Okay, well I finished "The Idiot," and finally figured out why Dostoevsky chose that title for his novel. It was mostly REALLY slow, what with people constantly entering rooms and starting fights, bringing their friends over to start fights, and the occasional violent gang of thugs waiting downstairs to come upstairs and start a fight. And when I say 'fight,' what I mean is, series of speeches stating presumably controvercial opinions on issues that have no interest for me, since I am not a Russian man in the late 19th century. However, part four is a real page-turner, and totally makes up for all of the boredom of parts two and three. So if you want to read this book, but are short on time, patience, or ability to keep track of about a hundred characters with unpronounceable Russian names, just read parts one and four.
I guess I would say that the moral I took from this novel is that one can't control others, only himself. So therefore, I might call this a commercial for hedonism, because in the end, the prince, despite his wealth, popularity, and moral uprightness, fails to seize that which will make him happy in a critical moment. He does what most people would feel was the right thing to do, that is, what my teachers taught me in preschool: always stand up for the underdog, do what it takes to make someone feel better, let a bully know when you feel he's being cruel. Unfortunately for the prince, he is incapable of making anyone feel anything, and so he loses everything. I feel the way I feel when reading "Othello," like, if only they weren't all so stupid and shallow! Why can't they see what I see? But, that's why it's poignant. How often in life do people create tragedy out of comedy simply from trying to do the right thing? How often do we show ourselves to be fools while trying to illuminate the foolishness of others?
I wish I had some sort of knowledge of Dostoevsky so I could make this a respectable book review in the tradition of "The New Yorker" or some such, but really, I am taking a break from heavy reading (especially since I am not being graded or paid for this), so I am not going to do any further research. However, I did love "The Idiot," and therefore I plan to read other books by Dostoevsky, specifically "The Brothers Karamozov," which sounds about twenty times more interesting to me than "Crime and Punishment" (although I must admit that this hunch is based mostly on a juggling act I saw once called "The Flying Karamozov Brothers"). In the meantime, I am taking a break from heavy reading and since I finished "The Idiot," I've also read "Ramona's World," by Beverly Cleary (great, but I wish my library had had it when I was in fourth grade myself), and "Thank You for Smoking," by Christopher Buckley, which is worth reading once even if you've seen the film adaptation. I'm currently reading "Little Green Men," also by Christopher Buckley, and it is cute so far. My next required-reading-type book that I want to read is "The Sound and the Fury," by William Faulkner, which I am just hugely excited to read, and practically vibrating with anticipation.