Идиот vs Бѣсы: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Russian fiction, Russia, Continental european fiction, Social life and customs, Fiction
Идиот
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Inspired by an image of Christ's suffering, Fyodor Dostoyevsky set out to portray "a truly beautiful soul" colliding with the brutal reality of contemporary society. Returning to St. Petersburg from a Swiss sanatorium,…
Бѣсы
“BEFORE DESCRIBING THE EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS WHICH took place so recently in our town, hitherto not remarkable for anything in particular, I find it necessary, since I am not a skilled writer, to go back a little and begin with certain biographical details concerning our talented and greatly esteemed Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky.”
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Also known as Demons or The Devils, this is Dostoyevsky’s most political novel. Though critical of the left-wing revolutionaries, split as they often were into disparate factions and cells the author also tacitly…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Идиот highest: Идиот 4.2 · Бѣсы 4.0.
- Идиот has the widest readership — 230503 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Идиот | Бѣсы | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (230503) | — |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | 5.0 (1) |
Reception
| Идиот | Бѣсы | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 230503 | 10 |
| Editions | 437 | 171 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Written reviews | 1 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 31339 | — |
| Pages | 655 | 617 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Идиот or Бѣсы?
Идиот has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Идиот 4.2/5, Бѣсы 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: Идиот or Бѣсы?
Бѣсы is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Бѣсы (617 pages, ≈ 11 h 26 m); Идиот (655 pages, ≈ 12 h 08 m).
Which is harder to read: Идиот or Бѣсы?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Идиот: Demanding; Бѣсы: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
Идиот: 5 film adaptations; Бѣсы: no film adaptation on record.