The Idiot
By Fyodor Dostoevsky

"The next and possible one of the strongest influences in my reading life is [Dostoevsky]—Tolstoy, of course, is at the top. ... One is just swept away from one incredible scene to another incredible scene. The scene when [Nastasya] lights a fire to burn up the bank notes in front of [Ganya] is almost like a [True Story] fiction, but in spite of it, the emotions of the scene make it so real." — Carson McCullers