Demons book review: Spiritual Warfare

My review of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel Demons, one of his five masterworks, and a book which ultimately proved to be rather prophetic, and one which also, alarmingly, has certain parallels with certain aspects of our world today.
#demons #dostoyevski #dostoyevsky #fyodordostoyevsky #fyodordostoevsky #books #literature #russianliterature #booktube #bookreview

[@SmallSpaceCorgi]

I once assigned "Demons" in a Russian history class I taught. I loved the book, and I was thrilled (and relieved) that the students liked it. It did generate great class discussions. (There is a modernized quasi-modernized film version by-- I think --Godard, though the title is eluding me at the moment).

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I can definitely see this book generating ample discussion! XD And I'll have to look into the film version; I'd be curious to see what they did with it. :)

[@SmallSpaceCorgi]

The Godard film is call d "Les Chinoise". It replaces the Russian setting with a group of Maoist French students in Paris 1968.@@TH3F4LC0Nx

[@someobserver844]

I interpreted Demons as a tragedy of intergenerational societal failure, which is also part of what makes it such a prescient, profound political novel. There's a reason the novel hoovers over Stepan and Varvara at the beginning; they're kind of the 19th century russian equivalent of boomer libs who are totally out of touch with reality. Stepan would (justly) be called a "midwit" nowadays, and the phenomenon of not particularly smart, wealthy women who have a strong interest in fashionable ideological nonsense they don't even understand is, if anything, more prevalent in our age than it has ever been. The translation I read actually does slot the chapter of Nikolai's confession into the book where it belongs chronologically, and I think that was a good choice. Not only was it one of the most revolting and horrifying things I've ever read from a psychological standpoint, but Nikolai's demise does not really make sense without it in my opinion.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

Hard agree. Dostoyevsky was definitely illustrating a gradient of dissolution from the mid-century liberals of his day to the radicals of the then current day. The Stepan Trofimovich character rang dismally true to life in how he embodied that academic strata of society who preach their crap theories from their ivory towers but are so far removed from the real world that they don't even understand how it actually works. And Varvara Petrovna is a perfect encapsulation of those upper class people who want to show how hip they are by embracing dangerous ideologies without really understanding what they're doing. And for sure that cut chapter should never have been excised; the Nikolay character doesn't function as well without it and much of his angst goes unexplained. That and the way that the book kind of fizzles a little bit in its final pages kind of knocked it a little imo, but still, it's a helluva read, and a very valuable one, given the world we live in.

[@someobserver844]

@@TH3F4LC0Nx Nikolai's full character arc pretty much sold me on the book, even though it definitively isn't as strong and cohesive as it could have been. There is this complex poetic justice to his end, but it also has Dosto's natural ambiguity to it. Why did he off himself? This being Nikolai, it's possible that he just grew bored of life itself and developed a curiosity how it would be to be dead, maybe he even intentionally "pranked" Dasha and his mom. Or he did realize the full extent of his own social and moral fallenness and was finally driven to genuine despair. Or it's a weird mix of both.

[@dustinneely]

Just finished the book. I'm absolutely going to read his other masterworks.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

Notes from Underground really hit me hard. And obviously The Brothers Karamazov is legendary, although it's been a real long time since I read that one, so it's probably due for a reread.

[@dustinneely]

@@TH3F4LC0Nx so "The Adolescent" is listed as one of the big 5 on some lists and "Notes From..." on others. I'm not sure? Does that mean the dude has 6 masterworks? Idk?

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

@@dustinneely Huh, I've never seen The Adolescent ranked among his best, but then again I haven't read it. Probably good though. :) Usually Dostoyevsky's best books are given as Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, Demons, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. But I don't know if Dostoyevsky ever wrote a bad book, so you're probably good either way. ;)

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

Great review. I've only read two of Dostoevsky's five greats (Crime and Punishment and The Idiot).

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I would highly recommend giving Notes from Underground a go. Very brief read, but it really packed a wallop for me. :)

[@LadyJaneBooks]

I have seen this one on bookshelves through the years but never knew what it was about.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I found it pretty fascinating. Definitely pretty forward-thinking, in terms of where things were going. Maybe worth a read, I'd say. :)

[@user-zz6iw7pz8j]

Did you find it challenging to follow the plot due to the usage of Russian names? I often struggle to remember who's who when the names are unfamiliar in my culture.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

A little bit early on, but I kinda got the hang of it as it went. I believe Russian names utilize patronymics, so Pyotr Stepanovich means he is the son of Stepan Trofimovich. And last names I think get altered based on gender, like some words in Spanish do. So Varvara Stavrogina is the wife of Stavrogin, etc. It definitely can be confusing, but the Penguin edition explained some of the rules I think.

[@antoniettahomerding7118]

promo sm