The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1869
Second attempt at reading The Idiot - April 2023 Introduction I picked up The Idiot for the second time in 2023, starting it after I finished The Leopard at the end of January. School started again at the same time, so it took about two months for me to read The Idiot during free moments that I snatched here and there. The first time I read this book, I stopped after about a third of the way in. During that first reading, I couldn’t connect with the content due to its highly dated concerns (19th century wedding schemes and drama) and the antiquated language (in the translation) compared to that of Crime and Punishment , which presented as much more modern and relatable. However, I put down the book knowing that I would return to it later, and that time arrived recently. During discussions with Danette, we discussed the occult mystical concept of the fool archetype. I will expound on this more later in the essay, but this discussion reminded me of The Idiot and helped me realize ...