Literary genius
Literary genius
Just as I feared, Fyodor Dostoevsky has ruined Literature for me. I read other books and authors and it's not the same. They are too surface level, no depth, no risk, lazy, PG, predictable. I don't finish reading the books because they bore me. Everything is mediocre after Dostoevsky. Maybe I will never get somebody as great as Dostoevsky. His characters are multilayered, they have fears, flaws and motivations. Fyodor Dostoevsky illuminates the darkside of human nature. Siberia made him a genius. He was scheduled to be at executed but at the very last minute, the order was changed to life imprisonment instead. Those final minutes, those last seconds when he thought he was going to die made him the writer he ultimately became. In those last moments, the colors of plants and nature were fuller, the sun was shinning just for him, for the last time, he gained clarity, he negotiated with God, begging him for another chance. He would become a new man, he now saw life as gift, something he should embrace and be grateful for. If God gave him another chance, he would do good in the world, he wouldn't take anything for granted. Thank God, he saved Fyodor Dostoevsky. "Notes from Underground" was my first Dostoevsky book, short read, about 100 pages, I had never read anything like that in my life. It is psychological, reflective, honest, self-aware and conscious. "Notes from Underground" is brilliant! The Underground man is pitiful, weak, spiteful and pathetic. He wants to avenge himself against a man who wronged him but he is too cowardly. Dostoevsky doesn't sugarcoat the human condition, life is suffering and difficult and we are all going to die. The storyworld and tone is dark and filled with insecurities. We get into the head of the underground man and he is pathetic, weak and flawed. I initially thought "Crime and Punishment" was the greatest book in the history of humanity. I couldn't put it down, I loved it, it thoroughly satisfied me. "Wow" was the last thing I said after I finished the book. Then I read "The Brothers Karamazov" - I don't think there's a book in existence or in human history that's better or on par with "The Brothers Karamazov". It explores religion, atheism, love, patricide and murder. There's also the fact that Dostoevsky is a master storyteller and unbelievable writer. I strongly believe "The Brothers Karamazov" is the greatest book of all time. His other books "The Idiot" and "Demons" are great, they all get full stars. In fact if you made a case about one of them being better, no one would argue, it's perspective, besides all his books are masterpieces. The original psychologist, philosopher, a master of human nature and just a literary genius! He set the bar too high, his work is too great, he helped me see life differently, has inspired me so much and ruined literature for me. But I am hopeful, there has to be someone who can rival Dostoevsky.
