Description

Book Synopsis
Presented as a series of letters between the humble copying clerk Devushkin and a distant relative of his, the young Varenka, Poor People brings to the fore the underclass of St Petersburg, who live at the margins of society in the most appalling conditions and abject poverty. As Devushkin tries to help Varenka improve her plight by selling anything he can, he is reduced to even more desperate circumstances and seeks refuge in alcohol, looking on helplessly as the object of his impossible love is taken away from him. Introducing the first in a long line of underground characters, Poor People, Dostoevsky's first full-length work of fiction, is a poignant, tragi-comic tale which foreshadows the greatness of his later novels.

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An acute psychological portrait of a man driven to his limits. -- Charlotte Hobson

Poor People

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    A Paperback / softback by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hugh Aplin

    £7.99

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      Book details

      Publisher Alma Classics
      Published 20 November 2012
      ISBN-13 9781847493125
      978-1847493125
      ISBN-10 1847493122

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Presented as a series of letters between the humble copying clerk Devushkin and a distant relative of his, the young Varenka, Poor People brings to the fore the underclass of St Petersburg, who live at the margins of society in the most appalling conditions and abject poverty. As Devushkin tries to help Varenka improve her plight by selling anything he can, he is reduced to even more desperate circumstances and seeks refuge in alcohol, looking on helplessly as the object of his impossible love is taken away from him. Introducing the first in a long line of underground characters, Poor People, Dostoevsky's first full-length work of fiction, is a poignant, tragi-comic tale which foreshadows the greatness of his later novels.

      Trade Review
      An acute psychological portrait of a man driven to his limits. -- Charlotte Hobson

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