Poor People

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Overview

What is honour, my dear, when you have nothing to eat?" As both a masterpiece of Russian populist writing and a parody of the entire genre, Poor People is an early example of Dostoevsky's genius. Written as a series of letters, Poor People tells the tragic tale of a petty clerk and his impossible love for a young girl. Longing to help her and her family, he sells everything he can, but his kindness leads him only into more desperate poverty, and ultimately into debauchery. As a typical "man of the underground," he serves as the embodiment of the belief that happiness can only be achieved with riches. Theirs is a troubled, frustrated love that can only lead to sorrow. Poor People is Dostoevsky's first original work and offers, "tantalizing glimpses of the mature artist who would profoundly influence much of what was to follow him throughout the literary world." - Charlotte Hobson in the Introduction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780898752687
Publisher:	International Law and Taxation Publishers
Publication date:	03/12/2001
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.98(h) x 0.65(d)

About the Author

Few authors have been as personally familiar with desperation as Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), and none have been so adept at describing it. His harrowing experiences in Russian prisons, combined with a profound religious philosophy, formed the basis for his greatest books: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed, and The Brothers Karamazov. When Dostoevsky died in 1881, he left a legacy of masterful novels that immortalized him as a giant of Russian literature.