"I am the pater familias! "
- Ulysses Everett McGill
Sunday, July 25, 2010
I finished reading Dostoevsky's The Idiot tonight. It was a long read for me (I tend to read slow when I'm reading something important). I savored the last section of the book and read the last few chapters with fear and trepidation, and I was still taken aback and shocked at the ending.
I could write more about this book, and may, but for now just an observation: I wonder if Forrest Gump was based on this book, at least in part. Forrest is very Myshkin-like, and Jenny is a dead-ringer for Nastasya. Hmmm . . .
For your consideration: there is a far more intelligent conversation on The Idiot at Mere Reflections, with a good point/counter-point between two who disagree on whether the book is worth reading.
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Comments on "A Quick Observation About The Idiot":
2. Bill
- 07/26/2010 9:29 am CDT
Yes, it's got some parallels (although, of course, the character arcs are different - FG is a lot more redemptive in the ending than is the Idiot).
Spoilers follow *********
Lieutenant Dan reminded me of Rogohzin - at least the Rogohzin in the book up until the last few chapters
Jenny dies in the end of FG, just like Nastasya
Dostoevsky endeavored to write a book about a "beautiful human being" - I think FG has that same goal.
All through The Idiot I hoped that he would end up happy, married, perhaps, to Aglaia, become a father, etc. In FG that got to happen, as opposed to The Idiot.
3. III
- 07/26/2010 9:38 am CDT
You know, somehow I feel like I've kind of missed out on life by not ever having seen Forest Gump. Maybe I should go watch it.
In other news, the conversation on The Idiot that happened at Mere was really only intelligent because of the counter point by Andrew. I totally changed my entire opinion of the book after it.
Leave a Comment:
That's a really interesting observation, actually. If the novel wasn't inspired by The Idiot, you can at least draw some very interesting parallels between the two.
Unlike Forrest, I didn't read Myshkin as being unintelligent or naive, but both men were seen by those around them as idiots and children, simultaneously charming and repulsive. Both, too, proved wiser than anyone knew.