I have a love for Russian novels. So melodramatic, so ridiculous, so awesome and so weird. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's books I have read and my favourite so far mainly due to the fact that it has a wider plotline and more interesting characters.
The characters in this book are memorable and startling. Beginning with the Prince himself, the principal character of the book who is said to resemble Christ and who is very child-like due to being closed off from society until the beginning of this book. Nastasya, a woman he chases throughout the book is a woman who continually defies people's opinions and denigrates herself further and further throughout the book is an excellent example of the ultimate in self-loathing, while Aglaya who the Prince befriends detests the expectations set by her parents and her family; she, most of any of the characters teaches the Prince about human nature and the confusing world of high society. Many other characters also surround the Prince in what becomes his first experience of society, of love and of people in general and what to expect.
The discovery in this book is that people do not know how to cope with such an innocent, child-like man who does not know how to read between the lines of a hierarchical social order. While people at first seem friendly, they are forever confounding him with their actions and behaviours which often seem contrary to common sense. The main criticism I have of this book is how long it goes on although this is also what is so magical about it. Dostoyevsky had a unique gift with prose and with prying into his characters' minds so that we build up not a physical picture but a psychological one of each character and each discussion.
Would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the magic that is Russian novels (and I personally enjoyed it more than Crime and Punishment).
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