultimately I felt it portrayed a dishonest representation of nihilism, secularism, liberalism, and attempts to modernize Russia at the time as well as being a bit heavy handed with the Pro Christian Traditionalist angle- something critics of the book have pointed out previously.

The Devils (also the Possessed or The Demons depending on the translation) starts with Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky- a philosopher who is pretty much leaching off of the wealthy estate of Varvara Petrovna Stavrogina and her son Nioclai, arguably the main character. When Stepan's trouble making estranged son Pytor shows up out of the blue with a slew of other mysterious characters, Pytor is a disrupting influence, determined to use Nicolai as a figurehead for liberal quasi socialist and nihilist revolution,

Pytor revolutionary aspirations bring discord and a slew of pseudo intellectual ruffians to the town, which cumulates in a literary libertine ball. The outcome of the ball is a failed attempt at revolutionary catalysm and a bunch of tragic deaths. Typical to Dostoevsky , there is a last minute conversion to Christianity.

In many ways this was a great book to read for a sense of Eastern Europe because the traditonal Russian class system and culture features heavily, as does the beginnings of the socialist movement, and the (perceived) vitality of the Orthodox Church to Russian life is discussed at length.

However, the way the book mis-characterizes many liberal and secular philosophies was annoying, as was the constant insistence that Christianity is essential to the upholding of society (I mean I live in a fairly irreligious mixed-economy country with one of the highest overall qualities of life in human history so I find that a very difficult message to take seriously).

[[deleted user]]

The page count for this book is 768 and yes it really does feel like it. For me personally you could easily lose 500 pages without actually losing the thrust of the story as provided by the GR summary.

Perhaps to provide a human interest side (it failed for this reader) the author begins the book with a love affair and estranged children returning home. By the time the actual plotting and action began I was losing the will to live.

The bulk of the action takes place over the last 100 or so pages and does indeed show how far the plotters are willing to go to cover their tracks but by this point I really didn’t care who would be sacrificed.

It may surprise you to learn that I found no humour in this book. Perhaps this was lost in translation.

3 Stars – just because there are far worse books on the list and as a cure for insomnia it would be hard to find better. At some point you are going to have to read this if you want to finish the list so pick your timing well.

[Diane]

Rating: 4 stars


Inspired by a true crime, this book had a lukewarm acceptance at the time of its publication. While I enjoyed this book, I did feel it was overlong and occasionally long-winded. There are a lot of characters introduced in the first of the three books. It takes a while to get the characters down and get into the story, but once you do it is rewarding. Overall, great writing, plotting, and character development.

[Pip]

I did not research just how long and difficult this book is, or I would have never included it as a “to be read”. And I was struggling through Solzhenitsyn’s The First Circle at the same time. And watching “The Great” for light relief. Just far too many Russians for one month! I listened to an Audible version narrated by George Guidall from a Michael Katz translation, and he did an excellent job of trying to convey the different characters - but the two main protagonists don’t even turn up until I was much more than eight hours into listening! The subsidiary characters set the scene in a small provincial town, where the wealthy are obsessed by their reputations and gossip is rife. But when two sons return to town the action begins and political intrigue takes over. Dostoevsky is exposing the dangers of zealotry, whether it be the nihilism of the time, or religious fanaticism. It is a difficult read, but ultimately one of Dostoevsky’s finest.