04.11.2024 Monday

I’m going to try to keep my reading notes in one language so they’re easier to use if I want to film or write something. (a small resolution for a new notebook)

I’ve returned to reading The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky again. I’m currently at 22%, and I’m experiencing similar feelings to those I had while reading War and Peace.
Perhaps it’s a characteristic of Russian literature or simply a result of the novel’s length, but it’s really hard to summarize in one sentence: “What is this novel about?” It is a tough question to answer because there are so many characters, so many situations. It’s an immense slice of life, rich with detail: who went where, who said what, who chose to wear this or that… I can’t yet tell if there’s some big event we’re building up to; at 22% in, we’re still exploring the city and being introduced to more and more people—friends of friends, relatives of relatives, acquaintances of acquaintances.

We are following closely out main hero and protagonist, Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin. Just now noticed the irony in his name: “Lev” means lion in Russia, while “Mysh” means mouse. Could this imply that he possesses both the courage and strength of a lion, yet the timidity of a mouse?
I’m sure this has been explored before – probably many times. Anyway, Prince Myshkin is a descendant of an old noble line and a distant relative of another character we meet at the beginning of the book: Madame Yepanchin.

The wearer of this cloak was a young fellow, also about twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age, slightly above the middle height, very fair, with a thin, pointed and very light coloured beard; his eyes were large and blue, and had an intent look about them, yet that heavy expression which some people affirm to be a peculiarity as well as evidence, of an epileptic subject. His face was decidedly a pleasant one for all that; refined, but quite colourless expect for the circumstance that at this moment it was blue with cold.

Prince Myshkin returns to Russia after a four-year absence spent in Switzerland, where he was recovering his health. He appears to be naïve, innocent, kind, and compassionate. These qualities, combined with rumors about his illness, lead most of the characters we’ve met so far in the book to consider him an “idiot.”

06.11.2024 Wednesday

Yesterday, we were once again reading and writing at the CityBox café. I read another 5% of The Idiot, bringing me to 30%. I’ve finished Part 1 and started Part 2. It’s strange—on one page, most of the characters we know are all together in one room, and just a few pages later, they’re scattered across multiple towns and even countries. There’s a lot of gossip and many changes in their lives.

I’m not entirely sure who’s narrating it all. There have been a few glimpses of the narrator’s presence, like when they said something along the lines of, “Strange adventure … with which we finished the first part of our novel.” It’s as if the narrator is a showman, guiding us through the story, or perhaps walking beside us, pointing things out and sharing the story as it unfolds, bringing us as close to the characters as they are. We are almost united with the narrator, but it’s unclear whether they observe the story alongside us as it unfolds, or if they already know where it’s all headed:

That was happening right before the second appearance of our character at the stage of our story.

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For my first reading vlog I’m torn between the Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Two very different books. One, I expect, will focus more on emotions and complex relationships, while the other is a dystopian, speculative sci-fi.

Wuthering Heights

It’s a mystery to me how I managed to stay out of the spoilers for this book. But somehow I did. I know the names Heathcliff and Catherine (Cathy) and that certain events in the story are going to be intense. Other than that, I’m clueless—which is great, as it means more surprises await me along the way.

I remember postponing reading The Picture of the Dorian Grey because I’d seen one of the modern movie adaptations and thought, “I already know the whole story”. But when I finally read it at the beginning of this year, it was so different from what I remembered. Anyway, it’s time to dive into reading.

Chapter 1

I believe we’ve just met Mr Lockwood who’ll be narrating the story for us.

List of characters and places we’ve encountered so far:

• Mr Lockwood (Mr L)
• Mr Heathclicff (Mr HC)
• Joseph
• Thrushcross Grange
• Wuthering Heights

he must have need of divine aid to digest his dinner

We’re following Mr. Heathcliff and Mr. Lockwood into the house, moving through the parlor, sitting room, and other areas. Mr. Lockwood is very observant; he narrates and “comments” to us with his opinions on the surroundings—such as where he thinks the kitchen should be, only to find it’s located elsewhere. He also considers asking Mr. Heathcliff about the history of the place but decides to postpone it until a time when Mr. Heathcliff might be in a better mood.

he is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman: that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because he has an erect and handsome figure; and rather morose.

Punctuation with a lot of colons is interesting, like nested functions in coding.

Mr. Lockwood keeps guessing at things, which is an interesting approach for a narrator—to accept and acknowledge a certain “lack of knowledge” since he can’t be completely sure. I like it this way; he doesn’t insist on his perspective but simply describes, suggests, and leaves room for interpretation. As a reader, I can choose to agree with his view or come up with my own ideas.

For example, Mr. Lockwood’s perspective on the way Mr. Heathcliff’s house is set up, along with the image he forms of him in his mind, is our only view of the character—at least so far. Since we only see Mr. Heathcliff through Mr. Lockwood’s eyes, we’re limited to his impressions, which adds a layer of mystery to the story.

I have a sympathetic chord within that tells me…

he’ll love and hate equally under cover

No, I’m running on too fast: I bestow my own attributes over-liberally on him.

That’s true; we haven’t seen much of Mr. Heathcliff himself yet—just his house and Mr. Lockwood’s first impressions of him.

Mr Lockwood’s thoughts about some lady he spend last summer with:

if looks have language, the merest idiot might have guessed I was over head and ears

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Expanding my vocabulary

• go to the Deuce – go to hell
• sinewy – (of a person or animal) lean and muscular
• stunted – having been prevented from growing or developing properly
• gaunt – (of a person) lean and haggard, especially because of suffering, hunger, or age.
• craving alms of the sun
• penetralia (pl. penetralium) – the innermost parts of a building; a secret or hidden place.
• sundry – of various kinds; several
• gaudily – unpleasantly bright in colour
• underbred pride