Demons: A Novel in Three Parts (Penguin Classics)

Came in good condition and cheaper than other books stores like Waterstones.

I went into this Dostoevsky blind, having never really read a 'Big Russian' book before. I always found them rather intimidating. However, Quarantine made a desperate man of me to find something to do, so here we go. Demons is pretty easy to read language-wise, the translation does a great job to ease you in, but I had to get used to Dostoevsky's flippant switching of first name and patronymic with the surname. Learning who is who is arguably the greatest challenge in the book. Rule of thumb? Nikolay Vselovodovich is Stavrogin. Pyotr Stepanovich is Verkhovensky. It legit took me half the book to realise that these names were connected to each other. To those of you who have read it, I'm thick, I know. Don't let this confusion fool you into thinking this is a frustrating read though. I enjoyed myself despite the fact that I was confused with who's who. And I believe that confusion was intentional because Demons still manages to be extremely enjoyable, funny and gasp-inducing/shocking even without me entirely sure what's doing who is doing what. Indeed, the plot seems to revolve around people not having a full grasp of what's going on, and before long it blows up in their faces, so, like I said, the confusion adds to the flavour. There are even many characters who don't know what's going on but pretend/act as if they do, slyly pointed out by the narrator; acting in some romantic OTT way as if they were in some desperate over-worked Hollywood movie, when they're not. They just want to establish their social position in their society, and not to be judged completely, (although it is the only thing with which they can be judged, lol), by their good looks, money and methods of becoming impassioned and angry... Varvara Petrovna is a GODDESS!!! These are the scenes I enjoyed the most. And the ball at Yulia Mikhailovna's which is just a crackling firework display of black comedy and chaos. Yes! Give it a go! Enjoy yourself. Involve yourself in the social life around Skvoreshniki, and get to know the people. Before the end, you'll have a thorough grasp as to what's happening, I promise. I literally gasped in shock at the 2nd to last paragraph, and then chuckled darkly at the last sentence. Humdinger ending. Brilliant.

Good book. Fast delivery.

One of the difficulties of reading this novel, and presumably others by Dostoyevsky, is that without a college course in nineteenth century Russian history one needs a bit of background and many references to persons or events need to be clarified. This is done very well in the notes to this edition. I personally like the way this translation uses the first name and patrinomic of each character, Stepan Trofimovich rather than "Mr. Verhovensky, Varvara Petrovna rather than Mrs. Stavrogin and so forth. It gives the text a more authentic feel, making it seem closer to the original Russian. But very helpfully, a full list of characters is given in the back to avoid confusion. The French phrases are also translated in the notes, although anyone with one semester of French could easily do without them. The introduction is very informative.. In short, much the best edition of this novel.

Don't be put off by the length of the book or by the fact it's a Dostoyevsky this is an easy entertaining read. The author takes a humorous side swipe at the politics and hypocrisy of Russia's liberal elite in the decades before the revolution. Many of his observations ring true in today's culture wars.

One of Dostoyevsky's four masterpieces. A brilliant prediction and indictment of the nihilism that led to communism in Russia. The level understanding that Dostoyevsky possessed about human society and psychology was truly incredible.

Comparing this to the way the Bolsheviks acted later on is a true testament to his genius.

Obviously a great book This version brings lots of helpful and interesting footnotes which I haven't encountered in non-penguin editions