"My intention is to portray a truly beautiful soul." Dostoevsky
'The chief thing is that they all need him' -thus Dostoyevsky described Prince Myshkin, the hero of perhaps his most remarkable novel. As the still, radiant center of a plot whose turbulent action is extraordinary even for Dostoyevsky, Myshkin succeeds in dominating through sheer force a personality a cast of characters who vividly and violently embody the passions and conflicts of the 19th century Russia.
Paperback
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
"My intention is to portray a truly beautiful soul." Dostoevsky
'The chief thing is that they all need him' -thus Dostoyevsky described Prince Myshkin, the hero of perhaps his most remarkable novel. As the still, radiant center of a plot whose turbulent action is extraordinary even for Dostoyevsky, Myshkin succeeds in dominating through sheer force a personality a cast of characters who vividly and violently embody the passions and conflicts of the 19th century Russia.
Description
" My intention is to portray a truly beautiful soul." — Dostoevsky Despite the harsh circumstances besetting his own life — object poverty, incessant gambling, the death of his firstborn child — Dostoevsky produced a second masterpiece, The Idiot, just two years 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, " wrote Dostoevsky. " That is not true. I'm only a realist in the higher sense; that is, I portray all the depths of the human soul."
Critic Reviews
“"Nothing is outside Dostoevsky's province. . . . Out of Shakespeare there is no more exciting reading." -Virginia Woolf From the Trade Paperback edition.”
"Nothing is outside Dostoevsky's province. . . . Out of Shakespeare there is no more exciting reading." --Virginia Woolf
About the Author
Richard Peace is Emeritus Professor of Russian at Bristol University. He is the author of Dostoevsky: An Examination of his Major Novels.
Back Cover
Despite the harsh circumstances besetting his own life-abject poverty, incessant gambling, the death of his firstborn child-Dostoevsky produced a second masterpiece, The Idiot, just two years 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," wrote Dostoevsky. "That is not true. I'm only a realist in the higher sense; that is, I portray all the depths of the human soul."
Product Details
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.
