Fyodor Dostoyevsky
3) The idiot
Dostoevsky's most revolutionary novel following life of a former official who has defiantly withdrawn into an underground existence. The unnamed narrator turns to a series of incidents from his earlier life and examines them obsessively through a lens of self-contradictory beliefs. A vivid example of essentially irrational nature of human kind presented here with realism and conviction of Dostoyevsky's prose.
From The Notes
When . .
...5) The double
6) The Idiot
While contemplating his life and deeming himself ridiculous, a man on the verge of suicide is interrupted by a young girl begging for his help. In his dark mood, he brushes her away, but when he returns home to commit the act he cannot move past his feelings of guilt over his treatment of the girl.
"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" was adapted into a 1990 BBC production entitled The Dream starring Jeremy Irons.
HarperPerennial Classics
...16) The Gambler
Delve into the question of the morality of gambling in this brilliant novella from famed Russian fiction writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The author of Crime and Punishment tackles the perennially controversial topic of gambling with his trademark incisiveness in this fast-paced, satisfying read. Literary sleuths say Dostoyevsky had an intimate knowledge of the subject matter—it is rumored that he penned this novella in order to help pay
...20) White Nights
White Nights is the third major Dostoyevsky short story everyone should read, A Faint Heart and The Christmas Tree & Wedding being the other two. This is a series of Winesburg, Ohio like moments where a woman and man meet accidentally on the First Night; proceed to meet again on the Second and Third, almost fall in love, and at the last minute the former lover of the woman returns to take her away. But, the point is the man had a moment, a glorious
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