Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"What I am writing now is a tendentious thing," Dostoyevsky wrote to a friend in connection with his first outline for The Devils. "I feel like saying everything as passionately as possible. (Let the nihilists and the Westerners scream that I am reactionary ) To hell with them. I shall say everything to the last word."
As Dostoyevsky predicted, The Devils, or The Possessed, was indeed denounced by radical critics as the work of a reactionary renegade. But radicals aside, it enjoyed great success both for its literary power and for its explicit and provocative politics; and for its story of Russian terrorists plotting violence and destruction, only to murder one of their own number.
"Stavrogin's Confession," the section omitted when the novel first appeared, is included as an appendix to this volume.
About the Author
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), one of nineteenth-century Russias greatest novelists, spent four years in a convict prison in Siberia, after which he was obliged to enlist in the army. In later years his penchant for gambling sent him deeply into debt. Most of his important works were written after 1864, including Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov, all available from Penguin Classics.
David Magarshack was known for his many translations from his native Russian, including works by Dostoyevsky.
David Magarshack was known for his many translations from his native Russian, including works by Dostoyevsky.
Table of Contents
The Devils Translator's Introduction
Part One
1. By way of an Introduction: a few details from the biography of the greatly esteemed Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky
2. Prince Harry. A Marriage Proposal
3. Another Man's Sins
4. The Cripple
5. The Wise Serpent
Part Two
1. Night
2. Night (continued)
3. The Duel
4. All Agog
5. Before the Fête
6. Peter Verkhovensky is Busy
7. At Virginsky's
8. Ivan the Crown-Prince
9. Stepan Verkhovensky is Raided
10. Filibusters. A Fatal Morning
Part Three
1. The Fête. Part One
2. The End of the Fête
3. The End of a Love Affair
4. The Last Decision
5. The Globe Trotter
6. A Very Busy Night
7. Stepan Verkhovensky's Last Pilgrimage
8. Conclusion
Appendix: Stavrogin's Confession