I didn't find the beginning quite a slog but I did wonder if there was going to be a "plot" in the conventional sense. As you say, the rest of the book was a near-continuous crescendo. One scene in particular (Saunt Bucker's Basket!) made me literally stop reading while my brain processed.
My wife read my copy after me. If I remember correctly, she more or less read up to that scene in 5-10 page increments, and then read from that scene to the end in most of one night.
I’m not a literature expert and I know people generally like the book. But I got maybe half way through the book and was wondering, “okay so when is the plot going to advance? Is there even a plot? Just feels like stuff is happening but I’m not sure why I should care.”
I spent too long thinking that it must be a good book so maybe I just have to give it a few more chapters.
i found the 1st chapter to be a bit of a slog as you say, but after that it picked up for me. and there were hints of what was to come in the 1st chapter.
but 100%, it was a little challenging to get into initially.
i also took breaks reading it as i read other books. it can definitely be digested piecemeal as it's a collection of thoughts.
I did eventually get through it. I found that thinking of the chapters as individual books (which in a lot of ways they are) was helpful to enjoy the reading and to get through it.
Read one, take a break digest it. It's enjoyable. There are good accompanying books to read alongside it.
In my experience Dostoevsky novels can be a bit of a slog at the beginning because nothing much happens and it’s lots of character analysis. Then about halfway through some significant event happens and the rest is absolutely fascinating because you’ve spent so much time getting into the characters’ heads.
reply