Dostoevsky is more fun to read about than to actual read. The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from the Underground are really the only things I think are worth reading. Similar to how The Crying of Lot 49 is a good summation of Pynchon (and his shortest work), Notes from the Underground is a decent summation of Dostoevsky (also his shortest work).
He has a nasty habit of being able to use language in a very utilitarian-way, as in he is constructing complex sentences and passages, without actually saying much. And unlike the flowery english writers of the 19th century, his language is not particularly pretty or easy to read (that could be the translation, but everything I've read has indicated that he was just a clunky writer).
If you are reading for enjoyment, but you still want something that's fun to chew on, check out Gogol. His stuff is a lot shorter than Big D's, it's easier to read, and it is also pretty funny stuff. Gogol is also one of the OGs of the great Russian novelists of the 19th century. He be Big D's literary daddy. He seems more recognized outside of the US. I had never really heard of boyo until I was taking writing classes in college.
Recommended Gogol shit:
The Nose
Diary of a Madman
The Old World Landowners
Ivan Fedorovic Sponka and his Aunt
A Terrible Vengeance
The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich (pretty hilarious shizit)
St John's Eve
The Portrait
The Overcoat
and of course, possibly his masterpiece, the tragically (probably) incomplete Dead Souls
Gogol had two major phases: A pastoral and an urban phase, the former when he lived in the country, and the latter when he moved in the city. His pastoral stories (like The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich), while still mired in 19th century Russia (or the Ukraine, but the are the same to me, JIMMY AMERICA), tend to document the bizarre politics of small town living--the pretty arbitrary rivalries that pop up between personalities for little relatable reason and the like. Since his stories normally take the view of somebody outside the scenario looking in, we get to see these normal, everyday situations in their total absurdity. As someone that has lived in a small town, then moved to a place where I could objectively look backwards at country life, the things he describes are as true and relevant today as they ever were. My own family definitely had some of those absurd, pointless, rural rivalries. I think people just thrive on conflict, and if they live a generally easy life, they subconsciously try to kick up some dust.
His urban stories tend to document things like bureaucracy. Gogol held a pointless job as a government clerk for years and years, so he knew that topic very well. Sounds trite today, but in the 19th century, this was cutting edge. His urban stories also get into that famous russian ennui and pre-existential ponderings on the pointlessness of life in general. Again, this doesn't sound impressive, but he was writing this shit a half century before thinkers were thinking it. Indeed, he inspired a lot of those thinkers. Also, unlike Dostoevsky and other Russian heavies, Gogol tended to focus on humorous stories. Indeed, some of his darkest material is also his funniest. Sometimes we like to roll around in our filth and be mopey, but I think we can learn much more if we can laugh at the dilemmas we are learning about.
The big unifying factors between his two phases would be absurdity and pointlessness. Many of his stories, particularly later in life, feature flat-out absurd or surreal elements. Again, he was very far ahead of his time on this one. Some of it might seem a bit juvenile today, but that's only because he's been inspiring writers for a hundred and fifty plus years. He frequently uses these absurd elements to illustrate the pointlessness of modern life. Witness "The Overcoat" in which a Russian clerk loses his precious overcoat, encounters puzzlingly out-of-touch bureaucracy in trying to retrieve it, and eventually DIES from a fever (caught because he lost his coat). His ghost then wanders the city trying to find his overcoat. Thus a really petty detail in life leads to this poor Russian dude being eternally forced to wander the earth. The story is told as comedy, but if you change the tone a lil bit, it could stand up to Dostoevsky's most depressing.
Anyway, I kinda love Gogol. Like Borges, he came to me at a very important juncture in my life, and it is difficult to believe that had my timeline been off by a week, even a day, I never would have heard a passionate speech that encouraged me to check him out. One ten minute rant by a lit professor. I could have cut class that day, been sick, and I certainly have never heard him passionately spoken of since then. Those few minutes introduced me to one of the biggest influences in my life, and I am so glad for that. Worth all the money I wasted on school.
LAST EDIT: He's a joy to read, pretty easy, especially considering how turgid Russian lit could be. With that said, he packs his words with meaning. Many of his stories are highly interpretive, capable of being read with different themes and POVs in mind. This is, naturally, more true of his more nuanced, urban works, but it's apparent all over his library.
