Fyodor Dostoevsky
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It must have happened on Christmas Eve in some great town in a time of terrible frost. I have a vision of a boy, a little boy, six years old or even younger. This boy woke up that morning in a cold damp cellar. He was dressed in a sort of little dressing-gown and was shivering with cold. There was a cloud of white steam from his breath, and sitting on a box in the corner, he blew the steam out of his mouth and amused himself in his dullness watching...
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This volume contains Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1877 short story "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man". It begins with a man walking St. Petersburg's streets while musing upon how ridiculous his life is, as well as its distinct lack of meaning or purpose. This train of thought leads him to the idea of suicide, which he resolves to commit using a previously-acquired gun. However, a chance encounter with a distressed little girl in the street derails his drastic...
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After a brief military career, the illustrious Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky quickly turned to writing as a profession with the publication of his first novel, "Poor Folk" in 1846. This novel sparked a literary career that would eventually cement Dostoyevsky's reputation as one of the greatest novelists of the nineteenth century. Early participation in a literary political group landed the writer in exile in Siberia for nearly a decade, an experience...
25) The Crocodile
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After teasing the crocodile, Ivan Matveich is swallowed alive. He finds the inside of the crocodile to be quite comfortable, and the animal's owner refuses to allow it to be cut open, in spite of the pleas from Elena Ivanovna. Ivan Matveich urges the narrator to arrange for the crocodile to be purchased and cut open, but the owner asks so much for it that nothing is done.
26) Polzunkov
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The story follows the life of a man named Polzunkov, who is living in poverty and is constantly persecuted by those around him. The novel is said to be based on Dostoevsky's own experiences living in poverty, and it is considered to be one of his most autobiographical works.
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The story follows a young man's journey to find himself. It is written in nine letters, which the protagonist sends to his loved ones. The letters chronicle his experiences and inner thoughts as he travels across Europe. Dostoyevsky's writing is complex and rich, and the novella is a beautifully written exploration of self-discovery.
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Notes from Underground, The Double and Other Stories, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
• New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
• Biographies...
29) A Little Hero
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A Little Hero is a novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky that tells the story of a young boy's journey to find his place in the world. The story is full of complex characters and intricate plot lines, and it is written in a dense, intriguing style. It is considered to be one of Dostoyevsky's most underrated works, and it is not widely read or studied today.
30) The Landlady
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Generally considered something of a departure for Dostoyevsky, The Landlady was first published in 1847, when most of the author's classic novels were still in his future. Set in Saint Petersburg, the novella tells of a brooding, reclusive scholar, Vasily Mikhailovich Ordynov, who develops an obsession with a young woman, Katerina. After encountering Katerina and her much-older husband at a church service, Ordynov contrives to become a lodger at their...
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When the protagonist Ivan Ilyich Pralinsky drinks a little bit too much with his colleagues one day, he expresses his desire for a philosophy founded upon the value of kindness and charity to those who are worse off than oneself. After he leaves, Ivan encounters a wedding celebration, which turns to be that of one of his underlings at work, and his new philosophy is put to the test when he gatecrashes the festivities. Also translated as "A Nasty Story",...
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Natasha leaves her parents' home and runs away with Alyosha (prince Alexey) the son of Prince Valkovsky who abuses her father. As a result of his pain, her father, Nikolai, curses her. The only friend that remains by Natasha's side is Ivan, her childhood friend, who is deeply in love with her. Prince Valkovsky tries to destroy Alyosha's plans to marry Natasha, and wants to make him marry the rich princess Katerina. Alyosha is a childish young man...
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Dostoyevsky's works are marked by his penetrating exploration of psychology and morality, which are today cited as highly 'existentialist.' An Honest Thief illustrates some of the author's most common themes: compassion, integrity and the power of the human spirit. This volume also includes: "Uncle's Dream," "A Novel in Nine Letters," "An Unpleasant Predicament," "Another Man's Wife," "The Heavenly Christmas Tree," "The Peasant Marey," "The Crocodile,"...
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Accusé de subversion politique, Dostoïevski fut à l'âge de vingt-huit ans condamné aux travaux forcés dans un bagne de Sibérie. Il fit dans ces Souvenirs le récit de cette terrible expérience dans la maison des morts qui allait transformer sa vision du monde et du peuple russe et le « ressusciter ».
« Je me sentais un peu souffrant ces jours-ci, et je lisais la Maison des morts. Je n'en avais gardé qu'un souvenir incertain et j'ai...
35) A Raw Youth
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The novel follows the life of Arkady Dolgoruky, a young intellectual, a child of the controversial and womanizing landowner Versilov. A focus of the novel is the recurring conflict between father and son, particularly in ideology, which represents the battles between the conventional old way of thinking and the new nihilistic point of view of the youth.
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An Unpleasant Predicament is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky that tells the story of a man who is forced to make a difficult decision. The man is in a difficult situation because he is being blackmailed, and he must choose between two unpleasant options. He eventually decides to commit suicide rather than face the consequences of his decision.
37) Poor People
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Varvara Dobroselova and Makar Devushkin are second cousins twice-removed and live across from each other on the same street in terrible apartments. The novel follows their lives, their relationship with rich people, and poverty in general. A deep but odd friendship develops between them until Dobroselova loses her interest in literature, and later in communicating with Devushkin after a rich widower Mr. Bykov proposes to her.
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A towering literary giant, Fyodor Dostoyevsky was-and remains-unparalleled in his understanding of the darkness that resides in the farthest corners of the human soul. Although his shorter works have been overshadowed by his astonishing novels-Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, to name but two-his stories and novellas deserve a place among the great literary inventions of the modern era, offering insight into the themes and ideas that...
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"The Double" centres on a government clerk who goes mad. It deals with the internal psychological struggle of its main character, Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, who repeatedly encounters someone who is his exact double in appearance but confident, aggressive, and extroverted, characteristics that are the polar opposites to those of the toadying "pushover" protagonist. The motif of the novella is a 'doppelgänger', known throughout the world in various...
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Dostoyevsky is the only psychologist from whom I had something to learn', remarked Friedrich Nietzsche. 'He ranks among the most beautiful strokes of fortune in my life'. Discover the universal truths and wisdoms of Dostoyevsky in this volume of Dostoyevsky's tales including: An Honest Thief, The Heavenly Christmas Tree, The Peasant Marey.