Classics > Fyodor Dostoevsky Classics

Advantages: Interesting, good insight into poverty
Disadvantages: Overly tragic

...of short stories, a read. Poor Folk, the title story in the book, was first published in 1846, just before Dostoyevsky was sentenced to death, which he later escaped, for his political activity. His more famous works, such as The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov, were not published until the latter part of the century. Poor Folk, the main story in the book, describes the relationship between a poor clerk, Makar Davushkin, and a young seamstress, ...
...whole, I preferred it to Poor Folk, but it is still an odd story that seems to have very little point. The book then really begins to go downhill. Mr Prokharchin is the story of the man of the title, a minor government official who lives in great poverty; although he is actually far better off than anyone believes. He keeps himself to himself, except for the odd argument with his housemates, all of whom put up with him because of his age. This is ... Read review

Advantages: Irresistable Russian classic
Disadvantages: It's late when you put down the book

...gambler, this book according to the lore was conceived in only seven weeks after a frenzy of writing; supposedly to cover gambling debts from the German roulette tables. THE PLOT: Set in the ficticious Roulettenberg, our hero finds himself irresistably drawn to the ever-green tables of roulette. A newcomer to the all-too dangerous game of roulette, he almost against his will starts gambling with money not even his. Soon trapped in a fantasy world ...
...and gives us some of the world's most irresistable portraits of gambler's love/hate relationship with gambling and the lessons it tells us about life. DON"T MISS: The carefully crafted portraits of the Russian glitterati of its time, the Grandmother featuring in some of the high (and low) points of this fine and light novel, its insights into the phyche of the human mind THE MORAL: Obsession is a real human trait, present among everyone. "Homo ludens", ... Read review

Advantages: sustained genius; philosophical profundity; splendid characterization
Disadvantages: the ending could have come a little sooner

The greatest myth about this book is that it is not as accessible as Dostoyevsky's shorter works. The Brothers Karamazov is, on the whole, very readable; it is only the sheer size of the work that fosters the delusion that readers would be well-advised to chose a different book. The plot, which is summarized elsewhere, is simple, the themes profound. The range of characters is impressive, but not too great (as it is, arguably, in Tolstoy's War and ...
...whom is wholly different from the others. But as so often with Dostoyevsky, the characters are interesting not only in themselves but because they embody or reflect on greater ideas. Ivan Karamazov, for instance offers some particularly trenchant criticism of optimistic religious views. In fact, those readers who are interested in questions pertaining to God will find in this book one of the most powerful indictments of the concept of wholly benevolent ... Read review

Advantages: Full of Dostoevsky's trademark analysis of character.
Disadvantages: Not a leisurely read. But worth it.

...ended, Dostoevsky's "The House of the Dead" is written in the form of a fictional memoir of a man serving a ten year sentence for killing his wife, and no doubt depicts much of what he saw during his own sentence. The story contains harsh descriptions of sadistic beating of inmates, digusting conditions, and a complete and shocking lack of privacy among the inhabitants of the Gulag, and thus is not for the faint hearted. However, fans of Dostoevsky's ... Read review

Advantages: Dostoevsky's best - cleverly political, achingly tense
Disadvantages: If you don't like Dostoevsky you won't like this.

...and unusually cutting humour. Devils is the funniest of his books (which, after Crime and Punishment, is probably very welcome), even though it is still technically a tragedy. It is loosely based on a political murder that occurred at the time Dostoevsky was writing. It combines a variety of characters' stories in a small Russian village - beginning with Varvara - the village's matriarch and her foolish, good natured political writer friend Stephan ...
...on her. Both represent the shaky foundations of the village's/country's establishment. Their respective sons, Nikolai Stavrogin, and Peter Stepanovich, return from separate educations abroad. Peter is intent on revolution. Nikolai is a confused, indifferent figure who is hounded relentlessly by Peter who seems him as a charismatic, messianic figure upon which he wishes to hang his revolutionary organisation. The group, led by Peter, is a ragbag ... Read review