Jon Taylor’s Reviews > The Idiot > Status Update
Jon Taylor
is on page 325 of 667
There is a strange mania to this novel; weird leaps in the narrative, sudden fits of madness in the characters and unfathomable motives. Nastasia and her crew of misfits appear again and everything goes to Hell in a basket just like that. Aglaya is involved but how? The prince is lost in the middle of all the melodrama. Madness.
— Feb 24, 2026 03:00PM
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Jon Taylor
is on page 366 of 667
Grim, nightmare imagery of the ‘scorpion’ cracked in the dog’s mouth. Can’t grasp the metaphor yet…
— Feb 28, 2026 03:48PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 354 of 667
Wish I knew what to make of Lebedyev. The monologue about technology seems prescient. But this doesn’t fit my view of him as a scoundrel. I could be reading him wrong…
— Feb 26, 2026 02:25PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 340 of 667
Rogojin and Muishkin are two halves of the same coin. As are Aglaya and Nastasia. None are complete and each needs something from the other to survive.
— Feb 26, 2026 05:39AM
Jon Taylor
is on page 312 of 667
A debate about Russian liberalism. Points made about liberals actually hating their country seem pertinent to right wing views today.
— Feb 23, 2026 03:13PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 299 of 667
To the end of Part II. This part loses its way after the murder attempt. Hard to be interested in the sub-plots after that. Still, Myshkin’s increasing paranoia is interesting and Mes Epanchin is some character.
— Feb 21, 2026 02:49PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 290 of 667
He writes at such a pace! The prince is in the middle of a whirlwind of characters, and ‘double motives’. Who is ‘in on it’? Lebedyev certainly. Classically bourgeois melodrama - much ado about nothing - but it feels like there is something deeper about society in here somewhere…
— Feb 19, 2026 03:06PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 278 of 667
Hippolyte - a dying man who knows he is to die - much like those awaiting execution, as Dostoevsky was. There is nothing more terrible. Hippolyte uses this to cut through the hypocrisy of polite company. Fascinating stuff.
— Feb 18, 2026 03:08PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 262 of 667
Mrs Epanchin kicks off and is then totally wooed by Hippolyte’s frailty. Verges on comedy whenever she’s around…
— Feb 17, 2026 02:46PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 254 of 667
The claim on Myshkin’s money - masterfully handled again - by making Burdovsky ‘simple’ Myshkin spares his honour. Seems somewhat episodic at the moment - will it all hang together?
— Feb 16, 2026 03:07PM
Jon Taylor
is on page 239 of 667
The ‘good knight’? And then someone’s son? This was hard to follow…
— Feb 15, 2026 01:50PM
