Staff Pick
In this stunning masterpiece, Dostoevsky weaves together a murder mystery, a psychological thriller, and a taut courtroom drama with religious ideas, observations about family dysfunction, and some blistering social commentary. Absolutely brilliant! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The text is accompanied by a detailed introduction, a pronunciation and explanation key for the novel"s main characters, and greatly revised and expanded explanatory annotations.
'Contexts' presents a wealth of background and source materials relating to The Brothers Karamazov, to Dostoevsky"s own experiences, to current events, and to observations on a changing society. Included are the correspondence of influential literary and social critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinksy and the author"s letters spanning three decades as well as a selection from Dostoevsky"s Diary of a Writerin which readers may trace the origins of this novel.
'Criticism' offers a wide range of scholarly commentary on The Brothers Karamazovfrom American, Russian, and European authors, eleven of them new to the Second Edition and two of them appearing in English for the first time. Contributors include Ralph Matlaw, Valentina Vetlovskaia, Seamas O"Driscoll, William Mills Todd, Vladimir Kantor, Edward Wasiolek, Nathan Rosen, Roger B. Anderson, Robin Feuer Miller, Horst-Jürgen Gerigk, Vladimir Golstein, Robert L. Belknap, Ulrich Schmid, and Gary Saul Morson.
A Chronology of Dostoevsky"s life and work and a Selected Bibliography are also included.
Synopsis
The Second Edition of the Norton Critical Edition of The Brothers Karamazovis based on a significantly revised translation by Susan McReynolds.
Synopsis
Constance Garnett's translation, the basic version in English of this Russian masterpiece, has been revised by the editor for accuracy and readability.
Synopsis
Dostoevsky's sources for the characters and situations of the novel are set forth in an extract from Lev Reynus's Dostoevsky and Staraya Russa and in selections from Dostoevsky's letters and diary, all translated by Professor Matlaw. Konstantin Mochulsky's essay provides a general discussion of the work. Important questions as to the craft of the novel, its characterization, Dostoevsky's symbolism, the Grand Inquisitor, and the theme of religious salvation are surveyed in critical pieces by Dmitry Tschizewskij, Robert L. Belknap, Edward Wasiolek, Harry Slochower, D. H. Lawrence, Albert Camus, Nathan Rosen, Leonid Grossman, Ya. E. Golosovker, R. P. Blackmur, and Ralph E. Matlaw. Several of these selections are also recently translated from the Russian. A Selected Bibliography is included.
About the Author
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and many other novels.Ralph E. Matlaw was Professor of Russian Literature at the University of Chicago. He was the author of "The Brothers Karamazov": Novelistic Technique and translated and edited Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and The Grand Inquisitor, Odoevsky's Russian Nights, and Grigoryev's Moral and Literary Wanderings. He also edited Tolstoy: A Collection of Critical Essays; Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, and Dobrolyubov: Selected Criticism; and the Norton Critical Editions of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and Anton Chekhov's Short Stories.