The Idiot

Here is a funny thing.  I love Dostoyevsky's works.  Well, that isn't quite the funny part.  The funny thing is that when I read his books, I really don't understand them until I'm probably two to three hundred pages into the book.  I didn't even comprehend Crime and Punishment until I read the last chapter!  Then it all fell into place, and I instantly loved it.

Not surprisingly, it has taken me a great deal of time to work my way into The Idiot.  In fact, I started The Idiot three years ago, got several hundred pages into it, then finally put it down because I was entirely lost.  Mostly, I couldn't keep up with the characters (the story introduces probably a dozen and a half characters in the first hundred pages, and each character has two or three different names).  

But, hearing someone else recently finished the book, I decided to give it a go again.  As I trudged into it, I was overtaken by vague remembrances - like I was walking through one of my childhood homes:  recalling bits and pieces, struggling to put the whole together again.  But, most of my memory was tied to one scene:  Prince Myshkin ("The Idiot") encounters a painting in a dark hallway.  It is the painting titled "Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb" by Hans Holbein, which is pictured here.

As Myshkin stares at this painting, an adversary (Rogozhin) declares that he likes looking at this very picture.  Myshkin responds:  "At that picture! ... At that picture!  Why, that picture might make some people lose their faith."

This line comes at a critical turn in The Idiot.  And in typical Dostoyevsky fashion, he uses art as an entry into theology.  

Dostoyevsky's writing - in total - is intent upon answering the questions posed by theology:  who is God, who are we, what do we have to do with one another?  Frequently, his characters are poised and created to answer those very questions, to determine who wins the conflict of life:  God or devil (anti-God).

Admittedly, then, it takes a certain type to enjoy Dostoyevsky, and not surprisingly many of his fans are pastors.  In fact, my search for the title of this painting also led me to a sermon given by a pastor in Wales during Holy Week, which you can find here.  The sermon has some wonderful quotes, including a classic one by Brueggemann.

Enjoy,

Wes