100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Thanks for supporting our 100% NZ-owned independent bookstore ❀️ Overnight NZ-wide Delivery πŸš€

The Idiot

By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
0.0 (0 reviews)
4.21 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 210,524 ratings, 11,411 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a profound exploration of the collision between innocence and societal corruption. It follows Prince Myshkin, a noble and kind-hearted protagonist, as he returns to Russia from a Swiss sanatorium. Throughout his interactions with aristocratic society, his inherent goodness and sincerity lead to both admiration and misunderstanding, revealing the complexities and often harsh realities of human nature.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2000
Elsewhere:
$2300
Buy to Win
Purchase this title for your chance to win a Penguin Classics Prize Pack!
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy exploring the complexities of human nature and the clash between innocence and a corrupt society. Set against 19th-century Russian society, it presents a profound psychological portrait of its characters, full of compassion and tragedy, offering a deep dive into the struggle between good and evil. If you appreciate a contemplative narrative that delves into philosophical and existential themes, this masterpiece might captivate you.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Returning to St Petersburg from a Swiss sanatorium, the gentle and naive epileptic Prince Myshkin - pays a visit to his distant relative General Yepanchin and proceeds to charm the General, his wife, and his three daughters. But his life is thrown into turmoil when he chances on a photograph of the beautiful Nastasya Filippovna.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! 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 β€” the idiot β€” arrives in St Petersburg and finds himself drawn into a web of violent and passionate relationships that leads to blackmail, betrayal, and eventually murder.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot is highly praised for its deep exploration of human suffering and beauty, often described as compelling and remarkable. Critics regard it as a masterpiece on par with Dostoyevsky's other significant works, celebrating its rich and vibrant language, particularly in recent translations. The narrative is noted for its powerful and captivating storytelling.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780140447927

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 May 2004

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by David McDuff
  • Cover design or artwork by Ron Arad
  • Translated by David McDuff

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 35.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 534g

Pages: 784

Collections

2025 Best Sellers Best Sellers at Book Hero Best Selling Books Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Fiction Fyodor Dostoyevsky General Fiction In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books Literary Fiction New Release Fiction New Zealand's Best Selling Books Penguin Books Penguin Classics

About the Author

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.

Also by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

View all
  • Buy to Win
    The Brothers Karamazov
    When brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, the lives of his sons are changed irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, whose mental tortures drive him to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family's rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother Smerdyakov....
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Paperback
    $2300
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    Demons
    A major new translation of one of Dostoyevsky's four great novels. Demons presents Pyotr and Stavrogin as the leaders of a Russian revolutionary cell, with an ambitious aim to overthrow the Tsar, dismantle society, and seize power for themselves. Together, they train terrorists who are willing to go to any lengths to achieve their objectivesβ€” even if the mission means...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    White Nights
    46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946 My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man's life?
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Paperback
    $1200
    Elsewhere:
    $1299
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    White Nights
    Introducing Little Clothbound Classics – irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Regarded as one of world literature's foremost novelists, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short stories are also some of the best ever written. White Nights tells of love and loss on the streets of St. Petersburg. A Nasty...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Hardback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    Crime and Punishment
    The acclaimed new translation of Dostoyevsky's masterpiece for Penguin Classics. 'Will I really - I mean, really - actually take an axe, start bashing her on the head, smash her skull to pieces? . . . Will I really slip in sticky, warm blood, force the lock, steal, tremble, hide, all soaked in blood . . . axe in hand?...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Fyodor Dostoevsky
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    Backorder
    Ships mid September
  • Buy to Win
    The House of the Dead
    The four years that Dostoevsky spent in a Siberian prison camp were nasty, brutish and long, the most agonising of his life. Its documentary detailβ€”the convicts and their fascinating stories, the wooden plank bed that they sleep on, the cabbage soup swimming with cockroaches that they eatβ€”is made all the more vivid by the controlled, oddly impersonal tone of the...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    The Idiot
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot is an immaculate portrait of innocence tainted by the brutal reality of human greed. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Russian by David McDuff, with an introduction by William Mills Todd III. Returning to St Petersburg from a Swiss sanatorium, the gentle and naΓ―ve epileptic Prince Myshkinβ€”the titular 'idiot'β€”pays a visit to his distant...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Hardback
    $6099
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    The Gambler and Other Stories
    A new selection of seven of Dostoyevsky's best short stories, translated by Ronald Meyer. The Gambler and Other Stories is Fyodor Dostoyevsky's collection of one novella and six short stories reflecting his own life. Indeed, The Gambler, a story of a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian General, was written under a strict deadline so he...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Paperback
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    Crime and Punishment
    Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a masterful psychological drama set against the gritty backdrop of 19th-century St. Petersburg. The story follows Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished and disillusioned ex-student, who roams the streets, tortured by thoughts of greatness and contempt for societal norms. Consumed by monetary woes and driven by a deluded sense of justice, he plans and executes...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    Backorder
    Ships mid September
  • Notes from Underground: Popular Penguins
    The seminal work Notes from Underground: Popular Penguins by Fyodor Dostoyevsky delves deeply into the human psyche. This profound narrative introduces us to an anonymous narrator, a retired civil servant, deeply alienated from society. Feeling perpetually at odds with the world around him, he retreats to his "underground" existence, shunning social norms and despising the banalities of everyday life. The...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Paperback
    $1300
    Elsewhere:
    $1599
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Buy to Win
    Crime and Punishment
    Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a profound exploration of guilt, redemption, and the human psyche. Set in the grimy streets of St Petersburg, the novel centres on Rodion Raskolnikov, a struggling and impoverished former student whose growing desperation leads him to commit a heinous act. Raskolnikov's journey is a labyrinth of moral dilemmas and harrowing decisions, where he...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Hardback
    $4100
    Elsewhere:
    $4800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Buy to Win
    The Brothers Karamazov
    A deep, complex examination of the crucial philosophical questions of human existence, from one of the world's most renowned novelists, now in the beautifully designed Penguin Clothbound series. The Brothers Karamazov states, "The mystery of human existence lies not in staying alive, but in finding something to live for." The murder of brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov changes the lives of...
    By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Hardback
    $5000
    Elsewhere:
    $5500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE β€” Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE β€” Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE β€” Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS β€” Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale β€” Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    By Caro Claire Burke
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Voracious
    From USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation comes the gripping, steamy dark romance series that everyone is talking about!'Filled with TENSION, HEARTBREAK and ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY. This one will tear your heart right out of your chest before tossing it back in and sewing you up' No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver'Leigh Rivers is THE QUEEN OF...
    By Leigh Rivers
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Mistake
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all