Fyodor Dostoevsky

First published in Russian in 1866, "The Gambler", by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is a gripping narrative of the dangers of gambling. As was common with Dostoyevsky's other writings, he draws upon his own life in a semi-autobiographical way. Dostoyevksy himself suffered from a compulsion to gambling and had to complete "The Gambler" under a strict deadline to pay off his own debts. These first-hand experiences bring a depth of realism to the novel and to...

"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....

Notes from the Underground is Fyodor Dostoevsky's ninth novel, and considered to be one of the first examples of the existential novel. In this radically inventive work, an alienated former minor administrator in nineteenth-century Russia has broken away from society and withdrawn into an underground identity. With its piercing insight into political, social, and moral issues, this classic is one of the most provocative work of literature ever written. In...

A man must endure relentless physical and mental punishments as retribution for his act of murder.