I loved this book. It left me with a feeling that I understood about 10% of the deeper meanings. He predicted the revolution 50 years in advance, such was his understanding of the psychology of the people. Amazing.

I get the feeling we are all going online after finishing the book because none of us know anyone who has read it lol. Amazing read Thanks for your review!

@cindylovesgod85

3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely😂

Book has many heroes and it is easy to get lost. That is why you need to make some notes while reading. Every time new hero is introduced make a short note: 1. Page number 2. Hero's name 3. Short description, connection with other heroes

"I don't know either why evil is hateful and good is beautiful, but I know why the sense of that distinction is effaced and lost in people like the Stavrogins" Shatov, is in my opinion, the tragic hero in the novel. He undergoes transformation, moves from darkness into enlightment and pays the ultimate price. He is the true visionary in the novel. He represents, in many ways, the young Dostoevsky who saw where the path of radicalism was leading to. He is the only character to have the deepest insight in the pysche of Stavrogin. Stavrogin is, in my opinion, one of the most complex characters in Dostoevsky.

Just finished the book last night, and WOW. What a ride that was. I don't think I've ever hated a character as much as I did Pyotr in this.The fate of the Lebyadkins and Shatovs really tore me up. I kept thinking Shatov was somehow going to be spared, or might find a way to escape, right up until that brutal scene in the dismal park at Skvoreshniki. The images of this book are still so vivid in my mind's eye. Truly a masterpiece.

@Razdva050

4 жыл бұрын

how old are you, i'm just curious? cause i';m 29 and the last time when i was really into a book was like 10 years ago. i miss that times 😕

@tuanjim799

4 жыл бұрын

@@Razdva050 I'm 32. And hey, just remember, it's never too late to pick up another book! There's so much good shit out there to read, it's a shame not to.

@Razdva050

4 жыл бұрын

@@tuanjim799 yeah, I agree. I'll give it a try definitely

I miss the days when we could talk about books in person

I'm really glad a channel like this exists - one that reviews classics without spoiling them. I'm a novice reader and am intimidated by the sheer amount of classics (and their potential difficulty) but videos like these make it a little more approachable. Thank you :)

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! That means a lot. Let me know what you thought of the book if you wind up reading it/finishing it

Your comment on if Dostoevsky had lived to see the revolution is spot on, The book draws a lot of parallels to what is going on today in America,

Thank you so much for this insightful, all too brief overview of some of the main themes and characters in The Possessed/Demons. I studied Dostoevsky over 40 years ago at Cambridge University and always struggled with the complexity of this novel in particular, of the background and ideas and alarming psychological depths ( and the sentimentality) , never mind the long involved narrative and Dostoevsky's frenetic characters and style. You do a brilliant job of providing me with what I needed as an eighteen-year-old struggling to contextualise these larger than life characters. Coming across your talk has sent me back to the novel. Please do more on this and other Dostoevsly novels. Thank you!

I'm so glad this video showed up in my feed. I have hit a brick wall in relation to so much French and also as you say the endless description of the town and and the older character who seems so out of place and time. But the book is always right next to me and all I have to do is keep on reading. It's nice to know that other people are at least aware of such an amazing book.

Even though I liked this book less than Crime and Punishment I still thought it was a great book. The most important lesson I learnt from it: you cannot be meek when standing against the evil, you need to be firm and brave enough to say "no" to it soundly and directly in the face. There are a lot of characters in the book that have good intentions but are weak and easily manipulated by the evil, they all end poorly

@clemfarley7257

Жыл бұрын

I’m not saying I agree but they’re called liberals.

Thank you so much for your review! I have just started reading Demons and I’m even more excited after your review. I appreciate the time you out in.

Thanks for posting this! I was blown away by this novel and your video added yet another layer of depth to an already profound piece of work.

Thanks for the brilliant review. I am seeing Dostoevsky's prophetic concerns play out again, this time in America.

@nathank8019

11 ай бұрын

My Dad and I had a 'spirited' discussion earlier this week about the future of the USA. He views much of what's going on as silliness that will eventually run out of steam and just kind of fade away - that the current culture is too nonsensical to be a serious threat to the country at large. I gave him two books off of my book shelf, one of which being Demons. Unfortunately, I'm skeptical that he will ever even try to read it, convinced as he is that I'm exaggerating the potential damage that can be done. Again unfortunately, I don't think he is alone in his belief. I'll be honest, its hard not to be bitter when it feels like the generation at the end of life is so tepid or even indifferent about conserving certain cultural values. My father isn't unique, and I know it's not as if the future depends one iota on his particular view, but then again all society ever is is an amalgamation of individuals with personal beliefs and values. I understand why/ how my parents generation, born after WWII and before the debasement of our monetary system went I to hyperdrive, has cultivated this belief of permanent prosperity and progress. They've lived their entire lives experiencing nothing to suggest there could ever be any other state of being for an American. Maybe it's because I'm more invested in the next 40 years and beyond, maybe it's because I've read too much Dostoevsky and studied too much 20th century Russian history. I know that he's wrong about the infallibility, I just hope he's not proven to be.

I just read the Oxford press copy translated by Michael Katz. "At Tikhon's" is in the book where Dostoevsky intended. I can't imagine reading that portion at the end as an appendix. It's so crucial to understanding Stavrogin. Amazing book and I agree - for me it is right behind "Brothers Karamazov" as far as greatness. Especially prophetic in these times.

Thanks so much for this video! Super helpful and concise review and overviews the complexity in a very easy way

Aloha from Hawai'i. Thank you for the video as I am in the process of beginning to read Demons. How I came to wanting to read this amazing book, I see it's amazing from your introduction and analysis, is because of recent events of destruction in cities. Destruction of small businesses, the toppling of statues of history, whether perceived as good or bad, the bending of the knee like rabbits to the wolves. Yes, that's my take on it. Too, my Christian brothers and sisters have followed along with a movement that was started by "trained Marxists" I'm new at this and I've been looking into Marxism, Leninism, Stalinism, and Maoism. Yes, a big plate. And, now I have to consider Nihilism. I posted a simple line on Facebook: "There is no compatibility with Marxism and Christianity. Marxism is a material heresy. One of its goals is atheism." It was a gut reaction. I got some really angry responses. You see, I'm an Orthodox Priest. I feel like I am grabbing the Lion by the beard. But, I believe I must do it. Lastly, my undergraduate degree was in Fine Art from the Art Institute in San Francisco so I have an eye for it I believe. Recently, a post was put on FB by a friend of what I describe as a Photo Meme the wording over the picture used was a typical denouncing of the failure of Trickle Down Economics. However, I was aghast that the photo was of a poor desperate woman and her children in the 1930s Dustbowl. The photo had nothing to do with Trickle Down anything. The Photo was gutted and stuffed with the Oppressor Oppressed message. It is not the Christian way to put it simply. Well, apologies I've gone on too long. But, I want to let you know that I'm working to read Demons by Dostoevsky. And then take up the challenge of the Gulag Archipelago afterwards.

@johnnytass2111

2 жыл бұрын

Well said. To consider Nihilism, an excellent source of contemplation is a book by Father Seraphim Rose named Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution in the Modern Age. God bless you.

This was such a brilliant video! Thank you for giving this masterpiece some well-deserved love.

What a great and informative video! I have not read Demons but I recently read TBK and will definitely pick this up.

Loved your analysis!!!

Thank you so much for this review! I have the same experience, nobody I know has read this and I can’t find much online to dive deeper. I could have listened for another hour. I need to write some thoughts down and share in more detail, but in short, I absolutely loved reading the book and feel that this is just the beginning of my journey about this story. Looking forward to reading a second time!

Thanks a lot for a great review! I finished the book today and I am blown away. I agree that the "missing chapter" is essential. I had to print it out from the internet, because my version (German) didn't have it included.

Thank you for this fantastic review, I read this book twice and now am in search of deeper analysis so I am taking away a few names from your video (thank you!) There is definitely a lot to say about it, I was more fascinated by moral aspect of the novel rather than political. I like how Dostoevsky demonstrates two different kinds of evil represented by Piotr who is like you mentioned a psychopath and Stavrogin who I would rather call a sociopath. While Piotr does not explicitly enjoys killing, he is a mass murderer who wants to see the whole world in flames. Stavrogin on the other hand demonstrates the journey 'inwards' into man's darkness and hurts those around him deeper and in much more wicked manner. I am particularly interested in the theme of redemption which is present in all Dostoevsky's books, hope I will find more on it when I read J. Frank.

This was an awesome review. Thanks for the analysis book suggestions!

Thank you for the video! I just finished the book this week and love it! Dostoiévski is amazing, it's incredible how he manages to talk to you while we read. Really, thank you for this video, I'm from Brazil and I didn't found many videos about it.

One of my favourite books of all time!

"One of the best kept literary secrets." - Agreed!

I just finished Demons yesterday and so wish I would have watched this video first. It really is a brilliant book but I found it much harder to read than Dostoevsky's other works. I had two false starts where I read about 100 pages, realized I had no clue what was going on, and quit. This is a really solid analysis and helps illustrate why Demons is so relevant today, as there are arguably parallels between 1870s Russia and 2020s in USA. I was just debating whether or not to read the appendix and apparently I made a huge mistake not reading it earlier. Thanks for sharing!

@JimFukuoka

2 жыл бұрын

I had difficulty reading it, too. See my comment from yesterday.

Great and in depth analysis! One trivial point about Dostoevsky's mindset driving him to write The Devils: Dostoevsky was a terrible gambler whose vice led him close to bankruptsy and with this insanity and self deprefication! Just before writing The Devils he had written up a tremendous Gambling debt. In desperation he went to his then frien, Herzen who paid off his debt. During this inter-relation Dosoevsky got very any with Herzen for his liberal and in Dostoevsky's understanding and terms pro western leanings. Storrming out of Herzen's house denouncing their friendship, he went to consolidate himself and pray at an Orthodox church and vowed to reconciliate his sins by writing a story glorifying the 'True Christ' The Russian Christ! He never be-friended Herzen and didn't pay the money back that he owed him for paying off his gambling debt.

Thank you. I’ve struggled with this one for almost 60 years. Because of you, I’m sure I can finish it, now.

Thank you so mich for sharing your insights. ❤

Hi! So glad I found your channel :) I love Dostoevskij's books, I think my favourite ones are "The Brothers Karamazov" and "Crime and punishment". Reading Dostoevskij is such a life-changing experience, even if we are so very different from him. Beautiful video. Many people may be in awe in front of authors like Dostoevskij but I believe reviews like your one help the potential reader to relax =)

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!!!

BRAVO YOUNG LADY!!!

Great analysis, love your stuff. Wish I'd watched it before I read the book because I didn't realize the censored chapter was in the end until I finished.

Thank you.You inspired me to read it.Keep up your efforts.

Just started reading the P-V translation and burst out laughing on the third page over the description of Stepan's Faust-like poem.

@semidesert_cat

3 жыл бұрын

Omg me too! :D I have finished the book already but I still remember that description lol

Great review. I was trying to formulate my own opinions on it and had trouble, considering how intellectually profound this books is. You really have me a structure that I could go by and judge for myself and review my own thoughts on it. I only wish it was longer. This masterpiece really requires attention to detail. Great job all around, I didn’t know if the based on true people or events of this book. It explains a lot lol

Great review and I totally agree with you...it is least discussed of FD's big 5...and it was the last of the 5 that I personally read...but wow...what an amazing book! Very prophetic in terms of what occurred in Russia decades later. Thanks so much for your commentary and sharing of some of what Joseph Frank and others had to say about it. Well done!!!

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed the book as much as I did, totally underrated!

Excellent video, thank you.

Great review! Demons is a masterpiece. The names take some getting used to. I had to pause and learn about patronymics. Excellent book.

@seanpaulluke

Жыл бұрын

I wish I had done this before. It could get very confusing

just finished reading and found your review, wonderful - thanks also for sharing those quotes and ideas from other writers about this impressively rich and rewarding book. now i'm inspired to make my own video about it too!

@thepearlreview9236

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it! You can link your video here if you like when you finish it, I'd love to hear what you thought : )

@apocalypsereading7117

3 жыл бұрын

@@thepearlreview9236 thanks! i'll try to put some kind of order to the wild and whirling impressions this thing evoked =]

Great review - you've convinced me to read it next, though I've still got it a bit mixed up in my head with Fathers and Sons ...

Just started the video, I finished the novel a week or two ago and simply skipped over the appendix. Having just read it I am so grateful for this video wow, going to watch the rest :)

This was a brilliant critique of a brilliant novel. Thank you.

Perhaps my favourite Dostoievski novel along I agree with masterpiece Brothers Karamazov

Excellent, excellent, excellent summary! And you have beautiful hair too.

@thepearlreview9236

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you kindly!

I read this book last year. I had never heard about it but when I said online I was going to read it a lot of people said how much they just love this book, and I agree it really is one of the best literary secrets.

Nice analysis

Fantastic review

@thepearlreview9236

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

Read the first 100 pages. I need to finish it. I like your book reviews. Very mature. You are influencing me. And love your Russian books especially.

I listened to the first chapter on YT and I must get a copy!

Great review

Excellent review

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

My thoughts on that are: The most of characters have a serious psychological issues. And pretty much none them have a purpose to live for. That's why most of them started to play with a dangerous ideas. Now have a good look on a modern society and meditate on that.

I read The Devils (Magarshack translation) about five years ago and very much enjoyed it, much more so than Idiot. I quickly understood that these characters were all characatures of contemporary Russian issues, but I know a lot went past me. Case in point the digs at Turgenev which i thought was hilarious. I may return to Dostoyevsky in the next few years - if I do that Joseph Frank book looks indispensable. Thank you for this excellent discussion.

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

It's crazy how many translations there are, I haven't heard of that one. The Turgenev jokes were great, but I have to say, I really enjoyed Fathers And Sons. I enjoyed The Idiot least, I read it about five years ago, but given how much subtext and symbolism was in this one, I wonder if I would appreciate it on a deeper read. The Joseph Frank book is great, it is an abridging(?) and combining of three or four books he wrote and I loved it so much that I bought a copy for reference even though my library owns it. Funny enough, my used copy is also a (former) library copy.

@JaxBespoked

3 жыл бұрын

@@thepearlreview9236 The Joseph Frank 'biography' is 5 volumes. It's truly a masterpiece in it's own right. Brilliant in Biography, Russian 19th Century History, and Literary Criticism. Ironically, the only section I've skipped is 'Demons'. Saving it for 2021. (Loved Fathers and Sons too!)

Wow, thank you for this! This is the second Dostoevsky book I’ve started (about half way through) and this really helped shed some light on some things I’ve missed. I think in a strange way, this book really relates to all the extreme political craziness going on In America right now.. interesting to think about forsure

@thepearlreview9236

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! I can see what you're saying, there's real unrest, unraveling, and even rioting here, too.

Thank you thank you thank you......please share more..I can't access these bookss

Those interested in reading this book for the first time should be forewarned that its first part is the most tedious, which will certainly be discouraging. But soldier on! The story really picks up in the second part, and the reader will be rewarded by sharp dialogue, an engaging plot and Doestoevsky's signature ability to lay bare the human tragedy. For me, the passages involving Shatov were the most painful; I saw pieces of myself in this fictional character, created over a century before my birth, in an alien setting. If I ever could, I can no longer deny a certain universality to human experience.

Thank you 🙏

I recently finished reading DEMONS--the Penguin Classics edition, translation by Robert A. Maguire--including the removed chapter in which Stavrogin has Bishop Tikhon read his confession. It was a tough read, but I had been wanting to read it--for the second time--for about twenty-five years. There is still much in it that I don't understand, primarily because there is so much subtext; a lot of what is communicated between characters is non-verbal, and I was left thinking: What was that person talking about? Nevertheless, I want to study the book more, and your lecture in the video, Nicole, gets me off to a pretty good start. Will you be doing another one on DEMONS, expanding on its theme(s) and how it is made visible in the events of the story and the actions of the characters?

The version that I have contained chapter 9 in it's original position, which I loved. There's a little note in the first pages explaining the story behind it. Then the "new" chapter 9 happens right after.

I think Dostoevsky is the biggest hole in my reading. I read _Notes From Underground_ but have not been able to get into _The Brother's Karamazov_ . I get a few chapters in and I get lost in all the names that the characters have and go by. Is _Demons_ a better/equal place to start?

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Just as a note, to go from favorite to least enjoyed, this would be it for me: The Brothers Karamazov, Demons, Crime and Punishment, Notes From Underground, and The Idiot. While Demons is great, it has the most characters out of any of Dostoevsky's classics. The Brothers Karamazov is fantastic, but like Demons is very slow to start. Crime and Punishment might be the best way in. It's compelling, has fewer characters, and it's definitely in the top three.

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Also, following names can be tiring, I understand. I know you're a teacher (and a professor? your high school students are doing thesis papers so I get confused) and you might well be familiar with this, but characters are usually referred to three ways: last name, first + patronymic (father's name +ovic usually) and nickname derived from the first name (Maria=Masha, Dmitri =Mitya, etc). All said and done, you really have to be into the book to not lose track.

@BookishTexan

4 жыл бұрын

@@thepearlreview9236 Its the nickname that does it for me I think. I will give _Crime and Punishment_ a try sometime.

@aldoborja4590

4 жыл бұрын

@@BookishTexan Try to read it twice: the first time just to enjoy it; the second, to study it; that's how I could say I got the complete experience

@AT-rv7yy

2 жыл бұрын

I started reading Demons first time and quit at around page 150. Then several years later I decided to give it another try. This time I prepared a notebook and every time I met a new hero in the book I made a short note 1. Page number 2. Hero's name 3. Short description. Then later on, I could get back and refresh my memory. It helped me to pass 1/3 of a book, but then the action starts...

I really liked your words about bolsheviks, bc basically they did what Pyotr Stepanovich was talking about

Thanku

Didn't read the appendix. Returned to it after this video. Wow

This and the Master and the Margarita are my favorite 2 Russian novels. It's great to see that it's being recommended. I feel like it gets the short end of the stick for Dostoevsky unreservedly. It's absurdist lit before absurdist lit.

Yup. I didn't understand what Stephan Trofimovich spoke, about 30℅. Book was fantastic. I was awestruck with the resemblance that the events in the books are with the Russian revolution in 20th century. A prophet, he really was.

Great, thanks, love it! Listening to audio book translation of Michael R. Katz narrated by George Guidall here on KZread

I've learned through the years to not even try to pronounce the names in Russian literature. Only enough to get a general sense of them and then I just mumble through them the rest of the book. It's taken a bit of practice, but I've gotten pretty darn good at it LOL

I have a question In the Part 1, Chapter 3 - The sins of other, there is a discussion between the Kirillov and the narrator. In this discussion, kirillov says there are two reasons that restrict people from committing suicide First reason is pain which is understandable. Second reason is the other world. I could not understand this and how does this stops people. I would be very happy if someone explained to me this discussion. I am toiling day in and day out to understand this but my limited literary understanding proves insufficient. Please help

Good content👍

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

In my version the censored chapter is in its original place that is part 2 ch. 9. Haven't quite got to it yet but I'm glad it's where it should be

Hello! I read this book in 2018 and fell in love with it for a lot of the reasons you mention here! Of Dostoevskys masterpieces, this was the one I was least excited about but it's the one that has stuck in my mind the most! It felt terrifying how similar everything seemed to things happening today. Even more so now than 3 years ago when I read it! Here's a question for you that I keep pondering. I also read some Tolstoy. I really loved Anna Karenina and especially the character Levin (who most agree is a stand in for Tolstoy himself). I would love if you read the below chapter and told me what you think about the idea that Tolstoy is referencing Demons directly in the chapter as he talks of what Fyodor says about Kirilov and the eureka moment it pushes Levin to have. www.marxists.org/archive/tolstoy/1877/anna-karenina/part-8-chapter-12.html From my understanding, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy were contemporaries who supposedly never met but even lived on the same street (though maybe at different times). Who had very different experiences of Russia that have them different takeaways but that they were, in a way, writing to eachother. I remember reading once that Tolstoy (an atheist) once said that if anyone could convince him to return to God it could only be Dostoevsky.

I stopped off here not because I have read the book but because it's on my To Read list. A list which is getting longer as my remaining years get fewer. Jordan B Peterson piqued my curiosity when enthusing about Dostoevsky during most ( if not all ) of his lectures. I must confess I am somewhat daunted by the idea of entering Russian literature as I have so far in my life just read Russian folk tales and some pre revolutionary poetry. Thank you for your presentation, I enjoyed it and will regard it as a step in Dostoevsky's direction. L/s

Im reading it now and find that I have to look up a lot of the words to translate. And this might not be important but, when she sent him back to the capital and when he came home after he sent her that letter where she says he must have been drunk when he wrote it she said that he flew home back to Skvoreshiki. I was a little confused as to how he flew home unless she meant that he came home swiftly or something. Anyway I dont think that there were planes at that time how could he have flown home?

Thank you for your thorough review of Demons. Yes, the explanation of political situation and history of Russia is very important to understand Dostoyevsky. If Dostoyevsky had lived long enough, he would have realized that revolution was inevitable at that time in Russia, though. Unfortunately, some of the symbolistic parts have been lost in English translation...

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

He is definitely critical of the state. Have you ever read it in Russian?

@danicaholly1554

4 жыл бұрын

@@thepearlreview9236 Yes, I did. Please keep doing your reviews of R.classics.

Yep... So be it!

When should one read the excised chapter?

I'm currently reading demons and my copy doesn't have an appendix in the back of the book how would I know If i have the censored chapter or not

@thepearlreview9236

3 жыл бұрын

The chapter is At Tikhon's, so keep an eye out for that title.

Ok, now I need to go out and buy that “telephone book” you read from.

I'm halfway through and have been wondering where it's going..... but it's not difficult to read. I think the second half holds promise and I like his writing style anyway.

As a Russian speaker I'd translate the title as "the possessed", "the bedevilled", or something of the sort, but not demons.

@Ionizzzzd

3 жыл бұрын

I'd think "DOGGED". New generation of "terminators", capable not only to destroy, but well fitted for self destruction.

@ivanppillay914

3 жыл бұрын

Askar Usin: How about "The Demonized"?

@Herintruththelies

3 жыл бұрын

My Russian speaking friend says it translates to 'minor demons'. Would you agree?

@MargaritaMagdalena

3 жыл бұрын

Bes is the Russian word for demon. So the translation "Demons" is perfectly correct.

@MargaritaMagdalena

3 жыл бұрын

"To bedevil" means "to torment" or "to perplex". It has nothing to do with demonic possession. Learn English before you start correcting professional translators bro.

Can you provya link to your favorite translation?

I agree, this book is Dostoyevsky at his best. Until I read “Demons”, I would have said that “The Brother’s Karamazov” was my favorite of his novels. I find “Demons” less swarmy and sycophantic as well as more” real” than “The Brother’s Karamazov.” This book should be discussed as much as “Notes from the Underground”, “Crime & Punishment”, “The Idiot” and “The Brother’s Karamazov.” Thank you for shedding light on this deep and mystical study of the changing psycho-social, religious and westernization of the Russian ethos in the 19th century. I find Dostoyevsky obsession with the atheistic, nihilistic void he feared a fantastic study along side the works of Nietzsche; “The Birth of Tragedy”, “Beyond Good & Evil”, “On the Genealogy of Morals” and “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.”

Good video, excellent analysis and review, bad audio.

cute. watched the 2014 series ? not sure if u had a plan for this.. i lost track along the way.. i think the main focus is political, conservative vs progressive ) the eternal battle

If stavrogin believes he doesn’t believe that he believes

For someone who just got into reading, Deamons Is proving difficult to read. There is so many things to follow, and so many references to Russian politics at the time and other authors and philosophical paths and ideas, I just get lost. What saddens me about that is that at times the book gets to me and I get deeply involved with the story, Ican see the genius that is Dostoevsky, but only a glimpse since I can't understand alot of it. Sadly I'm not enjoying it as much as I would like to, and I plan on getting back to it when I am more educated on matters he discusses.

@thepearlreview9236

4 жыл бұрын

Hmm. Everything that matters is not easy, keep on going and you'll get there. If you really want to enjoy Dostoevsky and think you need help, there's a lot of free online resources - like professors videos on youtube and certain universities like Yale have free videos of lectures online, so that might be a help. Education is a journey, and I often use resources like JStor, or just look up reviews to get context that I miss. Most importantly, don't get discouraged if you feel you truly can't make it through right now. There is an amazing world of literature at your fingertips, and some of it is more accessible than others. I'm on the journey too, and I have some books I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle, like James Joyce's Ulysses.

@idiotmyschkin

4 жыл бұрын

FIlip Tomasic Watching videos like these will definently help, also in most translations of the book its a good idea to look at the Notes section at the back of the book, some translations even have the notes on the bottom of the pages to further understand whats going on

@jumbo4billion

4 жыл бұрын

If you aren't enjoying it read something else. Life's too short to waste on plowing through a book you're not getting anything from. It's a pretty clunky and heavy handed book and far from being one of his best although it is very funny. I read it when studying Russian history, so it was fairly interesting from that perspective but wouldn't recommend it to someone who is after a good read.

16 pages in...😳

Best political book ever .

One of my absolute favourites!! I am from post soviet space and as far as I know , it was banned in USSR, so barely any read that book

Love is marriage of Lover and Beloved, who are said to be right for each other. 'We fill gaps,' as Rocky famously said of himself and Adrian. Evil, having 0 to offer another, cannot marry. Evil = lack of goodness

What I want to know is why everyone sees beauty, and empathizes with, the beautiful characters but cannot do the same for Dostoyevsky's Demons? To me they are the true heroes because they were fighting against change because, as men, they cannot change when someone coerces them to, regardless if this is done with a velvet glove or an iron fist, but must themselves be the great initiators of said change.

@Damascene749

2 жыл бұрын

What book are you reading my dude? Change? Heroes? A profile picture of a communist? I think you missed the point of the book.

@Damascene749

2 жыл бұрын

Genuine question, If you don’t mind me asking, who, in your opinion, are the demons?

@harmageddon113

2 жыл бұрын

@@Damascene749 I think you need to read all of Dostoyevsky's other works and then return to Demons friend. Then you will, perhaps, see which book I am reading.

@harmageddon113

2 жыл бұрын

@@Damascene749 Everyone who is not considered the demons are the demons.

@Damascene749

2 жыл бұрын

@@harmageddon113 I already have read his works, I’m not the one with a communist as my profile pic. Clearly only one of us understood those works

SPOILERS! You open my eyes on new ways of reading this book. I feel that your look on contection among the God, Russia and soil in essencial for this book. Dostoevsky make all of this abstarct question (like does God exist and if answer is no what does it emply, what does real equality mean, of his time feel real) because of this organic conection of thought with really basic stuff like a mud or a comb. Death of Stefan Ivanovith is one of the examples, moment when Shatov is borrowing this slow cooker from Kiryłow is another. And there is my last question how do you feel with confession of Stavrogyn? Specifically their place in the story. When I red it, confession was the final chapeter, but it wasn't where Dostoyevsky wanne to put this, he wanna it somewhere in the middle. How do you think this is shaping whole story?

@stefan1924

4 жыл бұрын

In my German edition of the book the "Confessions" were meant to be chapter 9 of the second part. It is not included in the book, but it has a little note after chapter 8. I felt like it made sense at that point in the story.

The reason Varvara tells Stepan to marry her protegee is NOT because he has not proposed to Varvara herself, but because she sees that the protégée is pregnant, obviously by her son Nikolai, and she needs to sweep it under the rug as swiftly as possible, to protect NIKOLAI! Which is why Stepan frets and sweats over the shame of marrying to cover another man's sins.

Thanks for this presentation. Just finished the P/V version for my own bookclub. The themes and characters and their subsequent relation to the Brothers K would be a good direction to go. I have to disagree with you regarding the chapter “At Tikhons.” I think the censors got it right and the book is better artistically without it. Granted it helps fill in the narrative of NS. However, it is simply too brutal. The chapter “A Toilsome Night” was hard to get through but The omitted chapter was unnecessarily horrible. Consider the superior treatment of a similarly morally repugnant act in BK. The father K sexually assaults a retarded homeless woman, Stinking Levistva, on a drunken bet. The actual act is not depicted

I have read The Devils four times, in both Russian and English. I feel like my whole adult life I have lived inside this book. And the further time passes, the more like the book life becomes. It is not just about Russia. Its roots go deep into the crisis of liberalism: the great idea of enlightenment, which then produces such hideous children. This is not Russia any more, this is America. The characters are recognizable in life, and the more hideous the character, the more recognizable he is. We all are on the road to the same disaster Dostoyevsky predicted for his country. (The demons didn't come out of men and enter the swine, they stayed in the men, and the possessed men brought a revolution. The same thing us happening in America.) Life has been made hideous. Here is a short list of some real life Stavrogins: Bakunin, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Gramsci, Fanon, Marcuse, Chomsky, Said, Butler, Alinsky, Steinem, Crenshaw, Dworkin, diAngelo, Cullors. Please avoid any analysis of Dostoyevsky, and The Devils in particular, written by a leftist or a liberal. Even a moderate liberal. Today all such people have drastic blind spots in their eyes (or maybe brains) that do not allow them to see exactly what Dostoyevsky is pointing to. They are the possessed who don"t realize that they are possessed. I haven't read Joyce Carol Oates' writing on The Devils, but I have read her on Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness." She does not get it.

@australiainfelix7307

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I was going to write a comment about how this book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand leftists today. But your comment goes further. I agree wholeheartedly with every word you typed.

@trevorbrennan120

3 жыл бұрын

Well said

@markalan7265

3 жыл бұрын

I'm just getting to the heart of the novel and not sure what to think about the application to America. America's founding was demonic in my opinion so who are the devils here? I feel like the people you mention are not even worthy of being compared to the Russians of the 19th century. They just want to suck more money out of the system not change it. They create cottage industries of the wicked which exist happily under hyper-capitalism.

@Kurtlane

3 жыл бұрын

@@markalan7265 , Sorry, but you are contaminated. The demons are within you.

@markalan7265

3 жыл бұрын

​@@Kurtlane I think conservatives will find that they need some demons of their own in the coming years. Moral preening is not as effective as you've been led to believe.

3:21 _that's hot_ < 3

Beautiful lady

I didn't like the way you present the analysis. The connection between ideas seems poor.