Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov: "But how could you live and have no story to tell?"

He was introduced to literature very early. At age three, it was heroic sagas, fairy tales and legends. At four his mother used the Bible to teach him to read and write. His immersion in literature was wide and varied. His imagination, he later recalled, was brought to life by his parents' nightly readings.

On 27th September 1837 tragedy struck. Dostoyevsky's mother died of tuberculosis.

Dostoyevsky and his brother were now enrolled at the Nik...