Idiot

Dostoyevsky wanted to create a portrait of a "good man" in Prince Myshkin, a Christlike figure who is the heir to a large fortune and whose simple goodness has a profound impact on those around him. Myshkin's saintly impulses occasionally backfire, as when the prostitute Natasha, believing he loves her, is devastated to learn his love is only pity; she runs away with the evil Rogozhin, who murders her. At times the plot reads like a thriller, though throughout the novel Dostoyevsky probes the meaning of human suffering and the nature of true compassion. In spite of the fact that he felt he didn't achieve his stated goal, THE IDIOT was Dostoyevsky's favorite among his novels.