The Idiot

I finally finished reading Dostoevsky's The Idiot. Warning - spoiler alert!

I have to say I was disappointed with Prince Myshkin's rant against Catholicism towards the end of the story. It really took me by surprise since Prince Myshkin was presented as such a humble, innocent Christ-figure throughout the whole story. That one speech of his struck me as being incongruous with his entire character. I couldn't help but think this was the author's own negative opinion of Catholicism coming through rather intrusively.

I didn't know anything about The Idiot before reading it other than its status as a literary classic. I found so much in the story to be edifying, especially in the character of Prince Myshkin; his simplicity, humility, generosity and kindness.

To better understand what appears to be Dostoevsky's anti-Catholicism, I did some net surfing and came across this 2002 article in First Things by Rodney Delasanta.