Nobody have time to read in these days because of this technology fever and I'm one of these people suffering from this problem , however I always considered Dostoyevski as someone unique and it was quite exciting to read his books for first time when I was a highschool student. As our nobel prize winner novelist Orhan Pamuk said " Reading dostoyevski is exciting as seeing the sea for the first time." I can't really explain what are the characteristics that makes him different with a specific and precise statement. However I will try with my personal opinion.
Top tier Novelists
Well according to my personal opinion there are 4 succesfull novelist in the earth that we can consider as great talents. Those are James Joyce , Marcel Proust , Lev Tolstoy and Dostoyevski
This doesn't mean that other authors are inferrior and these are the best on the conterary it is all about personal taste. You may love Kafka or Nabokov much more or you can find them better.
The greatness of the authors I mention comes from one specific quality. All of these authors write about both known and unknown and they provide us oppurtunity to have a peak from the door that opens to the world. Everyone of them created some great works that been considered as ground breaking. In all of these works just by reading few sentences you can understand that they are poetic and all the characters are the product of well craftsmanship. Also you can sense the sensation of divine from these works.
Authors of the Personal Taste
All the other authors tell about the different things instead of opening that door I mentioned before and they are characteristic novelist that appeals to personal taste. As an instance Dostoyevski is probably a loved author from everyone on the other hand Faulkner and Nabokov is quite not like that. Therefore these authors creates 2 pole that appeal to personal taste. You either love them obsessively or just hate them.
Anyway , the 4 author I mentioned is quite different from each other however we can make a comparison eventhough they are milestones in the history of literature.
Tolstoy , Joyce and Proust created some impactful work , however this authors dedicated their entire life to perfectionism in literature and they spended their lifespan on this topic. Those are the biggest intellectual ever lived in the field of literature. The work they created is the product of their intellectual capacity and their creativity.
What is the difference of Dostoyevski ?
He fought with seizures for years , he was a huge gambler , he got imprisoned and sentenced to death and he lived most of his life trying to escape from authorities. Most of the time he wrote his books in a hurry inorder to earn some quick buck.
If someone can create work like Karamozov brothers , Notes from Underground , Crime and Punishment and The Idiot with living a life like this , there must be only 1 judgement these are not the work of the intellectual accumulation or hardwork , these are the work of a pure genius man.
There are 4 Great writers in the History of literature , 3 of them is quite smart and creative , but one is genius.
