Идиот vs Записки изъ подполья: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Russian fiction, Russia, Continental european fiction, Social life and customs, History, 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,…
Записки изъ подполья
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Its nameless hero is a profoundly alienated individual in whose brooding self-analysis there is a search for the true and the good in a world of relative values and few absolutes. Moreover, the novel introduces themes —…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Записки изъ подполья is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 12 for Идиот.
- Идиот has the widest readership — 230503 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Идиот | Записки изъ подполья | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (230503) | — |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
Reception
| Идиот | Записки изъ подполья | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 230503 | 50 |
| Editions | 437 | 837 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Written reviews | 1 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 31339 | — |
| Pages | 655 | 124 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Идиот or Записки изъ подполья?
Идиот has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Идиот 4.2/5, Записки изъ подполья 4.1/5).
Which is shorter to read: Идиот or Записки изъ подполья?
Записки изъ подполья is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Записки изъ подполья (124 pages, ≈ 2 h 18 m); Идиот (655 pages, ≈ 12 h 08 m).
Which is harder to read: Идиот or Записки изъ подполья?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Идиот: Demanding; Записки изъ подполья: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
Идиот: 5 film adaptations; Записки изъ подполья: no film adaptation on record.