laurie_griesinger's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this novel! I loved the first-person POV, even though it could get tiresome, because it was pretty spot-on adolescent first-person. Reminded me, at times quite embarrassingly, of things I would have written and thoughts I would have had as an adolescent. I also liked how well it reflected the disorder in Russian family life at the time, especially with the end-note written by Arkady's tutor.
obrioye's review against another edition
4.0
There’s something about this book that seems modern but I don’t know what…
ghosthardware's review against another edition
4.0
"Maybe I’ve done a very bad thing in sitting down to write; there is immeasurably more left inside than what comes out in words. Your thought, even a bad one, while it is with you, is always more profound, but in words it is more ridiculous and dishonorable."
h_crespo's review against another edition
Dostoyevski'nin bir kitabını bitirdiğimde hissettiğim duygu genelde hüzün olurdu. Hem bittiği için hem de karakterlerim psikolojik gel gitlerinin sebep olduğu makus kaderleri için. Fakat bu defa bir rahatlama hissettim. Diğer kitaplarıyla karşılaştırmalı değerlendirdiğimde bir çok konuya değinmeye çalışıp hiç birisinin hakkını tam olarak veremediğini düşünüyorum. Belki Dostoyevski'nin ilk okuduğum kitabı olsaydı, büyülenebilirdim. (Kumarbaz'da yaşadığım şey buydu. En iyi kitaplarından biri olmamasına rağmen ilk okuduğum kitabı olduğundan hazine bulmuş gibi sevinmiştim.) Rus aristokrasisi, aile yapısı, "ikiz" olarak nitelendirdiği kişilik bölünmesi, karakterlerin yaşadığı histeriler kitabın ana fikrine oturtmaya çalıştığı konulardı. Aristokrasi ve aile yapısı hakkındaki eleştirilerini anlatış biçimini beğendim. Alışılagelmiş dürüstlük takıntısı ve bundan vazgeçip aklının iradesine boyun eğdiği anları güzel anlatmış. ( Soyadı meselesi ve Katerina için göze aldıkları)
Dostoyevski'nin kendi romanlarıyla karşılaştırınca geride kaldığını söylemiştim. Ecinniler, Karamazov Kardeşler, Budala, Suç ve Ceza ile bu romanını da tamamladıktan sonra romancılıkta Tolstoy'un daha başarılı olduğunu söyleyebilirim. Karakterleri tanıtma biçimi, olay örgüleri ve kronolojisi. Karakterlerin kendileri hakkında daha derinlikli tahlilleri konularında Tolstoy daha önde.
Dostoyevski eleştirisi gibi oldu biraz ama eleştirilerim bu romana ait ve romancılık konusunda. Öne sürdüğü fikirler ve değindiği problemlerle hala günümüzde geçerliğini koruduğunu söyleyip günah çıkararak bitireyim.
Dostoyevski'nin kendi romanlarıyla karşılaştırınca geride kaldığını söylemiştim. Ecinniler, Karamazov Kardeşler, Budala, Suç ve Ceza ile bu romanını da tamamladıktan sonra romancılıkta Tolstoy'un daha başarılı olduğunu söyleyebilirim. Karakterleri tanıtma biçimi, olay örgüleri ve kronolojisi. Karakterlerin kendileri hakkında daha derinlikli tahlilleri konularında Tolstoy daha önde.
Dostoyevski eleştirisi gibi oldu biraz ama eleştirilerim bu romana ait ve romancılık konusunda. Öne sürdüğü fikirler ve değindiği problemlerle hala günümüzde geçerliğini koruduğunu söyleyip günah çıkararak bitireyim.
booklightexplorer's review against another edition
3.0
“On finishing my notes and writing the last line, I suddenly felt that I had reeducated myself precisely through the process of recalling and writing down.”
A year after all that occurs in the novel happen, 20-year-old Arkady Dolgoruky, sits down to write his “notes” about all that transpired. In the effort to tell the whole truth, he describes in detail the mistakes he made over that year often admonishing himself for them. He documents his journey meeting his “accidental family.” He is the “illegitimate” child of Versilov and I appreciated his struggle as he oscillates between loving and almost worshipping his father to being totally disenchanted by him.
Overall, while this book was enjoyable to read, I just couldn’t connect with Arkady and found myself just being annoyed by how so much of his struggles could have been avoided had he done what he knew he should do right from the beginning. My characterization might be a bit unfair, as he owns his mistakes, and goodness knows there have been plenty of times in my life that would have been made a whole lot easier had I just done what needed to be done. Still, I found myself just being like, “Good lord, just do it already – what more do you need?” I think, had this novel been told in real time rather than a full year ahead (he’s often alluding to the main catastrophic event or going into sidetracks to describe what was happening unbeknownst to him) I would have been able to stay more engaged and possibly understood him a bit more and stayed connected to the story.
iamthegod's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
donzhivago's review against another edition
1.0
A total failure.
You know when you're at a museum, and you see "School of..." or "The Workshop of..." some famous artist? Or a master has only painted the face of a portrait, leaving some lackey to do the remainder of the work? This is how I feel about The Adolescent.
I've resolved to read every fiction work of Dostoevsky in 2017, chronologically. It's hard to understate the highs and lows which have taken place. To be fair, almost all of his pre-Exile work is terrible: poorly thought out, poorly executed, uninteresting, and essentially pointless.
The Adolescent is the spiritual successor of these early works. There is the Master's touch in this, but it is subsumed by mounds of pointless nonsense.
I sometimes question whether I could've appreciated this in a different context. I know for a fact that coming off of the high of Demons, truly one of the greatest books of all time, that this was going to be shifting gears, but I failed to find a single redeeming feature.
I would've stopped reading at 10% if I didn't absolutely have to read it for my goal. An absolute must-skip, for fans and non-fans alike.
You know when you're at a museum, and you see "School of..." or "The Workshop of..." some famous artist? Or a master has only painted the face of a portrait, leaving some lackey to do the remainder of the work? This is how I feel about The Adolescent.
I've resolved to read every fiction work of Dostoevsky in 2017, chronologically. It's hard to understate the highs and lows which have taken place. To be fair, almost all of his pre-Exile work is terrible: poorly thought out, poorly executed, uninteresting, and essentially pointless.
The Adolescent is the spiritual successor of these early works. There is the Master's touch in this, but it is subsumed by mounds of pointless nonsense.
I sometimes question whether I could've appreciated this in a different context. I know for a fact that coming off of the high of Demons, truly one of the greatest books of all time, that this was going to be shifting gears, but I failed to find a single redeeming feature.
I would've stopped reading at 10% if I didn't absolutely have to read it for my goal. An absolute must-skip, for fans and non-fans alike.
moonshapedhole's review against another edition
hate to say it, but compared to his other works, this is not it, though it started off strong
cornerofzoe's review against another edition
2.0
had to read this for school, i'm taking a quiz on it in less than a week
silas45's review against another edition
5.0
The story itself was told in the format of the main characters humiliating past and his “manuscripts” were the whole story. The works of Dostoevsky has always and will surely always be a flawless piece but, may be because of my young age or empathy with Arkady, the main character, the adolescent will be my number one, the ultimate favourite of any Dostoevsky novels. Fyodor Dostoevsky presents the main character as a self-deprecated person who humiliates himself the most and humorously so. This is evidenced in the line, “And I can’t stand this orphanhood whining about itself. The use of irony is portrayed in the “orphanhood” as he, Arkady is also an illegitimate child of Sonya and Versilov whilst Sonya was still married to Makarovich. This is also humorous as Arkady then refers to these children as “trash” which means he reflects those words to himself indicating that he was also an orphaned boy growing up. Arkady cannot accept the exceptional treatment for these orphans as he himself hadn’t been treated fairly so he doesn’t justify the treatment because he holds envy towards the “cast-off” children. Consequently, this highlights the unmature nature of Arkady, the adolescent.