Reading The Possessed (Demons) translated by Constance Garnett is like a walking through a field or park in the twilight of summer, getting caressed by a chill breeze.

Honestly, the convoluted knot that is the slow burn of The Possessed is something I'm surprised I like— but thankful I read. Side characters didn't feel like side characters, the language and prose implemented made you feel like you were actually there; I feel like if I were dropped in their little province I would be able to walk from Shpilgulin's factory, to Skvoreshniki aall the way to Spasov.

Now, The Possessed is quite renown for being somewhat confusing and thus feeling slow, which, fair enough it did take about 130-150 pages to finish the introduction. Though, I must say, that can only be a testament to its rich story telling. I have to admit, I didn't feel it slow at all in the sense that it was numbly boring (as l'd often heard people describe it as) but only slow as to say it takes some time to fully grasp scenery.

That being said, I blasted through reading it. Demons is complex, and quite subtly written, with layers upon layers of different themes- varying in their tone, yet constant in their significance. Self-interest, extremism, morality, herd mentality, nihilism, politics, atheism, and the belief in God. I've read Dostoevsky in the past, mostly P&V so this is the first book translated by Garnett that l've read, and I'm happy it was The Possessed.

I found it to be like chilled water, quenching the thirst that is my mind.

I'm curious about how everyone else felt about Demons, if you enjoyed it as much as I did, or hated it just the same.