Main Character Reads

Dostoevsky

From BookTok's lonely dreamer to the big questions of guilt and God.

editorial Order beyond White Nights is editorial.

Guide: Dostoevsky: where to start, and which translation?

  1. White Nights

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    The short TikTok gateway: loneliness and longing.

    112 pp≈3 h●○○ Gentle

    Edition: Penguin Little Black Classics · ISBN 9780241252086

    Get it at Bookshop.org (affiliate link)

  2. Notes from Underground

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    The original spiteful overthinker.

    136 pp≈3 h●●○ Steady

    Read this first: Part 1 is the hard, ranting monologue; Part 2 is story. Some readers start with Part 2.

    Edition: Vintage Books · ISBN 9780679734529

    Get it at Bookshop.org (affiliate link)

  3. Crime and Punishment

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Can a 'great man' step over morality?

    671 pp≈17 h●●○ Steady

    Read this first: Keep a list of characters' names and nicknames.

    Edition: Penguin · ISBN 9780140449136

    Get it at Bookshop.org (affiliate link)

  4. The Brothers Karamazov

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Faith, doubt and the problem of evil.

    1056 pp≈26 h●●● Demanding

    Read this first: Read 'The Grand Inquisitor' chapter if you want to sample the big ideas first.

    Edition: Penguin Classics · ISBN 9780140449242

    Get it at Bookshop.org (affiliate link)

Sources: straits · trill · prospect