The Idiot

Description

A new translation of Dostoyevsky's great novel of suffering and sickness Inspired by an image of Christ's suffering, Dostoyevsky set out to create a protagonist with "a truly beautiful soul" and to trace the fate of such an individual as he comes into contact with the brutal reality of contemporary society. The novel begins when the innocent epileptic Prince Myshkin - the 'idiot' - arrives in St Petersburg and finds himself drawn into a web of violent and passionate relationships that leads to blackmail, betrayal and eventually murder.

Moscow-born Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) served time in a convict prison for his political alliances, and in his later years his passion for gambling led him deeply into debt. His novels include The Devils and The Brothers Karamazov. David McDuff has translated widely from the Russian, including for Penguin Classics, Crime and Punishment and Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata. Introducer William Mills Todd III is Professor of Slavic Languages at Harvard.

"A book that manages like no other to plunge fearlessly into suffering while at the same time illuminating the enduring, almost unspeakable beauty of the human." -Laurie Sheck, The Atlantic "One of the most excoriating, compelling, and remarkable books ever written: and without question one of the greatest." -A. C. Grayling "A masterpiece . . . a fact of world literature just as important as the densely dramatic Brothers Karamazov or the brilliantly subtle and terrifying Devils. . . . [an] excellent new translation." -The Guardian "McDuff's language is rich and alive." -The New York Times Book Review "[The Idiot's] narrative is so compelling." -Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury