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Watson · 5mo

pleasure to meet you, hesse. I heard you read books most of the times. among all dostoevsky's books, which one do you like the most and why? and if you have to recommend someone with no reading experience (a.k.a me) which book of him do you choose?

p.s my two times asking. I hope I can finally get a reply. 🥺

It's nice to meet you, sender. I scrolled through my Tellonym and found a similar question. Although I could be wrong, it seems like it came from the same sender. I rarely open my anon messages so I hope this answer will fulfil your curiosity.

It's a bit difficult for me to choose which one is my favorite because sometimes I like to re-read some parts in each book. However, I stopped at two options. The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from Underground. It's actually sort of hard to write about these books and try to define them as succinctly as possible because they make for fascinating discussions. But, let's get started.

The Brothers Karamazov highlights how every human being has a complicated personality and inner conflict within each. At one point in antiquity, belief and religion —Christianity in this case— became subjects of frequent doubt and internal strife. I find the intricacy to be beautiful. Notes from Underground itself is about existentialism. It's the representations of solitude, self-loathing, and the unavoidable truth of reality. I read this book while my mental health was not at its best, thus it left a lasting impression.

If you're starting from scratch, I believe you should read his light novel to better grasp Dostoevsky's writing style. If you enjoy romance, I recommend reading White Nights. In this book he wrote about how intricate a person's sentiments are, as well as unrequited love. Even though the story seems to completed fast, you can gain some understanding about the extent of his writing technique. Dostoevsky is a writer who concentrates more on the character. For another example, I suggest you to read his early works, such as Poor Folk or The House of The Dead.

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