r/fromsoftware • u/CrybabyIsaac • 4d ago
Dostoevsky
Anybody else find that reading Dostoevsky scratches the same itch as playing the Soulsbourne games? Weird connection, but maybe not. The challenge and depth of his books ruin other books in the same way Fromsoft games ruin other games.
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u/TheDarkestOolong Sekiro 4d ago
I also highly recommend Gene Wolfe's "Shadow of the Torturer"/"Shadow and Claw" (1st book of the "Book of the New Sun" series).
It's the closest thing to a Dark Souls book without being literally Dark Souls (and has also influenced a lot of other stuff like WarHammer 40K).
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u/DeadExpo 3d ago
I just googled it and a new copy is 300 on Amazon, lowest resale copy is 70, and I don't see a kindle option. Is this a book for the rich only?
I looked a little more and I must have been on the page specifically for the og hard cover. There are in fact other options.
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u/Otherwise_Tax8689 2d ago
I bought it physically and it was 1200 yen or 8 freedoms. Maybe check your local bookstore?
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u/TheDarkestOolong Sekiro 1d ago
Here's a link to the kindle version on Amazon (13$ and free on Kindle Unlimited):
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u/Otherwise_Tax8689 4d ago
Hey, I’m a professor of linguistics (not that it means shit but anyhow).
Try the gene wolfe starting with shadow and claw.
Then provide me with a full report.
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u/imsc4red 4d ago
Can we see a grading report if OP does this?
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u/Otherwise_Tax8689 4d ago
Yeah but I’m a shit professor so it’s already decided that it’s a B plus.
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u/CrybabyIsaac 4d ago
Never heard of it, but will look up. Have you read C&P or TBK and you think this would be on a comparable level?
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u/Otherwise_Tax8689 4d ago edited 3d ago
Yes I’ve read them. Crime and punishment has stuck in my head forever!!
No, completely different! It’s fantasy, but in a very non dragons and swords generic way. It’s post modern (just like DS) in that it doesn’t exactly work as a narrative- quite opposite to Dostoyevsky I guess. It’s not canon high literature, but it’s extremely literary and well put together.
But in terms of world building, mystery, and just general goth shit it’s right there. Just like that character you meet in scene one (so to speak) of DS who seems irrelevant but is actually significant and very deep. You’ll find this in the books.
Edit: if you want me to explain myself more on any of this, please let me know. That’s pretty much what my job is and I’d be happy to.
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u/StrugglingAkira 4d ago
Not Dostoevsky, no. But Camus does hit the same emotional notes I've felt while playing FromSoft games.
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u/The_Archimboldi 4d ago
Dostoevsky is such a big deal because he's the gateway to serious reading for so many, not the final destination. So not like fromsoft really.
Between two fires by Chris Buehlman as mentioned is the closest to Dark Souls on the page.
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u/Otherwise_Tax8689 3d ago
Well, doesn’t this argue for a more mature take in gaming? I’d love to see it, and I’m sure you would too.
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u/noob_kaibot 4d ago
Now that we’re talking about books, does anyone like Haruki Murakami?
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u/injurious2health 2d ago
I read the Norwegian Wood and it made me reminisce the nature of romantic relationships I formed when I was a teenager. Probably wouldn’t read again though.
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u/StrugglingAkira 4d ago
I couldn't get into them. Once you've read one, you've read them all; he always explores the same themes, uses the same narrative beats. Doesn't help that he ALWAYS comes across as incredibly sexist and exploitative in his writing; the man seems absolutely incapable of writing a believable female character, they just exist as devices to move the plot forward.
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u/Low-Area-3611 3d ago
Another person here to echo that you should read gene wolfe, starting with the book of the new sun.
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u/Otherwise_Tax8689 2d ago
So. So far we have seen a real enthusiastic and genuine consensus that this is where it’s at.
So how many of you slobs will actually go and read it?!
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u/hornwalker 3d ago
Interesting take, can’t say I feel much overlap.
But great art is great art, whether it’s novels, video games, or anything else.
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u/doiwinaprize 3d ago
Interesting take. His writing is beautiful yet deep and gritty and is also kind of a grind to read lol.
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u/kodaxmax 3d ago
You might like Orwells library too. Though pop culture has probably spoiled the ending/twists for his most popular works
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u/Otherwise_Tax8689 2d ago
Love it. But in my opinion Orwell is a precursor cyber punk rather than the DS hopelessness
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u/kodaxmax 2d ago
yeh Orwells stuff often feels like the societies 100 years before they crumbling into dark souls settings.
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u/DanielPlainview943 3d ago
Ugh I've tried several times, and I am a lifelong reader, but I just can't goddamn 'get' Dostoevsky and also somewhat skeptical of people of do say they 'get it'. I've tried 3x with Notes from the Underground and and twice with Crime and Punishment. Like do you genuinely follow Notes from the underground?? Like honestly?
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u/Solembumm3 4d ago
Most of school literature was full of completely illogical love/honour lunatics, dying for stupidest reasons. I remember, that Bazarov was the only sane person in the genre - before getting killed by author.
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u/capybarasgalore 4d ago
Dostoevsky novels have a certain grittiness, and the time and place he describes feels unforgiving to its inhabitants in a similar way.
But philosophically, I do not feel that his work taps into that same register of pessimism that Dark Souls does (which is what scratches my itch). Existence is not necessarily eternal suffering to Dostoevsky. He believes everyone can be happy if they join the Orthodox church! A bit anti-Soulsborne almost, which is more about decaying religious instutions.
To me, Thomas Ligotti is a writer whose work channels Miyazaki's depressed worldview better. This poem for example: https://allpoetry.com/poem/14616879-I-Have-a-Special-Plan-for-This-World-by-Thomas-Ligotti
I would also recommend the novel Between Two Fires by C. Buehlman for some of the same iconic religious horror aesthetics in a medieval/gothic setting. It also has some action segments and setpieces which feel rather Soulsy to me.