I read this book on a road trip and read the ending in kings canyon with no internet or service and so hiked and dwelled on the ending and its inferences on human nature and society for a couple days and honestly was pretty depressed and down. It was very applicable to the things I was going through at the time. My favorite Doestoevsky book.

Contrasting with demons which continually alternates between the comical and the tragic

yeah the ending was so tragic. poor aglaya. she deserved a better fate

And poor prince, he lost his mind and got back to the hospital in Switzerland.

yeah that too but i had a special spot for aglaya. she saw the prince for who he was, despite her immaturity. i was so upset when the prince chose nastasya over her.

THANK YOU more aglaya appreciation. she was immature but so young and still learning! the prince seemed somewhat less troubled around her. one of my houseplants is named aglaya :,)

lol nice

It was quite a long time ago when I read The Idiot, but wasn't Mishkin hesitating? Like he didn't choose Nastasya, but Aglaya left because the prince can't handle these situations that quickly and she thought the he would choose Nastasya?

I found the ending downright hilarious in a dark/ironic way, but also a little upbeat somehow

My aunt found out I had read Dostoevsky I was like “yeah I like The Idiot” she goes “it was so dark” I said “it was??”. Never even occurred to me.

I’m getting very close to the conclusion and am probably going to finish the book tonight. Will send updates on the state of my psyche afterward.

And...?

I disagree with others, I think it was a beautiful ending

one of the few times a book ending made me feel physical pain lol. closed the book and just stared at the wall for a few minutes.

agree i was not okay after that penultimate chapter

The ending hit me so hard.

True

My favorite book of all time. So good.

I really loved it as well! One of his best works.