Staff Pick
This is one of the finest explorations of criminal psychology ever written. With enormous scope, Dostoyevsky dissects poverty, rationalization, the criminal mind, guilt, confession, religion, and redemption. He also provides an exquisite look at overwhelming paranoia. Crime and Punishment is a perfect, breathtaking masterpiece. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Here was the house of the living dead, a life like none other upon earth
In January 1850 Dostoyevsky was sent to a remote Siberian prison camp for his part in a political conspiracy. The four years he spent there, startlingly re-created in The House of the Dead, were the most agonizing of his life. In this fictionalized account he recounts his soul-destroying incarceration through the cool, detached tones of his narrator, Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov: the daily battle for survival, the wooden plank beds, the cabbage soup swimming with cockroaches, his strange family of boastful, ugly, cruel convicts. Yet The House of the Dead is far more than a work of documentary realism: it is also a powerful novel of redemption, describing one mans spiritual and moral death and the miracle of his gradual reawakening.
This edition includes notes and an introduction discussing the circumstances of Dostoyevskys imprisonment, the origins of the novel in his prison writings, and the character of Aleksandr Petrovich.
Review
“
A truly great translation . . . Sometimes new translations of old favourites are surplus to our requirements. . . . Sometimes, though, a new translation really makes us see a favourite masterpiece afresh. And
this English version of Crime and Punishment really is better. . . .
Crime and Punishment, as well as being an horrific story and a compelling drama, is also extremely funny. Ready brings out this quality well. . . . That knife-edge between sentimentality and farce has been so skilfully and delicately captured here. . . . Readys version is colloquial, compellingly modern and—in so far as my amateurish knowledge of the language goes—much closer to the Russian. . . . The central scene in the book . . . is
a masterpiece of translation.” —
A. N. Wilson, The Spectator
“This vivid, stylish and rich rendition by Oliver Ready compels the attention of the reader in a way that none of the others Ive read comes close to matching. Using a clear and forceful mid-20th-century idiom, Ready gives us an entirely new kind of access to Dostoyevskys singular, self-reflexive and at times unnervingly comic text. This is the Russian writers story of moral revolt, guilt and possible regeneration turned into a new work of art. . . . [It] will give a jolt to the nervous system to anyone interested in the enigmatic Russian author.” —John Gray, New Statesman, “Books of the Year”
“At last we have a translation that brings out the wild humour and vitality of the original.” —Robert Chandler, PEN Atlas
“What a pleasure it is to see Oliver Readys new translation bring renewed power to one of the worlds greatest works of fiction. . . . Readys work is of substantial and superb quality. . . . [His] version portrays more viscerally and vividly the contradictory nature of Raskolnikovs consciousness. . . . Ready evokes the crux of Crime and Punishment with more power than the previous translators have . . . with an enviably raw economy of prose.” —The Curator
“Oliver Readys dynamic translation certainly succeeds in implicating new readers to Dostoyevskys old novel.” —The Times Literary Supplement
“Readys new translation of Crime and Punishment is thoughtful and elegant [and] shows us once again why this novel is one of the most intriguing psychological studies ever written. His translation also manages to revive the disturbing humor of the original. . . . In some places, Readys version echoes Pevear and Volokhonskys prize-winning Nineties version, but he often renders Dostoyevskys text more lucidly while retaining its deliberately uncomfortable feel. . . . Readys colloquial, economical use of language gives the text a new power.” —Russia Beyond the Headlines
“[A] five-star hit, which will make you see the original with new eyes.” —A. N. Wilson, The Times Literary Supplement, “Books of the Year”
Synopsis
A truly great translation. . .This English version . . . really is better. A. N. Wilson, The Spectator
This acclaimed new translation of Dostoyevsky s psychological record of a crime gives his dark masterpiece of murder and pursuit a renewed vitality, expressing its jagged, staccato urgency and fevered atmosphere as never before. Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders alone through the slums of St. Petersburg, deliriously imagining himself above society s laws. But when he commits a random murder, only suffering ensues. Embarking on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
Synopsis
"A truly great translation . . . This English version . . .
really is better." --A. N. Wilson,
The Spectator. Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read
This acclaimed new translation of Dostoyevsky's "psychological record of a crime" gives his dark masterpiece of murder and pursuit a renewed vitality, expressing its jagged, staccato urgency and fevered atmosphere as never before. Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders alone through the slums of St. Petersburg, deliriously imagining himself above society's laws. But when he commits a random murder, only suffering ensues. Embarking on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
This novel was Dostoyevsky's last and finest work, telling the story of the four Karamazov brothers—each with his own distinct personality and desires. Driven by intense, uncontrollable emotions of rage and revenge, they all become involved in the brutal murder of their despicable father. Exploring the secret depths of humanity's struggles and sins, Dostoyevsky unfolds a grand epic which attempts to venture into mankind's darkest heart, and grasp the true meaning of existence.
Synopsis
Inspired by an image of Christ's suffering, Fyodor Dostoyevsky set out to portray "a truly beautiful soul" colliding with the brutal reality of contemporary society. Returning to St. Petersburg from a Swiss sanatorium, the gentle and naive Prince Myshkinknown as "the idiot"pays a visit to his distant relative General Yepanchin and proceeds to charm the General and his circle. But after becoming infatuated with the beautiful Nastasya Filippovna, Myshkin finds himself caught up in a love triangle and drawn into a web of blackmail, betrayal, and, ultimately, murder. This new translation by David McDuff is sensitive to the shifting registers of the original Russian, capturing the nervous, elliptic flow of the narrative for a new generation of readers.
Synopsis
‘It is best to do nothing! The best thing is conscious inertia! So long live the underground!’ Alienated from society and paralysed by a sense of his own insignificance, the anonymous narrator of Dostoyevsky’s groundbreaking
Notes from Underground tells the story of his tortured life. With bitter sarcasm, he describes his refusal to become a worker in the ‘ant-hill’ of society and his gradual withdrawal to an existence ‘underground’. The seemingly ordinary world of St Petersburg takes on a nightmarish quality in
The Double when a government clerk encounters a man who exactly resembles him – his double perhaps, or possibly the darker side of his own personality. Like
Notes from Underground, this is a masterly study of human consciousness. Jessie Coulson’s introduction discusses the stories’ critical reception and the themes they share with Dostoyevksy’s great novels.
Synopsis
Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption.
This vivid translation by David McDuff has been acclaimed as the most accessible version of Dostoyevskys great novel, rendering its dialogue with a unique force and naturalism. This edition also includes a new chronology of Dostoyevskys life and work.
Synopsis
A new selection of seven of Dostoyevsky's best stories. "The Gambler," about a young tutor in the employ of a Russian general, was written under a strict deadline so Dostoyevsky could pay off his roulette debts. Also included here are "Bobok," the tale of a frustrated writer visiting a cemetery and enjoying the gossip of the dead; "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," the story of one man's plan to commit suicide and the troubling dream that follows; as well as "White Nights," "A Christmas Party and a Wedding," "A Nasty Story," and "The Meek One."
Synopsis
A gripping new translation of Dostoyevskys masterpiecein a striking Graphic Deluxe Edition This acclaimed new translation of Dostoyevskys psychological record of a crime” gives his dark masterpiece of murder and pursuit a renewed vitality, expressing its jagged, staccato urgency and fevered atmosphere as never before. Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders alone through the slums of St. Petersburg, deliriously imagining himself above societys laws. But when he commits a random murder, only suffering ensues. Embarking on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption.
Synopsis
A superb new translation of Dostoyevsky?s chilling and prophetic novel of revolutionary fanaticismPyotr and Stavrogin are the leaders of a Russian revolutionary cell. Their aim is to overthrow the Tsar, destroy society, and seize power for themselves. Together they train terrorists who are willing to lay down their lives to accomplish their goals. But when the group is threatened with exposure, will their recruits be willing to kill one of their own to cover their tracks? Savage and powerful yet lively and often comic, Demons was inspired by a real-life political murder and is a scathing and eerily prescient indictment of those who use violence to serve their beliefs.
Synopsis
Gripping new translations of two harrowing psychological novels by the Russian master The two novels of inner turmoil brought together here mark a turning point for Dostoyevsky, and are among his most personally revealing. The anonymous narrator of Notes from Underground (1864) tells of his refusal to become a worker in the "ant-hill" of society and of his gradual withdrawal to an underground existence. A classic study of human breakdown, The Double (1846) tells of a man haunted by his double-or is it just the fearful side of his own nature? Both are universal testaments of human despair, made vibrant in masterly new translations.
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.
Ronald Wilks studied Russian language and literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later Russian literature at London University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1972. He has also translated ‘The Little Demon’ by Sologub and, for Penguin Classics, My Childhood, My Apprenticeship and My Universities by Gorky, The Golovlyov Family by Saltykov-Shchedrin and four volumes of stories by Chekhov: The Kiss and Other Stories, The Duel and Other Stories, The Party and Other Stories and The Fiancée and Other Stories.
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