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Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic tale of one man's pure innocence in the face of a society obsessed with power, money, and manipulation

The most autobiographical novel by the author of Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov--and the namesake of Elif Batuman's debut novel, The Idiot

The Idiot is a thought-provoking and psychologically intense novel that delves into the complexities of human nature and societal norms. The story revolves around Prince Myshkin, a compassionate and innocent man who is deemed an "idiot" due to his naivety and unconventional... Read Full Overview

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's masterful translation of The Idiot is destined to stand with their versions of Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and Demons as the definitive Dostoevsky in English.

After his great... Read Full Overview

The Idiot (1868), written under the appalling personal circumstances Dostoevsky endured while travelling in Europe, not only reveals the author's acute artistic sense and penetrating psychological insight, but also affords his most powerful indictment of a Russia struggling to... Read Full Overview

"The Idiot" is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in the journal The Russian Messenger in 1868-9.The title is an ironic reference to the central character of the novel, Prince (Knyaz) Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin, a young... Read Full Overview

Translated by Constance Garnett, with an Introduction and Notes by Agnes Cardinal, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Kent. Prince Myshkin returns to Russia from an asylum in Switzerland. As he becomes embroiled in the frantic amatory and... Read Full Overview

"My intention is to portray a truly beautiful soul." --Dostoevsky Despite the harsh circumstances besetting his own life--abject poverty, incessant gambling, the death of his youngest child--Dostoevsky produced a second masterpiece, The Idiot, after completing Crime and Punishment... Read Full Overview

"one of the most excoriating, compelling and remarkable books ever written; and without question one of the greatest" -- A. C. Grayling (Philosopher, Author, Master of New College of the Humanities)

"The novels of Dostoevsky are seething whirlpools,... Read Full Overview