Discover the Genius of Dostoevsky: 5 Reasons to Read His Works

Reading fiction has not really defined much of my life. However, I dared to give it a serious try in 2018, particularly about Russian literature (lucky for me, I could read those masterpieces in the original language), and fell in love with it. Hence, from that time, I have become familiar with tens of thousands of pages from Russian literature and haven't looked back ever since. Here you can find an article I wrote regarding my experiences and views about Russian literature.

During my reading quest, I often ended up with books on me. That led me to interesting conversation initiation (it is pretty interesting to see how popular Russian Literature is in Türkiye, where I live). One of the recurrent topics during these chats was Dostoevsky, particularly Crime and Punishment. One of the principal masterpieces of world literature. But even though seeing the names of so many people who had read the novel impressed me, or heard that it existed, the number of those who have read some other works of Dostoevsky is considerably less. Beyond Crime and Punishment, there was little to talk about.

Sadly so. The literary heritage of Dostoevsky is worth exploring, as it is deep and rich in works that deal with various facets of human nature, spiritualism, morality, and existentialism. Let me try to convince you as to why you should read more of Dostoevsky, and cite that which I think should not be passed by.

The initiation is for why. Both literature and psychology have been deeply affected, as well as philosophy, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky had inspired the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, who called him "the only psychologist I'm going to learn from." Perhaps the most significant aspect of Dostoevsky in today's understanding of Existentialism is that his Notes from Underground launched this movement for the writer, highlighting how it would be deployed by Camus, Kafka, and Sartre. Or did you know that Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver with Robert de Niro is closely based on Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground? Or, here's another interesting fact: when Mario Puzo wrote The Godfather, he was inspired by Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Or take Woody Allen's Match Point - plus the obvious parallels of the story with Crime and Punishment.

Reading Dostoevsky can be a very enriching and thought-provoking activity for many reasons.

• He creates complex and ambiguous characters. The characters of Dostoevsky are neither good nor bad. They seem to be real, relatable, multi-dimensional, flawed and deeply human. Some of these are Alyosha, Dmitri, and Ivan Karamazovs with their father Fyodor, Prince Myshkin, Rodion Raskolnikov, Father Zosima, Nastasya Filipovna, Sonia Marmeladova, Grushenka, Nikolai Stavrogin, the Underground Man and to list a few more.
• He is a great master of essaying and portraying human psychology, through which his characters undergo moral dilemmas and internal conflicts. Dostoevsky reveals the inner darkness and inner struggles that are very often relatable. Moral choice is again a very common theme-the complexities of the ways in which people arrive at such decisions; how they don't end up making moral choices and the consequences of their actions as seen through the lens of his characters provoke ethical introspection. Intricate insights into the minds of his characters are what makes Dostoevsky's works unique for his time and frankly, for any time.
• His novels often tackle philosophical (including existential) themes. Dostoevsky often starts discussing rather complex topics like the purpose and meaning of life, searching for meaning, the nature of free will, the existence of God, religion, the nature of evil, suffering, morality, leaving the readers with reflection on their belief and philosophy.

It is worth noting that perhaps one of the strongest influences for Dostoevsky's writings was that he and a few of his fellow protestants were almost executed when he was 28 years old, though he made a last-minute escape. Instead of execution, he was sent to a Siberian labor camp, an experience which not only inspired Crime and Punishment and gave him lots of rich material for working out more badly pressed detective elements but also figured in his later study of such novels as Brothers Karamazov.

Dostoevsky's plots twist and turn, but they always seem reasonable. Credible, even when improbable. We see the farthest extremes to which humanity can sink: evil, and good, too. Of course, I could go on all day about Bulgakov and Tolstoy - but only through reading Dostoevsky's works can I feel, "Yes, that could happen, and I could find myself in such a situation as those characters." And I think this is the most significant thing that Dostoevsky does in writing - that we know it could happen to us. It could happen to us, that is, we might be Raskolnikov, or Myshkin, or Stavrogin. Completely possible, if life turns out differently, as Solzhenitsyn said: "The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either-but right through every human heart-and through all human hearts."

If we go back to where we are placed-this fast-paced world- in which anxiety becomes an inevitable accompaniment to learning (and it should), one can suffer the tendency to pay more attention to the non-fiction. Nothing is quite wrong with it. But imprinting ourselves for understanding other people, our communities, and societies, fiction is irreplaceable. And if you read fiction, read classics I say. You may find reading a few of Dostoevsky's works might accomplish more in self-understanding than an entire volume of psychology.

Here are my favorites of Dostoevsky's works (other than Crime and Punishment) that I wholeheartedly recommend. I have only selected five, but you could easily extend this list with other amazing works by Dostoevsky:

• The Brothers Karamazov
• The Idiot
• Demons
• Notes from the Underground
• The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

Not to mention Crime and Punishment. I'm sure you have already read it, but if you haven't, do include it in the list. :)

The Brothers Karamazov, 1880

"I don't believe the devil has ever existed, but man has created him in his image and likeness." — Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

This line sent shivers down my spine. Of course, it's a voice, not necessarily in the character of Dostoevsky himself.

What is it close to 1,000 pages long about? It is a detective story concerning an exploration of faith, free will, doubt, and moral responsibility. The story covers three brothers, the astonishing murder of their father and the tangled family networks among the siblings: Dmitry is the passionate, impulsive type; Ivan, the rational intellectual; and the youngest, Alesha, the spiritual, compassionate one. On reflection of how they act, think, and present their behaviors (this story is complex in its narrative structures; we get different perspectives), we examine and analyze the human soul and morality.

Freud called it "the most magnificent novel that has ever been written". Einstein said it was "the ultimate psychological and philosophical novel that is the most wonderful thing I've ever laid my hand on". The Brothers Karamazov is the last of Dostoevsky's really great novels, and arguably the deepest and most complex, perhaps his greatest.

The Idiot, 1868-1869

"Beauty Will Save the World" — Dostoevsky, The Idiot

At nearly 600 pages, The Idiot is Dostoevsky's favorite piece on kindness and innocence in a world rife with cynicism and moral most, which brings together Prince Myshkin, the naive, or according to some, "idiot" individual who returns to Russia just after treatment for epilepsy abroad (note, Dostoevsky himself was also epileptic), and the unique purity of his morality amidst the complexities of corruption-all nastily-transparent systems and structures against which the innocent have to struggle to continue to be innocent.