Fyodor Dostoevsky

Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption.
This vivid translation by David McDuff has been acclaimed as the most accessible version of Dostoyevsky’s great novel, rendering its dialogue with a unique force and naturalism. This edition also includes a new chronology of Dostoyevsky’s life and work.

Crime and Punishment

Anna Brailovsky

In an attempt to woo two wholesome women--Natasya and Aglaia--the lovesick Prince Myshkin's good deeds are overshadowed by Ganya, the dishonest man of interest to the women, in this volume that includes an introduction and notes.

The Idiot

Written in 1864, this classic novel recounts the apology and confession of a minor nineteenth-century official, an almost comical account of the man's separation from society and his descent "underground"

Notes from Underground

'My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man's life?' A poignant tale of love and loneliness from Russia's foremost writer. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

White Nights

The award-winning translation of Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel.

The Brothers Karamasov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons―the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, is social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture. 

A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue

The Brothers Karamazov

Constance Garnett

Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic tale of Rodion Raskolnikov, the murder he commits as an exploration of the human condition, and the crushing criminal and psychological consequences. The two years before he wrote Crime and Punishment (1866) had been bad ones for Dostoyevsky. His wife and brother had died; the magazine he and his brother had started, Epoch, collapsed under its load of debt; and he was threatened with debtor's prison. With an advance that he managed to wangle for an unwritten novel, he fled to Wiesbaden, hoping to win enough at the roulette table to get himself out of debt. Instead, he lost all his money; he had to pawn his clothes and beg friends for loans to pay his hotel bill and get back to Russia. One of his begging letters went to a magazine editor, asking for an advance on yet another unwritten novel - which he described as Crime and Punishment. One of the supreme masterpieces of world literature, Crime and Punishment catapulted Dostoyevsky to the forefront of Russian writers and into the ranks of the world's greatest novelists. Drawing upon experiences from his own prison days, the author recounts in feverish, compelling tones the story of Raskolnikov, an impoverished student tormented by his own nihilism, and the struggle between good and evil. Believing that he is above the law, and convinced that humanitarian ends justify vile means, he brutally murders an old woman - a pawnbroker whom he regards as "stupid, ailing, greedy...good for nothing." Overwhelmed afterwards by feelings of guilt and terror, Raskolnikov confesses to the crime and goes to prison. There he realizes that happiness and redemption can only be achieved through suffering. Infused with forceful religious, social, and philosophical elements, the novel was an immediate success. This extraordinary, unforgettable work is reprinted here in the authoritative Constance Garnett translation. Others novels and novellas by Dostoevsky are: (1846) Poor Folk (novella) (1846) The Double (novella) (1847) The Landlady (novella) (1849) Netochka Nezvanova (unfinished) (1859) Uncle's Dream (novella) (1859) The Village of Stepanchikovo (1861) Humiliated and Insulted (1862) The House of the Dead (1864) Notes from Underground (novella) (1866) Crime and Punishment (1867) The Gambler (novella) (1869) The Idiot (1870) The Eternal Husband (novella) (1872) Demons (also titled: The Possessed, The Devils)[167] (1875) The Adolescent (1880) The Brothers Karamazov

A Novel by the Russian Author Fyodor Dostoevsky

Three brothers and their relations in 19th century Russia provide the base for a sweeping epic overview of human striving, folly and hope. First published in 1880, The Brothers Karamazov is a landmark work in every respect. Revolving around shiftless father Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov are the fates of his three sons, each of whom has fortunes entwined with the others. The eldest son, Dimitri, seeks an inheritance from his father and becomes his rival in love. Ivan, the second son, is so at odds with the world that he is driven near to madness, while the youngest, Alexi, is a man of faith and a natural optimist. These personalities are drawn out and tested in a crucible of conflict and emotion as the author forces upon them fundamental questions of morality, faith, reason and responsibility. This charged situation is pushed to its limit by the addition of the unthinkable, murder and possible patricide. Using shifting viewpoints and delving into the minds of his characters, Dostoevsky adopted fresh techniques to tell his wide-reaching story with power and startling effectiveness. The Brothers Karamazov remains one of the most respected and celebrated novels in all literature and continues to reward readers beyond expectation. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Brothers Karamazov is both modern and readable.

Demons is a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, first published in the journal The Russian Messenger in 1871-2. It is considered one of the four masterworks written by Dostoyevsky after his return from Siberian exile, along with Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Demons is a social and political satire, a psychological drama, and large scale tragedy. Joyce Carol Oates has described it as "Dostoevsky's most confused and violent novel, and his most satisfactorily 'tragic' work." According to Ronald Hingley, it is Dostoyevsky's "greatest onslaught on Nihilism", and "one of humanity's most impressive achievements-perhaps even its supreme achievement-in the art of prose fiction."Demons is an allegory of the potentially catastrophic consequences of the political and moral nihilism that were becoming prevalent in Russia in the 1860s. A fictional town descends into chaos as it becomes the focal point of an attempted revolution, orchestrated by master conspirator Pyotr Verkhovensky. The mysterious aristocratic figure of Nikolai Stavrogin-Verkhovensky's counterpart in the moral sphere-dominates the book, exercising an extraordinary influence over the hearts and minds of almost all the other characters. The idealistic, western-influenced generation of the 1840s, epitomized in the character of Stepan Verkhovensky (who is both Pyotr Verkhovensky's father and Nikolai Stavrogin's childhood teacher), are presented as the unconscious progenitors and helpless accomplices of the 'demonic' forces that take possession of the town.

The Possessed, the Devils

Demons

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In this dark and compelling short novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky tells the story of Alexey Ivanovitch, a young tutor working in the household of an imperious Russian general. Alexey tries to break through the wall of the established order in Russia, but instead becomes mired in the endless downward spiral of betting and loss. His intense and inescapable addiction is accentuated by his affair with the General’s cruel yet seductive niece, Polina. In The Gambler, Dostoevsky reaches the heights of drama with this stunning psychological portrait.

The Gambler

The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky - White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky from The Russian by Constance Garnett - "White Nights" is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, originally published in 1848, early in the writer's career. Like many of Dostoyevsky's stories, "White Nights" is told in first person by a nameless narrator; the narrator is living in Saint Petersburg and suffers from loneliness. He gets to know and falls in love with a young woman, but the love remains unrequited as the woman misses her lover with whom she is finally reunited. Film adaptations have been made by Italian director Luchino Visconti (Le notti bianche, 1957), by Russian director Ivan Pyryev (Belye nochi, 1959), by French director Robert Bresson (Four Nights of a Dreamer, 1971), by Iranian director Farzad Motamen (Shabhaye Roshan, 2003), by Indian film directors Manmohan Desai (Chhalia, 1960), Jananadhan (Iyarkai, 2003), Shivam Nair (Ahista Ahista, 2006) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Saawariya, 2007), and by American director James Gray (Two Lovers, 2008).

And Other Stories

Most significant of the Russian novelist's early stories (1846) offers a straight-faced treatment of a hallucinatory theme. Golyadkin senior is a powerless target of persecution by Golyadkin junior, his double in almost every respect. Familiar Dostoyevskan themes of helplessness, victimization, scandal — beautifully handled in this small masterpiece.

The Double

The gambler

Poor folk

The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man

Accused of political subversion as a young man, Dostoyevsky was sentenced to 4 years of hard labor at a Siberian prison camp. Years later, he developed this semi-autobiographical memoir of a man condemned to penal servitude for murdering his wife. This haunting and remarkable work ranks amoung Dostoyevsky's greatest masterpieces.

The House of the Dead

S. Prina

La cronaca di Pietroburgo

Le notti bianche

One of the greatest books ever written. A splendid masterpiece...

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

حلم رجل مضحك

Notes From The Underground by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky Notes from Underground (Russian: Записки из подполья, Zapíski iz podpól'ja, also translated in English as Notes from the Underground or Letters from the Underworld while Notes from Underground is the most literal translation) (1864) is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is considered by many to be the world's first existentialist novel. It presents itself as an excerpt from the rambling memoirs of a bitter, isolated, unnamed narrator (generally referred to by critics as the Underground Man) who is a retired civil servant living in St. Petersburg.

Notes from the Underground

Taken to be an idiot, the naïve Prince Myshkin visits his distant relative General Yepanchin and hopes to charm him, his wife and his three daughters, but his life changes drastically after he stumbles upon a photograph of Nastasya Filippovna. Deeply infatuated with her, he finds himself caught in a love triangle, which leads him into a web of blackmail, betrayal and finally, murder. Inspired by Christ's suffering, Dostoyevsky portrays the Russian Holy Fool's purity as of a 'truly beautiful soul' and navigates through the perils that innocence and goodness face in a corrupt world. The Idiot has been titled a classic beyond the temporal and spatial bounds.

Rudolph Wurlitzer

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