So I think that the first part or two reminds me of nothing so much as an opera. Or even parts of War and Peace. I think the Idiot was not quite what I expected, but I'm also super spoiled because Brothers is one of my absolute favorite books ever. I think it's super interesting to see how Dostoevsky's ideas and preoccupations start out in the Idiot at the beginning of his career. I think there are a lot of the same ideas, but he doesn't know how to deal with the ideas yet, but by the time he gets to Brothers he's really fleshed out his theory and clearly sees the solution.