At the risk of beginning a topic that has been dealt with ad infinitum earlier (the ongoing risk of being a newcomer), I would like to note that I was recently reading an essay in which Bukowski just "nailed it" for me (several probably would say, "Soooooo? What else is new?"). Nevertheless, in "A Rambling Essay on Poetics and the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack (Tall)" -- see page 33 of Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook -- Bukowski wrote the most perceptive thought I have ever read on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment: he describes three quarters of that novel in this way: "... one of the few things to keep a young starving madman alive in the dullness of our public libraries." (from page 36) The main point is that Bukowski sees that less than the entire book succeeds!
Dostoevesky's novel was once my favourite novel, many years ago, until I read Lawrence's Women in Love. However, what ultimately bothered me about the great Russian novel is exactly what Bukowski was getting at ... not all of it is great stuff but most of it is ... naturally Dostoevsky had a lingering challenge (his religious views) and it had an impact on his work and it ultimately has had an impact on my engagement with several of his novels ... he simply lets his religious viewpoint get in the way of finishing off correctly his great novels ... Bukowski "nailed it" in this essay ...
Cheers, DaP
Dostoevesky's novel was once my favourite novel, many years ago, until I read Lawrence's Women in Love. However, what ultimately bothered me about the great Russian novel is exactly what Bukowski was getting at ... not all of it is great stuff but most of it is ... naturally Dostoevsky had a lingering challenge (his religious views) and it had an impact on his work and it ultimately has had an impact on my engagement with several of his novels ... he simply lets his religious viewpoint get in the way of finishing off correctly his great novels ... Bukowski "nailed it" in this essay ...
Cheers, DaP