Devils

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.

1100029090
Devils

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.

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Overview

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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781840220995
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions, Limited
Publication date: 01/28/2010
Series: Wordsworth Classics
Pages: 720
Product dimensions: 4.90(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

About The Author
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–81) is considered one of the greatest writers of all time. His works include such seminal novels as Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Karamazov Brothers.

Table of Contents

The DevilsTranslator's Introduction

Part One
1. By way of an Introduction: a few details from the biography of the greatly esteemed Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky
2. Prince Harry. A Marriage Proposal
3. Another Man's Sins
4. The Cripple
5. The Wise Serpent

Part Two
1. Night
2. Night (continued)
3. The Duel
4. All Agog
5. Before the Fête
6. Peter Verkhovensky is Busy
7. At Virginsky's
8. Ivan the Crown-Prince
9. Stepan Verkhovensky is Raided
10. Filibusters. A Fatal Morning

Part Three
1. The Fête. Part One
2. The End of the Fête
3. The End of a Love Affair
4. The Last Decision
5. The Globe Trotter
6. A Very Busy Night
7. Stepan Verkhovensky's Last Pilgrimage
8. Conclusion

Appendix: Stavrogin's Confession

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