Books by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Book SynopsisA beautiful hardcover edition of the first great prison memoir, Fyodor Dostoevsky's fictionalized account of his life-changing penal servitude in Siberia. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, with an introduction by Richard Pevear.   Sentenced to death for advocating socialism in 1849, Dostoevsky served a commuted sentence of four years of hard labor. The account he wrote afterward, Notes from a Dead House (sometimes translated as The House of the Dead), is filled with vivid details of brutal punishments, shocking conditions, and the psychological effects of the loss of freedom and hope, but also of the feuds and betrayals, the moments of comedy, and the acts of kindness he observed. As a nobleman and a political prisoner, Dostoevsky was despised by most of his fellow convicts, and his first-person narrator—a nobleman who has killed his wife—experiences a similar struggle to adapt. He also undergoes a transformation

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Book SynopsisThe award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have given us the definitive version of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s strikingly original short novels, The Double and The Gambler.The Double is a surprisingly modern hallucinatory nightmare-foreshadowing Kafka and Sartre-in which a minor official named Goliadkin becomes aware of a mysterious doppelganger, a man who has his name and his face and who gradually and relentlessly begins to displace him with his friends and colleagues. The Gambler is a stunning psychological portrait of a young man's exhilarating and destructive addiction to gambling, a compulsion that Dostoevsky-who once gambled away his young wife's wedding ring-knew intimately from his own experience. In chronicling the disastrous love affairs and gambling adventures of Alexei Ivanovich, Dostoevsky explores the irresistible temptation to look into the abyss of ultimate risk that he believed was an essential part of the Russian national

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Book SynopsisThis collection, unique to the Modern Library, gathers seven of Dostoevsky''s key works and shows him to be equally adept at the short story as with the novel. Exploring many of the same themes as in his longer works, these small masterpieces move from the tender and romantic White Nights, an archetypal nineteenth-century morality tale of pathos and loss, to the famous Notes from the Underground, a story of guilt, ineffectiveness, and uncompromising cynicism, and the first major work of existential literature. Among Dostoevsky''s prototypical characters is Yemelyan in The Honest Thief, whose tragedy turns on an inability to resist crime. Presented in chronological order, in David Magarshack''s celebrated translation, this is the definitive edition of Dostoevsky''s best stories.

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Book SynopsisDostoevsky's short novel is told in the first person by a young man, Alexei, who is addicted to gambling.

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Book SynopsisAbout Michael Katz’s translation.

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Book SynopsisThe Second Edition of the Norton Critical Edition of The Brothers Karamazov is based on a significantly revised translation by Susan McReynolds.

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Book SynopsisThe text for this edition of Notes from Underground is Michael Katz’s acclaimed translation of the 1863 novel, which is introduced and annotated specifically for English-speaking readers.

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Book SynopsisNominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadA desperate young man plans the perfect crime—the murder of a despicable pawnbroker, an old women no one loves and no one will mourn. Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to commit such a crime, to transgress moral law—if it will ultimately benefit humanity? So begins one of the greatest novels ever written: a powerful psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, a fascinating detective thriller infused with philosophical, religious and social commentary. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in a garret in the gloomy slums of St. Petersburg, carries out his grotesque scheme and plunges into a hell of persecution, madness and terror. Crime and Punishment takes the reader on a journey into the darkest recesses of the criminal and depraved mind, and exposes the soul of a man possessed by both good and evil . . . a man wh

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Book SynopsisIn 1880 Dostoevsky completed The Brothers Karamazov, the literary effort for which he had been preparing all his life. Compelling, profound, complex, it is the story of a patricide and of the four sons who each had a motive for murder: Dmitry, the sensualist, Ivan, the intellectual; Alyosha, the mystic; and twisted, cunning Smerdyakov, the bastard child. Frequently lurid, nightmarish, always brilliant, the novel plunges the reader into a sordid love triangle, a pathological obsession, and a gripping courtroom drama. But throughout the whole, Dostoevsky searhes for the truth--about man, about life, about the existence of God. A terrifying answer to man's eternal questions, this monumental work remains the crowning achievement of perhaps the finest novelist of all time.

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Book Synopsis“My intention is to portray a truly beautiful soul.” —DostoevskyDespite the harsh circumstances besetting his own life—abject poverty, incessant gambling, the death of his youngest child—Dostoevsky produced a second masterpiece, The Idiot, after completing Crime and Punishment. In it, a saintly man, Prince Myshkin, is thrust into the heart of a society more concerned with wealth, power, and sexual conquest than with the ideals of Christianity. Myshkin soon finds himself at the center of a violent love triangle in which a notorious woman and a beautiful young girl become rivals for his affections.Extortion, scandal, and murder follow, testing Myshkin’s moral feelings, as Dostoevsky searches through the wreckage left by human misery to find “man in man.” The Idiot is a quintessentially Russian novel, one that penetrates the complex psyche of the Russian people. “They call me a psychologist,&

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Book SynopsisInspired by the true story of a political murder that horried Russians in 1869, Fyodor Dostoevsky conceived of Demons as a 'novel-pamphlet' in which he would say everything about the plague of materialist ideology that he saw infecting his native land. What emerged was a prophetic and ferociously funny masterpiece of ideology and murder in pre-revolutionary Russia.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis collection gives us a sense of the depth of Dostoevsky's insights into human life and suffering and of his profound understanding of the tensions and dangers of modernity. Guignon's Introduction is a brilliant study that shows how profoundly the 'legend of the Grand Inquisitor' speaks to our day. --Charles Taylor, McGill UniversityGuignon's Introduction is by far the best available to these texts, and is, for its clarity and depth, one of the finest Introductions to complex literary or philosophical material that I've ever read. --Stephen L. Collins, Babson CollegeThis text worked beautifully in my Intro to the Western Humanities course. I especially appreciated Guignon's insightful Introduction, the selection of chapters, the clear layout. --Dan Spencer, University of Montana

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Book SynopsisAn introduction that places the underground man in the historical context of nineteenth-century modernity's movement toward secularism, examines his psychological dynamics, and identifies the developments in Russian intellectual life that the work parodies and criticises.Trade ReviewA timely re-issue of the Notes with an Introduction that is a lively and informative invitation to engage with Dostoevsky's text.--Raymond Boisvert, Department of Philosophy, Siena College

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Book SynopsisDostoevsky''s disturbing and groundbreaking novella appears in this new annotated edition with an Introduction by Charles Guignon and Kevin Aho. An analogue of Guignon''s widely praised Introduction to his 1993 edition of The Grand Inquisitor, the editors'' Introduction places the underground man in the context of European modernity, analyzes his inner dynamics in the light of the history of Russian cultural and intellectual life, and suggests compelling reasons for our own strange affinity for this nameless man who boldly declares, I was rude and took pleasure in being so.Trade ReviewA timely re-issue of the Notes with an Introduction that is a lively and informative invitation to engage with Dostoevsky's text.--Raymond Boisvert, Department of Philosophy, Siena College

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Book SynopsisMad Foolish Ridiculous I've been called many things.On an uneventful Wednesday in a drab Borough of East London, an ordinary man has a startling revelation: life is an unhappy accident in a meaningless universe.He gets himself a gun.But before he can use it, he dreams of an innocent, alternative earth, where people live in harmony with nature and each other. Elated, he sets out to tell the world about his dream and share his new vision of a happy planet.Dostoevsky's tragic-comic adventure The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is transported to 21st-century London in a one-person tale of wonder with an urgent warning for our world, adapted by Laurence Boswell. A funny and serious story of hope, that with love and trust we can build a better world. Maybe.This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Marylebone Theatre in March 2024.

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Book SynopsisA seemingly well-reasoned justification of murder comes to pieces as the murderer is forced to confront the true nature of his crime. After much thought Rodion Raskolnikov determines that certain special people deserve the right to step outside of normal law and order to accomplish difficult deeds for the good of others and even humanity as a whole. Trapped in desperate poverty, he justifies his plan to rob and kill a rich, unpopular pawnbroker, reasoning that he will take the money, survive and go on to do good things for others. The terrible act of murder, and the unstoppable cascade of events that follow, throw Raskolnikov into a nightmare of mental unbalance and moral torment. One situation after another arises that drives home his guilt and shows how his brutal act has resulted in nothing but destruction and pain. A surprise visit from family and a policeman who seems teasingly, sardonically aware of his guilt thrust Raskolnikov into a position where he can’t tell if even confession will supply meaningful redemption. First published in 1866, Crime and Punishment stands as one of the most acclaimed novels of all time and remains unsurpassed in its penetrating psychology and raw glimpses of a mind wracked by moral confusion and fundamental questions of how to do the right thing. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Crime and Punishment is both modern and readable.

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Book Synopsis'I have always been ridiculous, and I have known it, perhaps from the hour I was born'A man goes mad because he is happy.A civil servant behaves like a monster at a wedding-party.A man is swallowed by a crocodile, but not eaten nor seriously damaged.Dostoevsky's stories inhabit similarly volcanic atmospheres as his novels, places of curiosity and exception. They resemble jokes and anecdotes, told by volatile, voluble, morbidly sensitive and frustrated characters. These narrators all have a tendency to express themselves in crescendos of conflicting emotions, while the stories themselves steer clear of grand conclusions. Michael Wood's selection of Dostoevsky's shorter works is drawn from the timeless translations of Constance Garnett whose work, he says in his preface, gives readers the best of several worlds.

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Book SynopsisAfter spending several years in a sanatorium recovering from an illness that caused him to lose his memory and ability to reason, Prince Myshkin arrives in St Petersburg and is at once confronted with the stark realities of life in the Russian capital – from greed, murder and nihilism to passion, vanity and love. Mocked for his childlike naivety yet valued for his openness and understanding, Prince Myshkin finds himself entangled with two women in a position he cannot bring himself to resolve. Dostoevsky, who wrote that in the character of Prince Myshkin he hoped to portray a “wholly virtuous man”, shows the workings of the human mind and our relationships with others in all their complex and contradictory nature. Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters, from the beautiful, self-destructive Nastasya Filippovna to the dangerously obsessed Rogozhin and the radical student Ippolit, The Idiot is one of Dostoevsky’s most personal and intense works of fiction.

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Book SynopsisInspired by Dostoevsky's own gambling addiction and written under pressure in order to pay off his creditors and retain his rights to his literary legacy, The Gambler is set in the casino of the fictional German spa town of Roulettenburg and follows the misfortunes of the young tutor Alexei Ivanovich. As he succumbs to the temptations of the roulette table, he finds himself engaged in a battle of wills with Polina, the woman he unrequitedly loves. With an unforgettable cast of fellow gamblers and figures from European high society, this darkly comic novel of greed and self-destruction reveals Dostoevsky at his satirical and psychological best.Trade ReviewNo novelist ever wrestled with materialism more fiercely and intelligently than Dostoevsky. -- Jonathan Franzen

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Book SynopsisAs ideological ferment grips Russia, a small group of revolutionaries, led by Pyotr Verkhovensky and inspired by Nikolai Stavrogin, plan to spread destruction and anarchy throughout the country. Morally bankrupt, they are prepared to use whatever means necessary to achieve their goal, including murder and incitement to suicide. But when they are forced to test the limits of their doctrine and kill one of their own to secure the secrecy of their mission, the ragtag group breaks up in mutual recrimination.Devils is at once a compelling political statement and a study of atheism and its calamitous effect on a country that is teetering on the edge of an abyss. Seen as Dostoevsky's most powerful indictment of man's propensity to violence, this darkly humorous work, shot through with grotesque comedy, is presented here in Roger Cockrell's masterful new translation.Trade Review"It is a merciless expose of certain aspects of the Russian revolutionary movements of the mid-19th century, and of the various kinds of revolutionary and terrorist psychology." - Dr Rowan Williams

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Book SynopsisPoverty-stricken and cut off from society, former law student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov leads a desolate life in a dreary little room in St Petersburg. Having abandoned all hopes of sustaining himself through work, he now obsesses over the idea of changing his fortunes through an extreme act of violence: the killing of an elderly pawnbroker. His mind baulks at the horror of his plan, but when he hears that his sister Dunya is about to agree to a loveless marriage in order to escape the advances of her employer, his disgust for the world becomes unbounded, and his feelings of rebellion and revenge push him closer and closer to the edge of the precipice. A masterpiece of psychological insight, Dostoevsky's 1866 novel features some of its author's most memorable characters - from the temperamental protagonist Raskolnikov to the amoral sensualist Svidrigailov and the immoral lawyer Luzhin. Presented here in a sparkling new translation by Roger Cockerell, Crime and Punishment is a towering work in Russian nineteenth-century fiction and a landmark of world literature.

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Book SynopsisPresented in a new translation by Roger Cockrell, The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants was originally conceived as a play and first published in 1859, shortly after the author's release from forced military service. Gogolian in style and tone, and waspish in its description of the villainous Opiskin, it is a sustained exercise in caricatural cruelty and a comedic tour de force. The young Sergei is summoned from St Petersburg by his uncle, the retired colonel Yegor Rostanev, to the remote country estate of Stepanchikovo. Rostanev's household, populated by a medley of remarkable characters, is dominated by the figure of Foma Opiskin, a devious, manipulative hanger-on who has everyone in thrall and plots to marry the colonel to the woman of his choice, Tatyana Ivanova. When Opiskin finds that his plans are being thwarted, a confrontation with Rostanev ensues, and all hell is let loose.

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Book SynopsisThe Landlady, a novella written in 1847, immediately afterThe Double, is accompanied in this volume by the rest of Dostoevsky's shorter fiction, including famous stories such as Mr Prokharchin', White Nights', The Dream of a Ridiculous Man' and A Gentle Creature' all presented in sparkling new translations by Roger Cockrell.

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Book SynopsisThe illegitimate son of a landowner and his common-law peasant wife, Arkady Dolgoruky has scarcely seen these parents during his nineteen years of life. In a narrative combining farce and pathos, Dostoevsky describes Arkady's visit to St Petersburg in search of the 'accidental family' who have dominated his dreams. The confrontation with them does not turn out quite as he imagined it. This relatively late novel, written in the last decade of the author's life, nevertheless captures the exuberance and embarrassments, the bliss and bale of adolescence in all its volatility and uncertainty.

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Book SynopsisTwo small masterpieces in one volume. First, The Double, a surprisingly modern hallucinatory nightmare that foreshadows Kafka and Sartre. A minor official named Goliadkin becomes aware of a mysterious doppelganger - a man who has his name and his face and who gradually and relentlessly begins to displace him with his friends and colleagues. In the dilemma of his increasingly paranoid hero, Dostoevsky makes vividly concrete the inner plurality of consciousness that would become a major theme of his work. Second, The Gambler, a stunning psychological portrait of a young man's exhilarating and destructive addiction, a compulsion that Dostoevsky - who once gambled away his wife's wedding ring- knew intimately from his own experience. In the disastrous love affairs and gambling adventures of Alexei Ivanovich, Dostoevsky explores the irresistible temptation to look into the abyss of ultimate risk that he believed was an essential part of the Russian national character.

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