sonya > Recent Status Updates

ik thisis academic literature but i cant help myself the prose is just so pleasant: “All living organisms are studied usually from two points of view: first, as to their form and structure; second, as to the processes which go on within them.” like yeah it’s all facts but they sound so nice

wait i forgot to say. i love the casual love for God imbued in this very academic literature: “in studying physiology we are tracing the myriad lines of marvelous ingenuity and forethought, as they appear at every glimpse of the work of the Divine Builder. However closely we study our bodily structure, we are, at our best, but imperfect observers of the handiwork of Him who made us as we are.” (Page 10)

the random stuff i read bro. i thought i was finally gonna lock in The Adolescent

i’m FINALLY reading this book bro omg feels good to be back (year-long reading slump was so depressing)

King Agamemnon is getting cooked lmao. And Achilleus was so mad earlier Hera literally sent Athene down to stop him from killing Agamemnon💀

(Btw im actually reading the Lattimore translation, idk why Goodreads says Fagles.)

YIPPIE IM READING THIS AGAIN!!!

reading break bc SCHOOOOL

II, VIII
this is the last summary i'll do on here bc i need to speedrun this book atp. so. there was a libellous article written of the prince, which mr. keller of the burdovsky group wrote. they wanted wanted money on the grounds that burdovsky is pavlischev's son, and therefore the prince has a debt to him. lev says that burdovsky isn't even p's son, and next chapter will be dedicated to proving that.

II.VII
Aglaya read the Pushkin poem about the poor knight; Myshkin perceived it was with malicious intent, as in to mock him, but Aglaya was seemingly perfectly serious in her recitation. She changed the original initials of AMD (Ave Mater Dei) to NFB (Nastasya Filippovna Barashkova). Anyway the Nihilists™️ arrive.

II.VI
The whole cast is with Myshkin in his Pavlosk villa. the Yepanchin women dominate the conversation this chapter; Kolya mentions ‘the poor knight’ (Don Quixote), and Aglaya talks more abt that. ‘The poor knight’ is quite obviously Myshkin. At the end, General Yepanchin and ‘another man’ arrive at the villa.

II.V (morer)
when lev returns to his hotel (The Scales), he meets parfion on the stairwell (confirming that he's been following and watching him), and the vivid epileptic-fit-avoided-murder-attempt scene happened (parfion was gonna stab lev, directly contradicting his previous words to the prince). anyway, kolya finds him and brings him to lebyedev to recover; three days later, they leave to pavlosk.

II.V (more)
several paragraphs dedicated to describing the psyche of our dear prince. he's in a mess rn. he got a premonition to go to nastasya's house bc he was very worried that rogozhin was off to murder her after their previous talk, only to find that nastasya has gone off to pavlosk. he saw rogozhin's eyes again in nastasya's house. lev went to return to his hotel, wanting to embrace rogozhin and 'end it all.'

II.V
Myshkin’s illness is getting worse and he can tell he’s in the “preliminary stage.” He’s gettingvery scatter-brained. Also, the sense of beinf watched wasn’t from his imagination: Rogozhin was watching him and he found himself in the same area where he first caught Rogozhin (after he came off the train from Moscow to SPG)

I.IV
Lev is on the way to leaving but sees the copy of Holbein’s portrait of the dead Christ. Parfion asks Lev if he believes in God and Lev talks about his encounters of Christ just last week: the atheist man whose devout friend slit his throat for his watch; and buying a silver cross from a drunkard, whose wife he met an hour later. Rogozhin tells Lev he won’t murder him for his watch and that Nastasya is his.

II.III
We see Lev visiting Parfion for the first time. They’re friends now; became close in Moscow. We learn a little bit of what happens in Moscow: Parfion and Nastasya’s engagement is messy—she fled from the altar twice; fled to Lev, no less. Parfion says Nastasya is in love with Lev. In conversation as well, Lev says he loves Nastasya out of compassion and not passion (love).

II.II
Myshkin comes back to Petersburg 3 days after the Yepanchins go to Pavlosk. He feels unwell. He meets Lebedyev’s family and L. is the first one to say any explicit Biblical allusions in the book (Revelations; time of the black horse). Anyway, everyone is going to Pavlosk and Aglaya may possibly meet Nastasya (who is avoiding Rogozhin AND the prince).

II.I (morer)
Kolya is 15; Ippolit and he are still friends. Meanwhile, he's now staying with the Yepanchins a lot. He had a brief correspondance with the prince and Lev asked him to deliver a note to Aglaya, wherein he said repeatedly and emphasisedly that he needed *her.* He also asked her if she was happy and that he only wants her to be happy. Aglaya treats Kolya with disapproval and suspicion and this offends him

II.I (more)
Nastya disappeared from Moscow, around the same time Myshkin also disappeared from Moscow. But Nastya did resurface and promised to marry Rogohzin. There's not much to be said about the prince. Aboout the Ivolgins: Ganya fell ill and stopped working; they lost their lodgers as Ptitsyn married Varya (he lives away) and Ferdischenko vanished. Gen. I. was imprisoned for debt; they're fucked.

II.I
Mr. Narrator updates us on the whereabouts of the Yepanchins: there is tension in the household and they're sturggling to marry their daughters off, although Adelaida has a legitimate match. Aglaya has 'plans of her own,' and there's nothing to be said of Alexandra. Meanwhile rumours of the rest of the cast are sparse. Lev is in Moscow; Nastasya and Rogozhin as well.

Messed up the percentage last time. But I’m in part 2 now yippie

I.XVI.
AND I THOUGHT KAST CHAPTER WAS CRAZY. Nastya betrays Lev and goes with Rogozhin anyway. The infamous burning money scene happens. Actually that’s pretty much all of the notable events… lmao but it was insane. It ends with Myshkin chasing after Nastya and Rogozhin’s troikas.

I.XV
What the FUCK was this chapter? Rogozhin had the 100k. Nastya lost her mind. It was bc everyone who wanted to marry her was just obsessed with money and she knows that after she goes off with Rogozhin, she’ll be worth nothing the next day and no one will take her. Then Lev says he loves her and will take her with nothing. Then he showed a letter of his inheritance of a noble legacy and possibly 2 mil roubles.

I.IV.
Ferdischenko, General E, and Totsky share their stories. Nastasya asked the prince if she should get married to Ganya: 'Whatever you say, I'll do it.' Myshkin said no, and so she refused. Nastasya also 'set Totsky free,' and rejected the General's pearls, wanting to be her own mistress and giving the prince a 'mortifying measure of authority.' Rogozhin makes his grand entrance just as she ends the soirée.

I.XIII.
The main participants of the plot (minus Rogozhin; he'll get here later) are now at Nastasya's bday, where the final decision of to whom her marriage (and money, most importantly) will go to. Rogozhin is very intent on getting the hundred thousand in order to be the higghest 'bidder' for Nastasya's hand. Ganya is gloomy. They play a game where they have to tell the worst action they did in their lives.

I.XII.
Myshkin asks Gen. I. for help finding Nastasya; it fails bc the Gen is a mess. He almost meets Ippolit (consumptive nihilist guy) and also meets Kolya on the way, who walks him to Nastasya’s house. They also talk about the messed up moral state of the ppl around them. By the end, Myshkin arrives at Nastasya’s bday party.

I.XI.
Myshkin is in his room after the row; Ganya comes in to apologise and talk with Lev. Ganya says that he doesn’t believe that Nastasya won’t marry him, and he’s still convinced he’s gonna get Nastasya’s money (75k rubles). Ganya thinks Lev is in love with Nastasya. At the end, Kolya delivers Lev a note and he heads out to meet General Ivolgin for something.

I.X.
Rogozhin (with Lebedyev) and a whole gang of people show up at the Ivolgins. He only intended to taunt Ganya because he didn’t expect to see Nastasya or Lev (Myshkin) there. Anyway. Rogozhin asked Nastasya if she was gonna marry Ganya, she said no. Rogozhin started bidding for her marriage. Ganya slapped Lev. Rogozhin threatened Ganya for hurting “this sheep” and then left, telling him that he’s lost.

I.IX.
Nastasya Filippovna talks with the Ivolgins. The General lies about the lapdog story and embarassed himself lol. The Ivolgins do not like Nastasya. Ganya is uneased because he really needs to get married to her but her family doesn’t want him to and he doesn’t even know if Nastasya herself will consent. Anyway she only came to invite them to her bday later that night, where she will give her answer.

I.VIII.
Myshkin is brought to the Ivolgins' rooms and meets Ptitsyn and Ferdischenko, who are also lodgers there. He meets the actual Ivolgin family (they hate each other); Ganya continues to be bitchy. At the end, Myshkin opens the door to see Nastasya Filippovna, and she mistakes him for the footman and calls him an idiot. He announces her arrival while the Ivolgins are having cockfighting each other.

I.VII
Ganya’s note to Aglaya. The note is about the running marriages, and Aglaya tells Myshkin to write ‘I will not bargain.’ Basically, she’s rejecting whatever Ganya is asking her. Ganya really dislikes Myshkin and calls him an idiot to his face. They arrive to the Ivolgin house by the end of the chapter.