Are there any other writers similar to Dostoevsky?

[Allanysha]

For years I've searched for a writer who creates characters with the psychological depth found in D.'s books, but can't seem to find a fit. The closest I can think of is something like The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, maybe.

I just feel he really gets into the characters' heads. Oh, I have read some short stories by Gogol, but they seemed quite different from D.

thanks

[Bulgakov]

I believe the closest disciple of Dostoevsky in spirit and form would have to be Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

[islander]

My first response I would say Gogle’s Dead Souls. Why? I don’t know.

I’m not even sure Dostoevsky gets into the character’s heads.

I think Dostoyevsky covers so many bases and conveys so much information on some many levels that everyone is into a different aspect.

For me I like to think I can see through his ploys yet even there is something mysterious and even somewhat out of control. I have never even thought about him like that. But to me it’s not about plotting or what some character is supposed to represent in the obvious scheme of things.

To me, right now, what makes  Dostoevsky unique is his ability to create an entire new world on each page. Ok, that is a little extreme, but there is so much skill and wisdom on each damn page. Then you go back and read the biography and he and his wife were doing this on a shoe string, flat broke, and on an unreasonable dead line.

I’m not aware of anyone one else who can deliver that much information and skill.

There are other writers who are original and deliver a great read but when it hits a certain level they become so unique that it’s hard to compare them.

Anyone else?

Edit: by the way my intentions are not to disagree with anyone or get into a debate, but rather share info about a subjective topic.  

[Allanysha]

I see Dostoevsky as a psychologist, and a Christian. Each character has such complex emotions; and there's continuous ontological debate over people's very souls.

That's how I see D.

[teew]

I agree wi "Bulgakov" on Solzhenitsyn. BTW, the writer Bulgakov was also a good writer. Tee

[Allanysha]

Thanks. I'm waiting on "A Day in the Life of Ivan..." from the library. That's the only one I've heard of. I'll check out Bulgakov, too.

BTW, I had a heck of a time finding out how to spell Solzhenitisyn:)

[monika]

i realy liked `the death of ivan ilich` from tolstoi and its a bit psychological so you may like it

[teew]

"Allanysha" Is his name the most difficult to spell? I did a term paper on him in college (way before PCs - used an electronic typewriter.) There was no spell check. It was all memory. I liked his "First Circle" for its references/allegories from Dante. He wrote huge histories of the gulags, but I can't pass page two with them.

Bulgakov: "The Master and Margarita" is his masterpiece.

[islander]

Maybe I just have a short attention span?

I read Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich such a long time ago. It was a short book. I didn't realize that was the one you were talking about.

Maybe The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco?

Also, it is worth me mentioning that I leaned about Dostoevsky from reading a Carson McCullers biography, where she mentioned D as one of her influences. Not psychological. But there are all kinds of odd characters in Heart of a Lonely Hunter that explores social issues with some somewhat gripping episodes. They were both very original, contemporary and explore aspects of odd social conditions.  

[teew]

Whoa: "The Name of the Rose" is a superlative novel. The film does it no justice. Umberto Eco is such a scholar.

Still laughing that some else out there has a problem with Alexander Solzhenitsyn's name!!  
T

[Nothing]

Hi, Im new here. One of my all-time favourite writers is Dostoevsky & I was glad to find this forum. Ive just recently gotten into Dickens, & am on my 4th novel in a row by him. Anyway,  I cant help but feeling that Dickens is the English Dostoevsky. The characters are so passionate & idiosyncratic, oftentimes borderline pathological. Anyone else see any similarities, or am I completely off base?

[Canerican]

I have thought that about Dickens, but what about Poe? I can't help but see a little Raskolnikov in many of his characters.

[islander]

Hi, Im new here. One of my all-time favourite writers is Dostoevsky & I was glad to find this forum. Ive just recently gotten into Dickens, & am on my 4th novel in a row by him. Anyway,  I cant help but feeling that Dickens is the English Dostoevsky. The characters are so passionate & idiosyncratic, oftentimes borderline pathological. Anyone else see any similarities, or am I completely off base?

I was just reading the into to a collection of Dostoevsky short stories and the translator was giving a biography of D, and said,

""Dostoevsky was such a great admirer of Charles Dickens, to whom he had paid what is surely the finest compliment one great writer can pay to another by writing his own version of The Old Curiosity Shop in The Insulted and the Injured."

 

[Rimbaud]

Cormac MCcarthy is similar to Dostoyevsky. He is a very nihilist existentialist always asking the big questions : of God, violence, war and man. Whom is also very similar to Melville.

[dragon]

One of my English teachers recommended Hunger by the Scandinavian author, Knut Hamsun. It captures the fragile psychological state of its unnamed protagonist much like D's C&P. Other works that come to mind include Nabokov's Despair and Kafka's Metamorphosis. I know this wasn't a direct answer to the question, but it's difficult for me to classify other authors as "Dostoevskian" primarily because I haven't delved too far into their body of work. Just gotta find what catches your eye.