The Idiot

Into a compellingly real portrait of nineteenth-century Russian society, Dostoevsky introduces his ideal hero, the saintly Prince Myshkin. The tensions subsequently unleashed by the hero's innocence, truthfulness, and humility betray the inadequacy of his moral idealism and disclose the spiritual emptiness of a society that cannot accommodate him. Myshkin's mission ends in idiocy and darkness, but it is the world that is rotten, not he. Written under appalling personal circumstances when Dostoevsky was travelling in Europe, The Idiot not only reveals the author's acute artistic sense and penetrating psychological insight, but also affords his most incisive indictment of Russia's struggling to emulate contemporary Europe and sinking under the weight of Western materialism. This new translation by Alan Myers is meticulously faithful to the original and has a critical introduction by W. J. Leatherbarrow. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Product details

• Authors: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky Fyodor
• Assisted by: Leatherbarrow William (Introduction), Myers Alan (Editor and translation)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Trade
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 04.06.2008
• EAN: 9780199536399
• ISBN: 978-0-19-953639-9
• Dimensions: 130 mm x 195 mm x 30 mm
• Series: Oxford World's Classics; World's classics
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Russische SchriftstellerInnen: Werke (div.), FICTION / Classics, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 19th Century, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Classic fiction: general and literary, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form