tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7932429135630556215.post5322439751732794343..comments2024-03-12T13:29:39.843-04:00Comments on Lizok's Bookshelf: Dostoevsky's "The Possessed"Lisa C. Haydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139281544357167953noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7932429135630556215.post-80843069180548705252008-07-20T15:32:00.000-04:002008-07-20T15:32:00.000-04:00Yael, Thank you for another excellent comment. You...Yael, <BR/><BR/>Thank you for another excellent comment. You're very right about the book's characters representing views and even, to some extent, real people... I think their functions as "mouthpieces" is one of the reasons I found the book hard to read. <BR/><BR/>I also identify with your difficulty recognizing Christian references. I very often have the same problem. You are correct, though, about the pigs: the epigraph from Luke 3:32-37 mentions pigs and devils. They even enter the novel in part II of the final chapter. <BR/><BR/>Stavrogin's confession, interestingly enough, isn't even included in my Russian edition of the book. My old Signet translation includes it, in its intended place, noting that the publisher didn't include it in the book during Dostoevsky's because it was considered "too shocking." I agree that it is one of the most interesting parts of the book! Mikhail Bakhtin's "Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics" has some interesting analysis of the confession chapter. That book is in my Google library: <BR/><A HREF="http://books.google.com/books?uid=18242564141328042499" REL="nofollow">Google Library</A><BR/><BR/><BR/>LisaLisa C. Haydenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10139281544357167953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7932429135630556215.post-10789786310951636972008-07-14T11:32:00.000-04:002008-07-14T11:32:00.000-04:00Besy is a very interesting novel - but one that y...<I> Besy </I> is a very interesting novel - but one that you need to know at least a basic background about the various theories that Dostoevsky is writing about in order to understand what is going on and what Dostoevsky is trying to say. <BR/><BR/>What I felt very strongly on re-reading this novel is that because each character is the "mouthpiece" of a particular theory or type, it's hard to see them as anything more than that, as anything more than the embodiment of a clash of ideologies.<BR/><BR/>I also wonder whether I missed anything by not knowing anything about the Christian references in the book - the title refers to the little demons that possessed pigs (I think!) and drove them to kill themselves.<BR/><BR/>The most haunting part of the book for me was Stavrogin's "Confession" which I think is not included in the main body of the novel and was added as an appendix. It's horribly shocking but does complete his portrayal as a psychopathic personality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7932429135630556215.post-26906730186272165782008-07-09T17:02:00.000-04:002008-07-09T17:02:00.000-04:00Thanks for the comment, pacifist viking. I agree. ...Thanks for the comment, pacifist viking. I agree. "Doctor Zhivago" has the same effect on me.Lisa C. Haydenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10139281544357167953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7932429135630556215.post-43179096843475547532008-07-09T15:42:00.000-04:002008-07-09T15:42:00.000-04:00I enjoyed this book more afterward, reflecting on ...I enjoyed this book more afterward, reflecting on it, than I enjoyed reading it. It's a book that has really lingered with me.Pacifist Vikinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16630996018868040440noreply@blogger.com