The Idiot - Hardcover

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0899666272 ISBN 13: 9780899666273

Publisher: Buccaneer Books, 1989

Synopsis

An introduction by Agnes Cardinal, Prince Myshkin returns to Russia from an asylum in Switzerland. As he becomes embroiled in the frantic amatory and financial intrigues which centre around a cast of brilliantly realised characters and which ultimately lead to tragedy, he emerges as a unique combination of the Christian ideal of perfection and Dostoevsky's own views, afflictions and manners. His serene selflessness is contrasted with the worldly qualities of every other character in the novel. Dostoevsky supplies a harsh indictment of the Russian ruling class of his day who have created a world which cannot accomodate the goodness of this idiot.

About this title

From the Back Cover

'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.

About the Author

Anna Brailovsky is a translator and candidate for a Ph.D. in art history at Johns Hopkins University.

Joseph Frank is Professor Emeritus of Slavic and Comparative Literature at Princeton University. The first volume of his definitive biography, Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850 1859, won the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.

About this edition

• Publisher: Buccaneer Books
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0899666272
• ISBN 13: 9780899666273
• Binding: Hardcover