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The Idiot

By Fyodor Dostoevsky
Series: Oxford World's Classics
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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
Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot presents a compelling portrait of nineteenth-century Russian society through the character of Prince Myshkin, an ideal hero embodying innocence, truthfulness, and humility. The novel explores the clash between Myshkin's saintly moral idealism and the spiritual emptiness of a society unable to accept him, resulting in a powerful exploration of human nature and social decay.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3800

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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?

Recommended for readers interested in classic Russian literature, psychological realism, and profound examinations of society and morality.

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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

Into a compellingly real portrait of nineteenth-century Russian society, Dostoevsky introduces his ideal hero, the saintly Prince Myshkin. The tensions subsequently unleashed by the hero's innocence, truthfulness, and humility betray the inadequacy of his moral idealism and disclose the spiritual emptiness of a society that cannot accommodate him. Myshkin's mission ends in idiocy and darkness, but it is the world that is rotten, not he.

Written under appalling personal circumstances when Dostoevsky was travelling in Europe, The Idiot not only reveals the author's acute artistic sense and penetrating psychological insight, but also affords his most incisive indictment of Russia's struggling to emulate contemporary Europe and sinking under the weight of Western materialism.

This new translation by Alan Myers is meticulously faithful to the original and has a critical introduction by W. J. Leatherbarrow.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780199536399

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 June 2008

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Oxford University Press

Illustration: 1 map

Contributors:

  • Edited and translated by Alan Myers
  • Introduction by William Leatherbarrow

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 34.0mm

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 195.0mm

Weight: 474g

Pages: 688

Collections

Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Fiction Fyodor Dostoevsky General Fiction Literary Fiction Series: Oxford World's Classics

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