I heard somewhere comparison of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy reading experience with a tour bus ride. Reading Tolstoy is like taking a calm scenic route, you know what to expect around the corner, you feel safe and confident. Reading Dostoevsky is like heading down a steep road on the cliff at the high speed, while the driver is half mad. 😁

@skrieni

2 жыл бұрын

Thats why u read Tolstoy latter work and not War and Peace and such...

@SplashyCannonBall

2 жыл бұрын

Yet in reality Dostoyevsky was just a man trying to be free of what would be considered today as Censorship. Where as one particular train of thought decides what we should think, not allowing our own minds to decipher what’s fact or fiction. Leading further to the guise that we are not all equal yet rather rich and poor, good and bad, smart or stupid. It’s saddening to ponder for too long that this curvy road you described could be an actual reality. Ask yourself, would you be willing to be jailed for what you think, or will you conform so that your peace stays comfortable?

The best artists(writers, musicians, painters/illustrators etc) are ones who suffered deeply. It's no coincidence that some of the greatest art(in all of its forms) came from Russia...look at the amount of suffering that took place there. It's the great irony, isn't it, how masterful works of art come from the deepest wells of suffering and pain. I am always so moved when I think about just the sheer amount of genius that arose from Russia and I can't help but marvel at it.

I suppose that difference between Dostoevsky and Tolstoy is like this: Tolstoy is often a prophet, adviser and moralist. However, at the end of his life he gave more humble advice. Look at 'Resurrection' and 'Father Sergei'. He preaches less than 'Anna Karenina' and 'War and Peace'. But he still has words to advise. He is mostly a sociologist and analyzes the social issues around him well. But Dostoevsky never claims to be an adviser. He is mostly a psychologist and a philosopher. He always raises new questions about life. He does not necessarily answer it. But it always leaves the reader alone with new questions. It teaches to look deeper into human life and existence. He became a more mature man, clearly after being rescued from execution and pardoned by the Tsar and then exiled to Siberia. Dostoevsky is the best writer I have ever encountered. I can say that I born to read his works.

@antidepressant11

2 жыл бұрын

Good points made. I think Dostoyevsky goes deeper than Tolstoy. Although Tolstoy shows his ability to read the thoughts of all types including women. Fyodor's own suffering comes through his writing. He truly understands suffering, whether it be physical, emotional, intellectual psychological and spiritual. I feel his compassion for all of us. There is hope for all of us. No matter what we've done. No other writer expresses the beauty of redemption and grace like Dostoyevsky.

@ReligionOfSacrifice

7 ай бұрын

@@antidepressant11, FAVORITE AUTHORS 1st) Fyodor Dostoevsky 1) “The Insulted and Humiliated” by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4) "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 19) "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 30) "Demons" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 65) "My Uncle's Dream" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 80) "The Heavenly Christmas Tree" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 113) "Poor Folk" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 130) "The Gentle Spirit" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 141) "The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 149) "White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 173) "Netochka Nezvanova" (nameless nobody) by Fyodor Dostoevsky 2nd) Leo Tolstoy 3) "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy 9) "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy 16) “Childhood, Boyhood” by Leo Tolstoy 62) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy 91) "A Confession" by Leo Tolstoy 3rd) Ivan Turgenev 5) "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Turgenev 11) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev 23) "Virgin Soil" by Ivan Turgenev 41) "Torrents of Spring" by Ivan Turgenev 64) "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev 101) "Acia" by Ivan Turgenev 107) "The Watch" by Ivan Turgenev 132) "Rudin" by Ivan Turgenev 141) "On the Eve" by Ivan Turgenev 152) "Home of the Gentry" by Ivan Turgenev 172) "Clara Militch" by Ivan Turgenev 177) "The Inn" by Ivan Turgenev 4th) James A. Michener 12) "Chesapeake" by James A. Michener 13) "Poland" by James A. Michener 36) "Caribbean" by James A. Michener 37) "Hawaii" by James A. Michener 197) “Mexico” by James A. Michener 5th) Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 10) "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 28) "Cancer Ward" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 44) "In the First Circle" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 78) "The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: an Experiment in Literary Investigation" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Dostoyevsky tugs at my heartstrings like no other writer... His life was full of suffering and pain... His heart was of such deep capacity to feel, to suffer, to observe, it all shows in his writings.

@antidepressant11

2 жыл бұрын

Well said

The BEST books of all leave you with more questions than answers(as you said, Carolyn) and those questions linger sometimes for years---and they go tumbling over and over in our mind as we go through our life--just like a worrystone passes through one's fingers. That's why literature is so powerful. I believe that that is how you measure a truly great book. The Russians do it better than about anyone.

@Gipsi711

2 ай бұрын

Exactly. They supposed to get you involved and THINK

I love this! Dostoyevsky is very close to my heart. When I was in high school, I had a wonderful literature teacher who would always encourage us to give international classics a try, and she was one of the main reasons for me going into literary academia. I asked her what books she thought everyone should read, and she took me to the school library which I then left with a bag filled with about 20 books, amongst them Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and The Gambler (and Gogol's Dead Souls, talking about Russian classics!) and they really made an impression on me. I'm slowly reading and rereading all his published works of fiction at the moment and it's such an interesting journey. So happy to see you read him and other Russian writers!❤️

I was studying Russian philology and I actually wrote one of my dissertations about this book. For years and years it was my absolute favorite. It is a masterpiece ❤️

I read Crime and Punishment in Russian and Notes from the Underground in English, and they are so dark and deep and just everything I love in a book. BUT I laughed so much which I didn’t expect. Especially the Russian version, with the dialogues and all, was so funny along with all the darkness. The protagonists’ thoughts and dialogues in Russian are just absurdly hilarious. I even have separate highlights for the funny scenes which I would never expect from Dostoevsky before reading. Has anyone else had this? :D PS. reading The Brothers Karamazov now, and some parts are also hilarious to me.

Каролина Мария Альбертовна 😊

Your videos make me so happy!! This was exactly what I needed after a very stressful day!❤

I loooove your russian lit reading vlogs!!! Please keep them coming 😍

The best thing that happened to me in these depressing times of lockdown and covid was that i encountered dostoevsky and interestingly in the same year that we marked his 200th birthday. And i love him... his writing.. oh my god. He is my favourite writer of all time and will always be... i don't see how is anyone ever going to top him. After reading brothers karamazov... i don't see how even he will beat himself. ❤ I feel that he just makes a person talk differently when we discuss about his books... and my heart just climbs into my brain and they both just wreck my nerves while i read his works... (i hv no other way to explain this)

I read the Brothers Karamazov at the height of the first lockdown in 2020 and it touched me so much and affected me in the most wonderful wonderful way. I can't wait to read more Doystovsky! So glad you're dipping into his work 😀❤️😘

Not sure if you know but Notes From Underground was written as a response to What is to be Done? by Nikolai Chernyshevsky (among other things), and What is to be Done? was written as a response to Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev.

@desidrogenase

2 ай бұрын

Wow imagine writting a book to answer someone people were geniuses and had a lot of time

I have this book on my shelf for a while now. So I hope to read it soon. Thanks for your review, you made it sound even more interesting!

Just finished this and was absolutely blown away by it. Can't wait to continue with his bibliography. Great video.

Was swearing at the Underground-man by the end of this book. Dostoyevsky has such a way of making his characters feel so alive. Crime and Punishment is still the hardest hitting for me.

I had a big smile on my face watching and listening to your enthusiastic review. Excellent job.

I've only read CnP and Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky but boy oh boy! Do I love his writing.. Dostoyevsky has got me hooked. Thank you so much for this beautiful insight. I cannot wait to read more of this geniuses works.

dostoievsky is an author that intimates me a lot because i have this big feeling that makes me think that i'll adore his books but i'm scared of being disappointed! hopefully soon i'll read something by him! always love hearing your thoughts on russian classics!

I've just finished reading this book and enjoyed your analysis and review. Dostoyevsky books seem only to make sense to me once I've read the whole thing, thought about it, thought about it some more, mused on it and thought back over it all. Then it all seems so brilliant even though at the time of reading I was swept up in the story. I can, as you may have noticed, appreciate your point about over-thinking. Now, Dost. is living rent free in my head, asking me questions, the answers of which I felt I already knew but now they torment me like never before.

My favorite Dostoevskij novel are The brothers Karamazov (actually the best of all novels for me), The Demons and Crime and Punishment/Notes from the underground

I definitely need to read more Dostoyevsky! Maybe I'll start with this one! Lovely video💗

Carolyn OMG you.ve left me with such a lofty happiness LOL your summery of NOTESis just smashing i'm Anrew an advocate and tour guide at the Shakespeare I've just got into Dostoyevsky,,, thank you so much x x

I remember relating to this book way too much 😆

I am about to start reading it soon as I finish watching this video please stay safe and enjoy your reading love your number one Australia fan John xxx

I 🤔 Fyodor Dostoyevsky has the writing core in himself in such a way that the reader flows into his thoughts deeply and suffers along with the author's journey 🙏

I typically am not a non-fiction reader, but you have peaked my interest in this book

You perceived Notes from Underground in a very unique way. I'm talking about laughter. I never even smiled while reading the story. I read it twice in the original language. It’s a pity that I don’t speak English very well to explain. Here's an example. At the beginning it is written about the liver. Here: 1. a hint of hypochondria as a justification of one’s character 2. previously it was believed that a diseased liver = a lot of bile, and a lot of bile = phlegmatic (see the ancient Greeks). In Russian there is the concept of a bilious person. It means irritable, dissatisfied, toxic

i love how when you refer to the pipe scene in hamlet you have poignant thoughts about it but when you mentioned the scene i immediately thought of the innuendo LOL

I was re-reading Hamlet a couple of days ago and when I came across the line you mentioned I INSTANTLY thought of Dostoevsky and his piano keys. Dostoevsky loved Hamlet, incidentally. I love discovering all these coincidences in literature. He certainly had Hamlet in mind when he was writing Notes from Underground.

After Anna Karenina I don't think I'm ready to go through the emotional wringer with another Russian author just yet.Lovely vlog though!Cheapness can't really translate into happiness,whereas suffering may bring enlightenment,which is a form of happiness 😃

Completely unrelated but that quote about impossibility made me think of a quote from Sense8! "Impossibility is a kiss away from reality"

Crime and punishment is my favorite book of all time. Can’t beat it.

I used to keep a Word document of quotes I liked from books and other sources. I had the same one copied down-- the "cheap happiness" one. (There were several more from this book on the list, too.) It's definitely an interesting question.

Thanks! Just finished The Idiot with many more on my list. Appreciate your insights…

I was rereading it, and i waited to see your video. It is difficult. Dostoiévski is just so intense, he doesn't let you breath even for a second. It is Always unconfortable, you feel that you almost need to scream hahahha I agree with you that is really a very personal experience. There where points that i felt so close to the men from the underground, and others that i just needed a break 😂 Remarkable book! Is really nice to see your journey. PS: Really cool that this edition has 'The Double", i always wanted to read; i heard that Aronofsky took a lot from this book for the 'Black Swan' movie.

I love tea too. I'm rereading this book now because when I read it the first time I felt I had some of the same experiences as the UM. One line is really good. It states that society made me who I am. That is really profound because I feel the same way. The people around you can make you feel good or bad about yourself. Especially in our time when technology influences the way people think. D. is right about human nature. If society thinks one way, I will find another way to think about it out of spite.

'Mind-blowing and very questionable' I love how you described that! 📖🌷

Каралина ты очень красивая, и мне в душе понравилась по крайним степиням😊, Достаевский в жизни многих русских занимает большое место, и я один из этих русских. От красоты твоей снаружи и красоты движения внутри к познаю сложности переплетения души - у меня к тебе слова "уважаю и люблю тебя, по-русски и больше".

I'm still going to start reading Dostoevsky, but I've done a lot of research before reading the works, I have a sequel (white nights, crime and punishment, the Karamazov brothers and finally underground notes) as short a book as it is, I hear it is one of the last and extremely complex.

My Dostoevsky favourites are Crime and Punishment, the Idiot, Brothers Karamazovs, his short stories.... Although it is hard to pick the top one...

I read Dostoyevsky many years ago. I loved him then and looking forward to rereading his works. I just purchased the Norton Critical Edition of Notes From Underground because it's annotated and also provides supplemental essays. Have you looked into their edition? If so, what are your thoughts?

@ryokan9120

5 ай бұрын

It is, by some considerable margin, the best edition available. I was already in love with the novella, but the supplementary material made me appreciate and love it even more.

Фёдор Михайлович великий писатель на равне с Львом Николаевичем! Это прекрасно что Вам нравится такая литература! Это произведения для души, и о ней! Рекомендую прочесть ещё Паустовского ''Телеграмма'' и Анатолия Иванова ''Вечный зов '' Приятного шелеста страниц!

Hadji Murad has one of my favorite covers for a book, just google "Hadji Murad (Modern Library Classics)". It's a modern Chechen rebel fighter on the cover.

Hi - I really enjoyed this video - You might have come across this, but there's a really good film adaptation with Henry Czerny

Wow…but can you highlight on the significance of the title…I’m Ghanaian and your video has helped me understand the novel a lot. Thanks…

Have you read The Brothers Karamazov? It's probably the best book I've read. Only book that ever made me cry.

I just finished reading and am just looking for how people thought about it other than myself.

yesss it was so good

It's interesting how you mentioned about being surprised by his humour. I felt the same reading The Double, as well as the film adaption.

I need to up my notetaking game

Which translations of Dostoyevsky have you enjoyed the most? I recently read Crime and Punishment translated by David McDuff and although I enjoyed the book I found this translation soooo tedious!! It’s made me scared to keep reading Dostoyevsky, I don’t know what book or translation to try next.

I wanna read its russian version too..even though i dont understand i wanna know how it sounds

Hi. May I ask who's the translator of the book? Thank you.

I always thought this was his worst book lmao even though it's one of his most popular. I think Notes from a Dead Home is much more important to understand Dostoevsky's work. And reading his works in English always felt weird to me, there's definitely a lot lost in translation.

Сначала я любил Достоевского, потом перестал любить. Но. Считаю что одна из самых лучших книг мировой литературы, это его Братья Карамазовы. Это та книга которая стоит особняком в памяти. Да. Кэролин, начав читать Достоевского, ты далеко зашла в русскую литературу. Теперь считаю тебя родной русской

Plzz tell me about the utopian society by fydor dostoevesky and more important theme which can be asked in our master's external Like - rationalism or some more themes Help me into it

Thank you for making this, it is excellent/ Nietzsche once described Dostoevsky as “the only person who has ever taught me anything about psychology”

I think it’s the first appearance of Resentment in modern lit. Resentment and our not dealing with it is at the base of modern problems per the work of Rene Girard Stamford Anthropologist. Read Girard and understand our world😎

Каролина Альбертовна :))

It's no wonder Nietzsche fell in love with this book even after reading a bastardized french translation in 1886. This novella hugely affected Nietzsche and may in part (to speculate) have influenced the book he wrote in the same year (On the Genealogy of Morality).

I was going to add my thoughts on Dostoyevsky rather, the ending of this video sums it up. The classics are the source. They change you.

Are you going to read The Double as well? :)

@CarolynMarieReads

2 жыл бұрын

Eventually, yes!

It would be Carolina Albertovna

@CarolynMarieReads

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! :)

Albertovna (stress on the "e")

@CarolynMarieReads

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! :)

I've read this book, it's my favourite. You'd do well to name a better author than Dostoevsky.. he is razor sharp & his dialogue is superb. I recently committed the great sin of putting another book down, just so that I could start reading 'The Idiot'... I've no regrets! 😄

0:50 Albertovna

I clicked so fast 😂😂

@CarolynMarieReads

2 жыл бұрын

I 🤔u should read Crime and punishment by Dostoyevsky

Are you related to John Fish?? who else sees the resemblance

Its a good book and hes trying to critique rationality with this one Btw youre really cute

You sweet

Как жаль что я не понимаю английский язык

Hey

Actually I don't think this book is an ideal book for anyone to start on with Russian writers. It's complex. For example, the writer is possibly being sarcastic and using the main character to poke fun at political zealots of his era. That's just one interpretation I've read. I found C and Punishment easier to read, though it was much longer. Even Brothers Karamazov is easier than this. But Notes from Underground is potentially very rewarding. I'm still studying and trying to fully understand it.

Can you please make a reaction video to “The lady of heaven Trailer?” Would love to see your take on it ❤️❤️ These types of videos don’t come along often.

I cut through philosophy and threw it in the bin because in reality it is pondering but not realising what causes the problem and how to solve it. Time after time I hear the telltale expressions of men who do not learn science. Form and Purpose and Cause and Effect fully encompass all things so I keep it simple rather than get lost in the complexity. One verse says it all, he does not want to know what is causing the problem, but it's the reason he goes through a loop and keeps pondering. I do not want to write a biography I teach science. Now I know what type of man Omni Trio is it is no wonder his music is so repetative and sounds slow and drab, he is that type, going nowhere. Anxiety leads to overthinking but is mainly caused when you do not know something you need an answer to. I am the thoughtmaster, a pioneering positive thinker, I practice thought programming.

Albertovna better hahaha

Hi Carolyn. I enjoyed your video on this book which I’m halfway through and a little apprehensive about. However I truly enjoyed Crime and punishment and The idiot. I also read The brothers Karamazov and found it a bit too long and even boring at times. Happy reading, cheers from Canada. 😄

Today, the underground man is the anonymous troll on the web.

You are too cheerful to understand this book