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Two historical extracts on Napoleon's negligence of Dalmatia in the 'reading of his correspondence with Marmont on the subject of the Illyrian provinces.' It is said that he 'ignored Marmont's letters altogether, and his exchequer grudged every halfpenny sent to Dalmatia.' The other, of the decaying morality of the Uskoks, who were originally of 'blameless character' turned into lawless pirates of the Adriatic sea.

Ganya, by exploiting the prince’s innocence, delivers a note to Aglaya, casting her as his only possible saviour from marrying Nastasya Filippovna as a ‘last attempt to save himself from perdition.’ ‘Do not be angry at the insolence of a desperate, a drowning man, for having dared to make a last attempt to save himself from perdition.’

The prince, revisiting capital punishment, 'but he says that nothing was so hard for him at the time as the incessant thought: "What if I didn't have to die? What if I could get my life back - what an infinity it would be! And it would all be mine! Then I would make each minute into a whole lifetime.." He said that this idea finally turned into such a fury that he wanted them to shoot him as quickly as possible.'

Dostoyevsky interrupts the flow of the narrative 'in order to establish, in the most straightforward and precise manner, the relations and circumstances that we find in General Yepanchin's household at the beginning of our tale.' This extract brings to the present a clear understanding of the context behind 'the incident' and Nastasya Filippovna's impending decision later this evening.

I suspect Ivan Fyodorvich is the most evil of Dostoyevsky's characters, and that he named him after himself. (I could be totally wrong about this, as there is very little evidence so early in the story to justify that judgement). The frequent interrupting of the prince just as he means to bring up his business for standing before the general is noteworthy. Dostoyevsky is delaying the revelation.

The story of the miraculous ascension through the seven heavens. Throughout his ascension, he encountered Jesus ﷺ (in the second heaven), Moses ﷺ (in the sixth heaven), and Abraham ﷺ (in the seventh heaven), until he was stood before God. 'Muhammad ﷺ on leaving, saw that Moses ﷺ began to weep.. he witnessed a man sent after him (Muhammad ﷺ) who was able to lead more of his people to paradise than he did himself.'

Prince Myshkin, on the capital punishment he witnessed in France says, 'perhaps the worst, most violent pain lies not in injuries, but in the fact that you know for certain that within the space of an hour, then ten minutes, then half a minute, then now, right at this moment -- your soul will fly out of your body, and you'll no longer be a human being, and that this is certain; the main thing is that it's certain. '

This extract details the prophet’s ﷺ persistence in his mission of openly preaching Islam. Damud Al-Azdi (one of the early converts) in response to listening to the prophet’s ﷺ speech says, ‘I have heard soothsayers, sorcerers and poets, but never have I experienced the sweetness of your words, they have the depth of the ocean.’ (Authentic narration).

West writes of Bishop Strossmayer of the Roman Catholic Church - and a pro-Croat - 'We regard him with suspicion, we look for the snake beneath the flower. All of us know what it is to be moon-struck by charmers and to misinterpret their charm as a promise... and all of us have found later that that charm made no promise and meant nothing, absolutely nothing. Hence the biographies of charmers...

So excited to read my first Dostoyevsky! William Mills Todd III writes an introduction, highlighting how Myshkin's honesty and compassion are tragically mismatched with the world's cynicism. The introduction also situates the novel within Dostoyevsky’s broader concerns about faith, beauty, and the failure of utopian ideals in a morally fragmented age.

This extract details Croatia’s internal struggle for free speech and a free press - notably against the Roman Catholic Church which had become predominantly Italian in the 20th century.

A heated debate between Valetta and Constantine.

My favourite extract so far. So so much to unpack. The highlighter has been in use more than ever before!

West’s written observation of the patients at the sanatorium is so so nuanced.

The Year of Grief, marked by the deaths of the Prophet's uncle Abu Talib and his wife Khadijah - a loss so profound that this year was described as one in which 'the Prophet ﷺ suffered successive calamities.'

This extract goes on to list the factors inspiring the patience and perseverance of the early Muslims, in spite of the torture and grief they constantly were burdened with.

Marko, addressing West. speaks of the Englishman, 'your friend, who showed no emotion at the thought of the spires of Vienna being replaced by minarets, doubtless would expect us to forgive the Austrians for building oubliettes for our heroes so long as they built us chalets for our necessities' - Marko, informing the Englishman that Ottoman Europe was an 'uncomfortably recent' threat . (1937).

West opens her extract in Croatia by introducing the reader to her three friends - Valetta, Constantine, and Marko.

Valetta, a Croat from Dalmatia, believes in an autonomous Croatia and is anti-Yugoslavian, contrary to the other two. Although Marko and Constantine are pro-Yugoslavian, to Marko, Constantine 'seems impious in the way he takes Yugoslavia for granted' as he was born a free Serb.

For openly preaching the message, the Prophet ﷺ and his early converts were persecuted. Narrations of verbal and physical abuse, mockery, and attempted murders are all authenticated.

The Quraish then try to negotiate with the Prophet ﷺ, proposing a compromise: both parties would give up some of their faith. The Prophet ﷺ responded by reciting Surah Al-Kafirun (109)…

This update the Prophet’s ﷺ birth, forty years prior to prophethood, and the early stages in his call to Islam.

An interesting extract on Muhammad’s ﷺ early life; when he was ~12 years old, he met with a Monk, Bahirah, on a trade journey to Syria with his uncle. Upon meeting the Prophet ﷺ he readily recognised him…

We are now in Jugoslovenka!

An interesting extract on the Abyssinian Christians’ attempt to demolish the Ka’bah after an Arab pilgrim smeared excrement on the front wall of the Church that was built to attract the pilgrims to the exclusion of Makkah.

The Quran (105) mentions that God sent against them flocks of birds that pelted them with stones.

The first 62 pages details the aspects of pre-Islamic Arabian society. Notably, the pagan beliefs and practices that were synonymous with the arabs before the Prophet’s ﷺ prophethood.

A brief mention of Judaism’s and Christianity’s presence in the Arabian peninsula.

Took me awhile to get through the prologue; West packs a lot in just 30 pages.

How Luccheni foreshadowed the fascist movement, then manifested by Mussolini who orders a successful assassination attempt on the King of Yugoslavia, believing that ‘with the King’s death the country would fall to pieces and be an easy prey to a foreign invader’

Finally decided to pick up this mammoth of a book.
I am reading the Canons edition, introduction by Geoff Dyer.

Afterword read.

Appendix read.
‘doubleplusgood duckspeaker’ is now in my vocabulary!

End of story. Will reserve my final comment for the review.

I am lost for all words.
The descriptive language used for the interrogation is the best I’ve ever read.

“We do not destroy the heretic because he resists us: so long as he resists us we never destroy him”

We’re in the endgame :(

“We are the dead”, he said.
“We are the dead”, echoed Julia dutifully.
“You are the dead”, said an iron voice behind them.