Dostoevsky is a dreadful writer
On the back of my copy of Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1869 novel The Idiot, there’s a quote from A.C. Grayling that tells you what to think of it. ‘One of the most excoriating, compelling and remarkable books ever written,’ it reads, ‘and without question one of the greatest.’ That ‘without question’ bothered me. Why assume that every classic deserves its reputation? We should make up our own minds after having read one, as we do with any other book. That wasn’t the only reason why I treated Grayling’s claims with scepticism as I edged my way into this gargantuan novel (I can’t remember exactly when that was, but I know I was a much younger man at the time).
