Devils - Couverture souple

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1840220996 ISBN 13 : 9781840220995

Editeur : Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 2010

Synopsis

Translated by Constance Garnett with an Introduction by A.D.P. Briggs.

In 1869 a young Russian was strangled, shot through the head and thrown into a pond. His crime? A wish to leave a small group of violent revolutionaries, from which he had become alienated. Dostoevsky takes this real-life catastrophe as the subject and culmination of Devils, a title that refers the young radicals themselves and also to the materialistic ideas that possessed the minds of many thinking people Russian society at the time.

The satirical portraits of the revolutionaries, with their naivety, ludicrous single-mindedness and readiness for murder and destruction, might seem exaggerated - until we consider their all-too-recognisable descendants in the real world ever since. The key figure in the novel, however, is beyond politics. Nikolay Stavrogin, another product of rationalism run wild, exercises his charisma with ruthless authority and total amorality. His unhappiness is accounted for when he confesses to a ghastly sexual crime - in a chapter long suppressed by the censor.

This prophetic account of modern morals and politics, with its fifty-odd characters, amazing events and challenging ideas, is seen by some critics as Dostoevsky's masterpiece.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Translated by Constance Garnett with an Introduction by A.D.P. Briggs.

In 1869 a young Russian was strangled, shot through the head and thrown into a pond. His crime? A wish to leave a small group of violent revolutionaries, from which he had become alienated. Dostoevsky takes this real-life catastrophe as the subject and culmination of Devils, a title that refers the young radicals themselves and also to the materialistic ideas that possessed the minds of many thinking people Russian society at the time.

The satirical portraits of the revolutionaries, with their naivety, ludicrous single-mindedness and readiness for murder and destruction, might seem exaggerated - until we consider their all-too-recognisable descendants in the real world ever since. The key figure in the novel, however, is beyond politics. Nikolay Stavrogin, another product of rationalism run wild, exercises his charisma with ruthless authority and total amorality. His unhappiness is accounted for when he confesses to a ghastly sexual crime - in a chapter long suppressed by the censor.

This prophetic account of modern morals and politics, with its fifty-odd characters, amazing events and challenging ideas, is seen by some critics as Dostoevsky's masterpiece.

Biographie de l'auteur

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) is a Russian novelist. Of his eleven novels, his three most famous were written later in life: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. His books have been translated into over 170 languages, and have sold over 15 million copies.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Wordsworth Editions Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2010
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1840220996
• ISBN 13: 9781840220995
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 720
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible