20:20 I thought exactly the same while reading it. There was a point for example towards the end where Arkady tries to describe the love that Versilov must have had for Katerina Nikolaevna and for his mother, and that paragraph felt like a unintentional summation of The Idiot. And if I read more of his other big works I feel like I could come back with even greater parallels. I think because of the notational nature of the novel, more themes from Dostoevsky's catalogue are evident and even dissected within the narrative, giving the impression of that meta-theatre as you described so well
I have read Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov, and have just finished Notes from a Dead Houes, so your video convinced me which Dostoyevsky book to read next, thanks Matthew.
Perplexing, confounding, with a convoluted plot-line is also an apt description of Dostoevsky's DEMONS; which I'm currently reading. Over the years, I've made several unsuccessful attempts to read DEMONS, but got frustrated - thinking that something essential was eluding me. I'm in the thick of it now, but this time I appreciate the atmosphere of shadow and mystery. I'm very confident that I'll complete DEMONS this time around.
Glad you reviewed this. I have it on my shelf, still unread. I also heard the translation by the husband and wife team is very clunky. Right now, I’m finishing some crazy book called Anti-Oedipus by Gilles and Guattari. And picked up Walt Whitman’s America A cultural biography in a new paperback edition. Nice snow too. I got sunny and 70 today in cactus land
This is one of the few Dostoevsky books I haven't read. Including all the shorter ones. My sister got it for me two years ago and I just haven't gotten around to read it, so this is a nice video. I might read it next.
I am currently reading it. And you gave me a huge relief; because I thought it’s only me who finds it so annoyingly chaotic! Good review, going back to reading now.
Hi, new to book tube. I tried reading Solzhenitsyn years ago and just couldn't do it. What faceless people can do to others is mind warping. I read a lot of Hemingway and at one point he mentions how good some short stories in Sketches of a Hunter's Album by Turgenev were. I was in a charity shop this summer and there was a large collection of Russian writers including Sketches for 50p or 3 for a pound so I bought them all. The Turgenev short stories were amazing (thanks Hemingway!). I am going to read them I think in order of when they were written with the idea that the authors would have been influenced by those who came before them. Best wishes with your reading choices in 2024. New subscriber.
Great review. I never heard of this book previously. By the way, I greatly enjoy when you position yourself by the windows. It is much more relaxing for a viewer than when the background is your side door and the kitchen area. Thanks for sharing with us.
I definitely agree with you that this is a strange book. It has been translated under several titles, A Raw Youth , A Callow Youth, I read the Raw Youth translation. I don't recall who translated it, but it really doesn't matter, The lead character, Arkady thinks he's more sophisticated than he really is; Indeed, the depravity of the situation is far greater than he can comprehend, and his attempts to resolve a situation which he doesn't even begin to understand are doomed to failure. I dramatized this play some years ago. Dramatizing the story gives it the focus that it lacks as anovel. So I think my dramatization makes the rather unpleasant story more comprehensible but even less appetizing. I did not know that this novel preceded Karamazov in terms of when it was written. It's usually dismissed as something Dostoevski either never finished or an abandoned work. It seems to me, Dostoevski didn't want to deal with the subject in a straightforward way, because it is so repulsive, so rather than confront the problem he dances around it and never quite gets to the point until the very end and then drops it like a hot potato.
Nice to hear your thoughts on it. I just finished reading this unorthodox novel and felt a strong need to talk to somebody about it. The whole reading experience gave me no rest, 100 pages pegging up for the reveal of the big idea and it's not only very stupid but also deal with for a few sentences and then on to something els. I read in the Swedish afterword that the book was first published part by part in a magazine and that he was stil writing part 2 and 3 when part one was published. He was apparently very concerned with reviews as he was writing. Part one was praised, the second and third was not. I was surprised to read this cause I had the impression that he wrote this with no concern what so ever about to the well being of the reader.
The more money I save, the less things I have, and the more I buy, the less money I have, and then all the prices go up, and I have no money left, if only I could work a billion hours, i'm sure that's how everyone becomes billionaires XD
Dumbest comment of the week. While riding our local city bus the other day, I asked the bus driver if he liked to read. And he said to me. Oh gosh, I got burned out years ago doing all that reading in college. And I yelled back to him, W H A T !!!!!!!😢
Given your taste in literature, maybe you should think about learning Russian. After a year of two-hour daily learning, you'll be capable of understanding at least three to four thousand Russian words and truly enjoy the whole of Russian literature (Pushkin, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, etc., not just the popular Russian authors in the West that are easier to translate). For reading purposes, you don't have to memorize all the crazy Russian endings, stress shifts and all. In two to three years of reading in Russian, you'll be enjoying the true beauty of the language in its original form rather than the translated English simulacrums. It's going to be a way more rewarding experience than now. Just a thought. No offense intended
Among his big novels this is a weird one for me. It has all the elements of his masterpieces but something about it is kind of forgettable and I can’t put my finger on what about it makes it that way.
I'm not sure that I have, maybe under a different translated title, I'll have to look into it. But it doesn't sound familiar, either way, thank you for the recommendation.
"...generations are made of adolescents." that hits the spot!
20:20 I thought exactly the same while reading it. There was a point for example towards the end where Arkady tries to describe the love that Versilov must have had for Katerina Nikolaevna and for his mother, and that paragraph felt like a unintentional summation of The Idiot. And if I read more of his other big works I feel like I could come back with even greater parallels. I think because of the notational nature of the novel, more themes from Dostoevsky's catalogue are evident and even dissected within the narrative, giving the impression of that meta-theatre as you described so well
You know, I’ve never cracked open a single one of Dostoevsky’s novels but your vivid description of this book makes me want to read it.
I have read Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov, and have just finished Notes from a Dead Houes, so your video convinced me which Dostoyevsky book to read next, thanks Matthew.
Perplexing, confounding, with a convoluted plot-line is also an apt description of Dostoevsky's DEMONS; which I'm currently reading. Over the years, I've made several unsuccessful attempts to read DEMONS, but got frustrated - thinking that something essential was eluding me. I'm in the thick of it now, but this time I appreciate the atmosphere of shadow and mystery. I'm very confident that I'll complete DEMONS this time around.
Look at all that beautiful snow! It hasn’t made its way to Ohio yet, only a few flurries.
Glad you reviewed this. I have it on my shelf, still unread. I also heard the translation by the husband and wife team is very clunky. Right now, I’m finishing some crazy book called Anti-Oedipus by Gilles and Guattari. And picked up Walt Whitman’s America A cultural biography in a new paperback edition. Nice snow too. I got sunny and 70 today in cactus land
This is one of the few Dostoevsky books I haven't read. Including all the shorter ones. My sister got it for me two years ago and I just haven't gotten around to read it, so this is a nice video. I might read it next.
I am currently reading it. And you gave me a huge relief; because I thought it’s only me who finds it so annoyingly chaotic! Good review, going back to reading now.
Hi, new to book tube. I tried reading Solzhenitsyn years ago and just couldn't do it. What faceless people can do to others is mind warping. I read a lot of Hemingway and at one point he mentions how good some short stories in Sketches of a Hunter's Album by Turgenev were. I was in a charity shop this summer and there was a large collection of Russian writers including Sketches for 50p or 3 for a pound so I bought them all. The Turgenev short stories were amazing (thanks Hemingway!). I am going to read them I think in order of when they were written with the idea that the authors would have been influenced by those who came before them. Best wishes with your reading choices in 2024. New subscriber.
Turgenev is fantastic, hope you enjoy!
Great review. I never heard of this book previously. By the way, I greatly enjoy when you position yourself by the windows. It is much more relaxing for a viewer than when the background is your side door and the kitchen area. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thank you, I will keep that in mind!
I definitely agree with you that this is a strange book. It has been translated under several titles, A Raw Youth , A Callow Youth, I read the Raw Youth translation. I don't recall who translated it, but it really doesn't matter, The lead character, Arkady thinks he's more sophisticated than he really is; Indeed, the depravity of the situation is far greater than he can comprehend, and his attempts to resolve a situation which he doesn't even begin to understand are doomed to failure. I dramatized this play some years ago. Dramatizing the story gives it the focus that it lacks as anovel. So I think my dramatization makes the rather unpleasant story more comprehensible but even less appetizing. I did not know that this novel preceded Karamazov in terms of when it was written. It's usually dismissed as something Dostoevski either never finished or an abandoned work. It seems to me, Dostoevski didn't want to deal with the subject in a straightforward way, because it is so repulsive, so rather than confront the problem he dances around it and never quite gets to the point until the very end and then drops it like a hot potato.
Nice to hear your thoughts on it. I just finished reading this unorthodox novel and felt a strong need to talk to somebody about it. The whole reading experience gave me no rest, 100 pages pegging up for the reveal of the big idea and it's not only very stupid but also deal with for a few sentences and then on to something els. I read in the Swedish afterword that the book was first published part by part in a magazine and that he was stil writing part 2 and 3 when part one was published. He was apparently very concerned with reviews as he was writing. Part one was praised, the second and third was not. I was surprised to read this cause I had the impression that he wrote this with no concern what so ever about to the well being of the reader.
Hello and thank you for the comment! That's very interesting, did you read a Swedish translation?
The more money I save, the less things I have, and the more I buy, the less money I have, and then all the prices go up, and I have no money left, if only I could work a billion hours, i'm sure that's how everyone becomes billionaires XD
Have you eve read the humiliated and insulted?
I still haven't!
you weren't trouble by this translation?
Dumbest comment of the week. While riding our local city bus the other day, I asked the bus driver if he liked to read. And he said to me. Oh gosh, I got burned out years ago doing all that reading in college. And I yelled back to him, W H A T !!!!!!!😢
Given your taste in literature, maybe you should think about learning Russian. After a year of two-hour daily learning, you'll be capable of understanding at least three to four thousand Russian words and truly enjoy the whole of Russian literature (Pushkin, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, etc., not just the popular Russian authors in the West that are easier to translate). For reading purposes, you don't have to memorize all the crazy Russian endings, stress shifts and all. In two to three years of reading in Russian, you'll be enjoying the true beauty of the language in its original form rather than the translated English simulacrums. It's going to be a way more rewarding experience than now. Just a thought. No offense intended
Thank you, maybe one day!
Among his big novels this is a weird one for me. It has all the elements of his masterpieces but something about it is kind of forgettable and I can’t put my finger on what about it makes it that way.
Also have you read humiliated and insulted? Very underrated in my mind. New fan of the channel btw!
I'm not sure that I have, maybe under a different translated title, I'll have to look into it. But it doesn't sound familiar, either way, thank you for the recommendation.