Read Across The Seas discussion

I have heard many people complain about Russian novels being hard to read. I know that one reason for this is the sheer length as many of them can be 600 + pages. But why else do you think they have this reputation?

I think one of the reasons is the emotional complexity of Russian novels. It takes a lot more involvement from the reader, and is often just as emotionally taxing on the reader as it is on the characters.
In addition, Russian authors tend to deal with a lot more moral ambiguity as a result of their economic caste system. This type of moral greyness is strange to many in the western world where most literature has very distinct character traits for the villain as opposed to the hero. I was reminded of this when I watched the most recent Wizard of Oz movie. And I loved the fact that the 3 beautiful witches weren't by default the good witches. Dostoevsky makes the point that Raskolnikov is a handsome man, which makes it a lot more difficult to accept the horrible things that he does. Its ironic, one of the copies I have of the book even show a picture of a freaky looking dude on the cover, because that makes it easier to accept the vicious things he does. From a philosophical standpoint, I love having to interact with the book and interpret the moral ambiguity myself. Although many readers do not like this trait, especially with someone like Dostoevsky who incorporates a lot of psychological realism into his stories. His other book The Idiot is also a very good example, where the main character is this morally perfect individual, and yet the main thrust of the plot is the detriment to everyone around him that this moral perfection has. Anyway, thats my thoughts on that :)

I think David said it well. The only other comment I would have is that people don't read quality literature often. They're stuck in the "Borne" trilogy and "the devil wears prada" etc. Not saying these are not entertaning books, but place them along side "robinson crueso", "Count of monte Christo" etc you see the simplicity in their writing. Well said david.