Jupp53 wrote on 02/15/21 at 13:33:16:

I haven't read it. Some 40 years ago I used to read quite a bit of Dostoyevsky, in English translations of course, and your summary is spot on for him as well. The character is caught in a pathological web of their own making and there is *zero* interest in how the character developed the psychology in the first place. In science fiction there is a notion "suspension of disbelief" which is important for maintaining interest in the story line. And I think the glossing over of formative influences helps in a similar "suspension of questioning of motives" in psychological tales. It may be that you know too much about psychology and are unable to suspend the questioning. A healthy person may not become psychologically self-tortured to  the same degree. But it is still relatable. We are all prone to perpetuating situations due to a "foolish consistency". So that's why I found the novels psychologically interesting.