Dostoevsky essentially predicted the Fate of Russia decades prior simply through understanding a group of men that he hated. It proves beyond all doubt that he truly understood humanity

The possessed is a person who exaggerates the importance of an idea, taking it to extremes and absurdities, or combines opposite ideas in his mind, each of which he absolutely believes....

Dostoyevskys  "Dairy of a writer" shows he had an understanding of who the "international" were.

I just finished Katz’ Devils translation and I thought it was excellent.

Wow.  Well done, Matt.  Hard to believe there are young people like you who read and discuss great books.  I'm reading Devils now.  Keep up the good work.

Dostoyevsky was the greatest profit of the 19th century. Nice review, I would have emphasised a little more the philosophical aspect of nihilism especially Stavrogin.

Good review! I'm looking forward to your review of "The Gulag Archipelago"

I comprehended and understood the Brothrers Karamazov. It has become one of my best books of all time. Do you think I will have any trouble interpreting The Devils? I shall seek out the Katz translation in Oxford classics. Good video thankyou

Great review. I’ve always been interested in this book for its insights in revolution and socialism and its effects.

Great video! I was planning a re-read of this awesome book. And you just convinced me to read it again. This time I will be using the Katz translation like you recommended here.

We are in the midst of America's version of the Maoist Revolution and migration is the most potent weapon.

No we have not and do not learn from history. One only has to look to today's woke PC currents of hate against others who are appalled at their capacity to hate even as they preach inclusion and acceptance. The cancel culture and shutting up critics and the campaigns against free speech. Sure, the mistakes of Soviet socialism may have been in the past but the same currents will sweep through using different words. It's not really the words which matter as mush as the under laying passions. Same passion, different words. There is still the utopianism and re-engineering humanity. Humans live to make utopia but every utopia ends in tears. It's the human tragedy.

great review!

Describing Stepan as a washed-up, has-been yapper made me crack up

Which touching quote in demon you think is top amazing?

2:30. What about Roger Cockrell's 2017 translation DEVILS?  It's a product of Alma Books Ltd., a British concern?  They have a good quantity of Russian literature in translation.

синоними на Demons;

   ярост, унес, страст, злоба, яд, лудост, умопомрачение, помрачение, буйство, безчинство
   дявол, демон, зъл дух
   вой, рев
   настървение

Excellent review Matt! I love the way you summarized the book in contemporary every day language. Thank you!

Yes ... Demons is prophetic.

Demons is about Antifa in the 19th century; the PoMo/neo-Marxist, nihilistic, atheistic political left; the dangers of socialism/communism; the tensions between nationalism and internationalism; and the Demons (19th century strains of the WOKE mind virus) that have corrupted and destroyed the souls of millions of people.

In a nutshell, Demons deals with the topic of ideological ZOMBIFICATION a tragic phenomenon that we are witnessing all across the West. The WOKE mind virus, which spreads like wildfire, is much more effective than military conquests and the CCP and Islamists (the Red-Green Alliance) are watching with delight. Of course, these evil political-ideological forces are actively subverting the West using tactics right out of Yuri Bezmenov's and Saul Alinski's playbooks.

The campaign to subvert America started after WWII with Marcuse, Adorno, Horkheimer and their ideological successors. The attack really picked up steam in the 1960s and again in 2008 with the election of Barry Hussein Soetero (the real name of the character known as "Barack Obama" the charismatic poseur who was handpicked by George Soros to lead the Socialist-Communist Revolution in America).

As Mark Twain famously quipped, "history rhymes."

America got rid of slavery as capitalism emerged. One form of exploitation replaced another. The US was decades behind Europe in abolishing slavery.

I'm just getting started reading "Demons" and listened to your video about the work.

I assume by "chilling" you are referring to how Dostoevsky was prescient about all kinds of movement and ideologies that would be upending various countries.

And it sounds like you are saying that the particular passage you read is almost uncanny and "meaningful" in how it applies to political disturbances in the US nowadays.

I'm a retiree living in northern mexico pretty close to the US border near San Diego.

The protests in LA got big after smaller protests including one in San Diego where a local protest outside a restaurant in a fairly chill part of San Diego started after the restaurant announced they were closing after ICE arrested most of the kitchen staff.

The customers started texting their friends and almost within minutes a neighborhood protest started.

Things started spreading around southern california, which is a part of the country where more than 40 % are Mexican-American and has always had illegals - practically as long as there has been a California.

That 40 % doesn't begin to really describe things because so many people in California are US born white who are married to Mexican-Americans ( legal and illegal ).

California is a lot different from the rest of the country.

The anti-ICE sentiment is particularly strong there. I wouldn't describe the people involved in protests as anything like "scum" using Dostoevsky's words.

It wouldn't surprise people in the US that LA had huge nationwide newsworthy protests but the protests in so many other cities like San Diego have been absolutely huge and anything but astroturfed protests instigated by street leftist trouble makers who don't have anything else to do.

A few weeks after the LA protest JD Vance came to San Diego to eat at a very expensive sushi restaurant.

Again when the neighborhood found out the protests were pretty boiterous.

The surprising thing was the protesters were so affluent center left techie Southern Californians.

It was funny seeing people from all these wealthy parts of town where every second or third person is techie millionaire getting out of Escalades and Audi's after putting their Starbucks coffee cups in their beverage holders to protest along with other well dressed youngish types who clearly have benefitted from California's libertarian believing technocratic utopia who clearly enjoy the good life including ridiculously priced sushi where tech deals and job interviews for incredibly high paying job offers are made.

I'm just saying you can't rely on the kind of histrionic outrage generating news reporting either.

There are scummy grifters on the left and on the right who make good livings with news careers based on getting people continually outraged.