Sofa Spotlight - The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoevsky

I love reading Russian literature. So, I knew that I would enjoy reading this one. What I love so much is how it gets you thinking and questioning your values and attitudes. Not surprising then that I had a great experience with this book.

The Idiot is about Prince Myshkin, who has epilepsy and has suffered an emotional and mental breakdown in his past. The Prince is a really likeable character, but his goodness is thought to be naïve and he is often taken advantage of. I’m still working out what I think of him and his actions but there are many things that this book makes you think about.

One of them is that because the Prince is fairly open about his illness sometimes people think that it is ok to call him an idiot and say harsh things in his hearing because they think he doesn’t understand. It becomes clear that he does understand and doesn’t appreciate this. But also, it got me to thinking that even if someone doesn’t understand what is said, or doesn’t appear to understand, that doesn’t give permission for cruel things to be said.

There’s so much that could be said about this book and much to ponder. Give it a read and see if you agree.