Topi Kettunen

What I Read Between May and October 2024

Haven’t updated my “What I Read Between” -series in a while mainly due just being busy in my own life but also due to the fact that I’ve reading and rereading veeery big novels. But finally having been managed to finish those, let’s gather some thoughts.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Crime and Punishment (reread)

I’ve always been a huge fan of Russian literature, or at least a big fan of few Russian authors. Mainly due to this reason I wanted to embark on this “rabbit hole” during the summer months. Naturally, starting with Dostoyevsky.

I’ve read Crime and Punishment a couple of times during my lifetime. First, as a mandatory homework from school and later few times just out of pure enjoyment and I can say that it’s possibly one of my favorite books. To summarize, book is about Raskolnikov’s internal and external battles and the repercussions of the crimes he has done.

I love how the “crime” aspect of this book happens only in the 100 or so pages, and the rest – 600 or so – are devoted to the “punishment”, which in this case means battles with psychological consequences of the crimes, insanity and isolation, ending in the moment of divine grace and beginning of Raskolnikov’s redemption.

Great book, cannot recommend it enough.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Notes from Underground (reread)

Along side Crime and Punishment, Notes from Underground is also a book that I’ve read multiple times from Dostoyevsky. Probably I stumbled upon this book when I was a “edgy” teenager, so I thought I could see some similarities between me and the protagonist.

Book focuses mainly on diving deep into the mind of man living in solitude. So a majority of the book is about questioning various everyday concepts, such as logic, reason, free will, and showing how suffering can add depth to our everyday life.

Again, very good book that encourages reader to not just read but also to think and reflect.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky: The Brothers Karamazov

The Brother Karamazov was one of the classics of Dostoyevsky that again for one reason or another I hadn’t read so I finally was able to finish it and what a book it was! Book itself focused where heavily on rich and absorbing ideas such as spirituality and logic and their contrast. So much so, that the plot of the book itself – while being great on its own – feels secondary to the exploration of these themes.

While the high level topics might be the main thing behind the book, I especially loved the way how Dostoyevsky embedded these themes in to the main characters of the book, the Karamazov family.

Book was pretty big with lots of different events and stories – even stories within a story – so couple of paragraphs doesn’t do it justice. Just this book alone deserves a separate post. I would even argue that just reading the book once doesn’t do it justice. That being said, I enjoyed the book tremendously, and I will be reading it again in the future.

David Foster Wallace: The Infinite Jest

The Infinite Jest has always been an interesting book for me. For many reasons. First, I’ve always thought David Foster Wallace to be an interesting character on its own right. But at the same time, for the the literary prowess that he had. I had read couple of works from him previously but Infinite Jest always felt like a somewhat of a herculean task to finish. Firstly due to its length, but also for how it was written.

I remember reading some interview from DFW, where he mentioned how he – I’m paraphrasing – “wanted to write a best-seller, that was meant for literature students/professors”, which can definitely be seen in the book. The writing style in the book is very hard and difficult. Especially to someone from whom English is not their native language.

But overall I think the book was great. Especially the time in the current world – post-pandemic etc. – made the book feel sort of “prophetic” in many ways. Despite the book itself is set in this dystopian world. But looking it with perspective of today’s world, it’s not that dystopian.

Similarly to The Brother Karamzov, couple of paragraphs doesn’t do the book justice, since it features hundreds of different characters, many of whom are just coping with modern technological world filled with loneliness and disconnection.

Again, a great book once you get into it, which definitely deserves an another read.