Fyodor Dostoevsky
1) The Double
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Advised by his doctor to become more sociable, Golyadkin, a low-level bureaucrat, arrives uninvited at a birthday party his office manager is having for his daughter. After a number of socially awkward and increasingly uncomfortable moments, Golyadkin is asked to leave and flees the party. While making his way home through a snowstorm, an extraordinary thing happens: Golyadkin meets his double.
At first the two are friendly, but it quickly becomes...
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The Possessed is a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, first published in the journal The Russian Messenger in 1871—2. It is considered one of the four masterworks written by Dostoyevsky after his return from Siberian exile, along with Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Demons is a social and political satire, a psychological drama, and large scale tragedy. Joyce Carol Oates has described it as "Dostoyevsky's...
3) Demons
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One of Dostoyevsky's most famous novels, this 1872 work utilizes five main characters and their philosophical ideas to describe the political chaos of Imperial Russia in the nineteenth century. Based on an actual event involving the murder of a revolutionary by his comrades, this novel depicts a band of ruthless radicals attempting to incite revolt in their small, rural community. At the center of "Demons" lies Dostoyevsky's desire to protest the...
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After a brief military career, the illustrious Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky quickly turned to writing as a profession with the publication of his first novel, "Poor Folk," in 1846. This novel sparked a literary career that would eventually cement Dostoyevsky's reputation as one of the greatest novelists of the nineteenth century. Early participation in a literary/political group landed the writer in exile in Siberia for nearly a decade, an experience...
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Fyodor Dostoyevsky "An Honest Thief" is an 1848 short story that famously tells the tale of Emelyan Ilyitch, the tragic drunk. It begins with our narrator conversing with Astafy Ivanovich, an aged soldier and temporary lodger. An unfortunate coat theft leaves Astafy dismayed one day, and a conversation is struck up between the two, who seem to share the same dislike for thieves in general. One night, however, Astafy recounts to the narrator a story...
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The story "Uncle's Dream" was written by Dostoyevsky after a five-year exile in Siberia and covers the tale of a provincial family desperate to better itself through a marriage of their daughter to a senile prince. The old man is hoodwinked and almost forced into a wedding that is expected to last for a short period before he dies and leaves his fortune to the young girl. There are complications however with the young girl Zina already in love with...
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"A Gentle Creature" is an 1876 short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Inspired by a real story of a seamstress who committed suicide in 1876, it chronicles the relationship between a girl and a pawnbroker whose shop she visits frequently. When a 16-year-old girl frequently pawns her belongings so that she can advertise as a governess in the newspaper, her dire financial situation is made apparent to the shop owner and narrator, who resolves to give her...
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"The Adolescent" is Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1875 novel which tells the story of the life of a 19-year-old intellectual, Arkady Dolgoruky, and his conflict with his father. Arkady is the illegitimate child of the controversial and womanizing landowner Versilov and was raised by one of Versilov's serf, the pious Makar Dolgoruky. The novel's primary tension arises between Arkady and Versilov, when Arkady becomes an adult and joins Versilov's family in St....
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This volume contains Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1877 short story "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man". It begins with a man walking St. Petersburg's streets while musing upon how ridiculous his life is, as well as its distinct lack of meaning or purpose. This train of thought leads him to the idea of suicide, which he resolves to commit using a previously-acquired gun. However, a chance encounter with a distressed little girl in the street derails his drastic...
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It must have happened on Christmas Eve in some great town in a time of terrible frost. I have a vision of a boy, a little boy, six years old or even younger. This boy woke up that morning in a cold damp cellar. He was dressed in a sort of little dressing-gown and was shivering with cold. There was a cloud of white steam from his breath, and sitting on a box in the corner, he blew the steam out of his mouth and amused himself in his dullness watching...
12) El jugador
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Español
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No hay nada de glamour en las salas de juego de la inquietante ciudad-balneario de Ruletenburgo, ni elegantes caballeros de modales refinados, ni vaporosas damas de belleza sin igual. Ni siquiera el brillo del oro apilado. Sólo hay chusma continental: haraganes y golfillas, representantes de la sinvergonzonería europea de alta alcurnia de la época. El ansia por conseguir dinero fácil se disfraza de noble desdén... hasta que la turbación generada...
13) A Little Hero
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A Little Hero is a novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky that tells the story of a young boy's journey to find his place in the world. The story is full of complex characters and intricate plot lines, and it is written in a dense, intriguing style. It is considered to be one of Dostoyevsky's most underrated works, and it is not widely read or studied today.
14) The Crocodile
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After teasing the crocodile, Ivan Matveich is swallowed alive. He finds the inside of the crocodile to be quite comfortable, and the animal's owner refuses to allow it to be cut open, in spite of the pleas from Elena Ivanovna. Ivan Matveich urges the narrator to arrange for the crocodile to be purchased and cut open, but the owner asks so much for it that nothing is done.
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Notes from Underground, The Double and Other Stories, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
• New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
• Biographies...
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The story follows a young man's journey to find himself. It is written in nine letters, which the protagonist sends to his loved ones. The letters chronicle his experiences and inner thoughts as he travels across Europe. Dostoyevsky's writing is complex and rich, and the novella is a beautifully written exploration of self-discovery.
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When the protagonist Ivan Ilyich Pralinsky drinks a little bit too much with his colleagues one day, he expresses his desire for a philosophy founded upon the value of kindness and charity to those who are worse off than oneself. After he leaves, Ivan encounters a wedding celebration, which turns to be that of one of his underlings at work, and his new philosophy is put to the test when he gatecrashes the festivities. Also translated as "A Nasty Story",...
18) Polzunkov
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The story follows the life of a man named Polzunkov, who is living in poverty and is constantly persecuted by those around him. The novel is said to be based on Dostoevsky's own experiences living in poverty, and it is considered to be one of his most autobiographical works.
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An Unpleasant Predicament is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky that tells the story of a man who is forced to make a difficult decision. The man is in a difficult situation because he is being blackmailed, and he must choose between two unpleasant options. He eventually decides to commit suicide rather than face the consequences of his decision.
20) A Raw Youth
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The novel follows the life of Arkady Dolgoruky, a young intellectual, a child of the controversial and womanizing landowner Versilov. A focus of the novel is the recurring conflict between father and son, particularly in ideology, which represents the battles between the conventional old way of thinking and the new nihilistic point of view of the youth.