Este realismo es el que caracteriza a El adolescente, novela que tiene como principal protagonista a un joven ruso que admira u odia a su padre según las influencias contradictorias que recibe. La vida del adolescente y de un retablo de personajes, maravillosamente caracterizados por Dostoiewski, que bullen en torno a él, va creando un crescendo en la novela, que es lo que mueve al lector a no abandonar la lectura hasta la última página. El adolescente hace de su “yo” el centro del mundo y fantasea sobre una felicidad universal, sin luchar por conseguir la suya propia.

Ja, ik heb het uitgelezen, maar het kostte me op een of andere manier veel meer moeite dan b.v. "De gebroeders Karamazov". Het past natuurlijk in de tijd waarin het geschreven werd, maar soms denk ik: ga eens gewoon aan het werk... Al die intriges, geheimen enzovoorts, en dan nog die Russische namen waardoor je steeds na moet denken over wie het nu eigenlijk gaat. Ik denk wel dat onze halfvolwassene in de loop van het boek volwassen is geworden.

Bota intime e një djaloshi të zjarrtë përballë të papriturave të pakëndshme në një ndeshje të pakufishme me të vjetrën, bota e trazuar, e lodhur dhe e freskët njëkohësisht.

This was a fairly decent Dostoyevsky book, which parts that highly stimulated my interest and attention. However, it was a little long-winded in parts and it dragged on for bit too long. Nevertheless, although I don't consider it among Dotoyevsky's finer works, it is still a good novel.

3 stars. ( )

As with The Devils, I think here, Dostoevsky's reach exceeded his grasp artistically - and while the former novel was hindered by censorship (Stavrogin's "confession" was not allowed to appear in the original version, and since each character represents a "type," this necessitated a re-working of the book in such a way that blunts the coherency and strength of its implicit social-political commentary), the latter is hindered by a mix of self-censorship and self-indulgence.

Dostoevsky was placing his novel in a journal with political leanings seen as contrary to his own, with an editor who had earlier derided Dostoevsky for his focus on pathological sensationalism - consequently he seems to restrict his subject matter and motifs to a greater degree than with any other work from his mature period. At the same time, there seems to be no limit to the number of devices, plot points, or character-traits haphazardly recycled from his published and unpublished oeuvre. This is also easily the most convoluted of his books, with every character pushed across hundreds of pages from one ridiculous intrigue to the next (Dostoevsky even mistakenly changed the name of one character from one part of the book to the next, so the reader should be forgiven for having any trouble keeping up with the action).

There are a few striking or memorable passages, as well as a clear theme (i.e. who can/should the Russian youth look to for moral guidance or as models?), but overall the novel seems distinctly and strangely unfocused. Perhaps the novel makes more sense when situated in the context of contemporaneous depictions of the Russian "family" - especially Turgenev's [b:Fathers and Sons|19117|Fathers and Sons|Ivan Turgenev|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390793535s/19117.jpg|1294426] and Tolstoy's [b:Anna Karenina|15823480|Anna Karenina|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1352422904s/15823480.jpg|2507928] - but [b:The Brothers Karamazov|4934|The Brothers Karamazov|Fyodor Dostoyevsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1427728126s/4934.jpg|3393910] is such a towering response both aesthetically and philosophically to these works (as well as a great achievement on its own), that it is difficult not to consign The Adolescent to the shadows.

So, while (Dostoevsky's biographer) Joseph Frank's critical assessment of The Devils lead me to appreciate it much more than I would have on my own, I've yet to encounter a convincing defense of the abiding merit of this book. ( )