Has anyone read something from Dostoevsky?And what book?

Answer 1

You could start with "Notes from Underground," his short novel, which reflects many of the concerns and tendencies of the later 19th century, go on to the fascinating "Crime and Punishment," which includes autobiographical elements, for Dostoevski was condemned to death for plotting against the Czar, reprieved at the last moment, and spent years in Siberian exile, and perhaps end with the very complex "The Brothers Karmazov," which harks back to Sophocles' "Oedipus the King," and which raises many serious questions. "The Idiot" is a profoundly disturbing book even by Dostoevskian standards.

Answer 2

I read Crime and Punishment and then Notes from Underground. I've also started The Brothers Karamazov. I highly recommend that you read the works of Dostoevsky. Crime and Punishment is the more well known of his novels but Notes from Underground might be a better one to start with because it was, I thought, an easier read.

Answer 3

Двойник. Петербургская поэма (The Double: A Petersburg Poem)
Игрок (The Gambler)
The book was the basis of an opera by Sergei Prokofiev, also called The Gambler, as well as Hungarian director Károly Makk's film The Gambler (1997), which is about Dostoyevsky writing the novella. It really shook me.
Идиот (The Idiot)

This novel is, in my opinion, better than the gambler, but more horrifying. Dostoevsky is one of the most influental, and acording to me one of the best, writers ever.

Crucify he/she who copies and pastes... no reference whatsoever to the above answer of course. Solong.

Answer 4

I've read Crime & Punishment, Brothers Karamazov, and The Idiot. I'd recommend BK and then CP. BK is longer, but there are so many facets, you won't get bored. If you don't know the basics of Christianity, it may get confusing at times. Good luck! He's by far the best of the major Russian authors.

Answer 5

Crime and Punishment. Brothers Karamazov, Notes from the underground, The Idiot.
Probably the best writer ever, and with no doubts Crime and Punishment should be at the top of the list.

Answer 6

Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov.

Answer 7

I've read Crime and Punishment and am probably the only person you'll find who will admit it's really, really boring.

Answer 8

I don`t think that I have but here`s a little something you might be interested in since you seem to be studying his work...


Biography for Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Birth name
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky

Mini biography

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born on November 11, 1821, in Moscow, Russia. He was the second of seven children in the family of Mikhail and Maria Dostoevsky. His father, named Mikhail Andreevich Dostoevsky, was a Medical Doctor, belonged to Russian Nobility, owned surfs, and lived with his family in a suburban estate near Moscow. It is believed that Dostoevsky's father was murdered by his own serfs in revenge for his drunken rages of violence. Young Dostoevsky was traumatized by witnessing the rape of a serf teenager and suffered from epileptic seizures. He was sent to a boarding school, where he studied sciences, languages and literature. He was devastated, when his favorite writer Alexander Pushkin was killed in a duel in St. Petersburg, in 1837. That same year Dostoevsky's mother died, and he moved to St. Petersburg. There he graduated from the Military Engineering Academy, and served to the Tsar's government for one year.

Dostoevsky was active in St. Petersburg literary life; he grew out of his early influence by Nikolai Gogol, he translated "Eugenia Grande" by Honoré de Balzac in 1844, and published his own first novel, 'Poor Folk' (1845). But his brief friendship with Ivan Turgenev and Nikolai A. Nekrasov ended abruptly after they criticized his writing. At that time he became indirectly involved in a revolutionary treason, for which he was arrested in 1849, and sentenced to death. His execution was staged on a freezing winter day in St. Petersburg, where he was blindfolded and ordered to stand before the firing squad, waiting to be shot. His execution was stopped at the last minute, and he was commuted to prison and exile to Siberia. There his health declined due to increased incidences of epileptic seizures. After 10 years of his imprisonment and exile service Dostoevsky regained his Noble title, and returned to St. Petersburg on permission form the Tsar. He abandoned liberal views, and became conservative and religious, but suffered from an acute gambling compulsion, accumulating massive debts.

In 1862, after returning from his first big tour about Western Europe, Dostoevsky wrote that "Russia needs to be reformed, by learning the new ideas, that are developing in Europe." On his next trip to Europe, in 1863, he spent all of his money on a manipulative woman, A. Suslova, then suffered a compulsive gambling spree, returned home broke and sank into a depression. At that time he wrote the 'Notes from Underground' (1864), preceding existentialism in literature. Dostoevsky's first wife died in 1864, after six years of their childless marriage, and he adopted her son from her previous marriage. Painful experiences caused him another depression, that sublimed in the work on his best novel, 'Crime and Punishment' (1866).

After completion of 'The Gambler' (1867), Dostoevsky married his loyal friend and literary secretary, Anna Snitkina. She was 20, he was 47, they had four children. His first baby died being only 3 months old, causing him a depression and epileptic seizures. At that time Dostoevsky expressed his disillusionment with the Utopian ideas in such novels as 'The Idiot' (1868), and 'The Devils' (or 'The Posessed') (1871), where the devils (or 'the possessed') are destructive people - revolutionaries and terrorists. Dostoevsky was the main speaker at the opening of the monument to Alexander Pushkin in 1880, he called Pushkin a "wandering Russian, searching for universal happiness."

In his final great novel, 'The Brothers Karamazov' (1880), Dostoevsky revealed the components of his own split personality, depicted in four main characters; humble monk Alyosha, compulsive gambler Dmitri, rebellious intellectual Ivan, and their cynical father Fyodor Karamazov.

Dostoevsky died on February 9, 1881 of a lung hemorrhage caused by emphysema and epileptic seizures. He lived his entire life under the spell of epilepsy, like under the "Sword of Damocles", and was fearless of any truth. His writings are an uncanny reflection on his own life - the fate of a genius in Russia.

Spouse(s)

Anna Grigorievna Snitkina (15 February 1867 - 9 February 1881) (his death) 4 children
Maria Dmitrievna Konstant Isaeva (February 1857 - 15 April 1864) (her death)

Trivia

His novel, "Crime and Punishment", has been called the most famous novel in the world.

Dostoevsky, next to Tolstoy and Turguenev, is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of 19th Century, for his major works 'Crime and Punishment', 'The Idiot', 'The devils' and 'The Karamazov brothers'. These four have been the basis for many movies.


Does this satisfy your literary curiosity at all?

I certainly hope so!

Happy Holidays!!!

Answer 9

Only 'Crime and Punishment'.

Answer 10

'Crime and Punishment'.