My response to Part 1 (Katia)

Again, a few general thoughts.

• How do Rogozhin and Gania know each other? When Rogozhin storms into his house with his crew, he calls him Gan'ka and shows a great deal of familiarity towards him. In the beginning (chapter 10), Ganya pretends not to recognize him, but Rogozhin immediately makes fun of him for it and says that just a few months ago he lost to Ganya in a card game. Is Ganya the one who introduced Rogozhin to Nastasia Filipovna? I recall vaguely seeing evidence for that somewhere else. I get the feeling that their relationship may be important because when Kolya and Myshkin talk after the scene with Rogozhin and N.F., Kolya criticizes Rogozhin, saying "you can't behave like that in the house of your..."--and then he changes the subject. Was he just going to say "enemy" or a closer connection?
• Ganya's main motivation and flaw is his pride. When he describes to the prince how he would make N. F. behave (chapter 10), he says, "I don't want to be funny; above all else, I don't want to be funny." That is essentially why he doesn't rush into the flames to save the thousand rubles that N. F. grants him. His love of himself and his image is greater than his love for money. There's something about him that reminds me of the Underground Man and Raskolnik--poor, with family problems, they dream of being great men, but don't know the right way of going about it. They want it all now and want to "skip," as Ganya says, the process. Although, unlike the other two, Ganya doesn't seem to have a gnawing and contradictory self-criticism.
• Another connection with "Crime and Punishment" is the family of General Ivolgin's mistress Terentieva, which is remarkably similar to the Marmeladovs. There are two daughters and a son, as well as an older sibling, Ippolit (although in Marmeladov's family that sibling, Sonia, is one of the two daughters, I think); the mother is sick; the father is a stepfather, a penitent yet constant drunkard who spends all the family's small income on alcohol and never shows up at home unless he needs cash, although he used to have a good job. And like Raskolnikov, Myshkin is like a guide to him. I suppose that's why the general says so frequently, "General Ivolgin and Prince Myshkin!", as if it were the headline of a performance (and their behavior is often taken and described as a comedy).
• A general theme that I'd like to track in the second part is the role of money. We've heard it mentioned from the very beginning during the train ride, when Rogozhin told the prince about his inheritance. Then when Myshkin visits the Epanchins, everyone thinks that he wants money. Money is also the reason why Ganya is willing to marry N. F. and money is Afanasi Ivanovich's main method of controlling her--either forcing her into sex or getting her out of his life by paying Ganya to marry her. Men like Rogozhin and General Epanchin also try to impress N. F. with fancy gifts, but she learns to manipulate them through money as well--by making light of their gifts, by coming to Petersburg and threatening Afanasi Ivanovich to maintain her or she'll dishonor him, by refusing to be "traded" (a word that's often used in the book) as a commodity between him, Ganya, and Epanchin, and finally by throwing the 1,000 rubles into the fire, thus maddening everyone and shaming Ganya with her challenge. Money will also play a big role in the prince's life now that we know he too is set to receive a large inheritance. And money is very important to General Ivolgin as an alcoholic and provider to the Terentievs. I think the main conclusion we can draw from all of this is that money has no positive value in the book. It facilitates exploitation, addiction, impoverishment, arrogance, and insanity (although Myshkin, the one whom everyone considers insane, doesn't care about money). Even for N. F., it has no real significance. Perhaps it did when she was younger and had no choice but to accept A. I's advances, but that's not why she installs herself in Petersburg. That's not why she tells Rogozhin to bring her 1,000 rubles and then "chooses" him. For her, the ultimate goal seems to be revenge, both against A. I. and, strangely enough, against herself. 

By the way, what's the reading schedule for Part II? Is it as before, read through ch. V by next Monday?