The life and work of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
Born in Moscow. Father, Mikhail Andreevich (1789-1839), was a doctor (head doctor) at the Moscow Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, and in 1828 received the title of hereditary nobleman. In 1831 he acquired the village of Darovoe, Kashira district, Tula province, and in 1833 the neighboring village of Chermoshnya. In raising his children, the father was an independent, educated, caring family man, but had a quick-tempered and suspicious character. After the death of his wife in 1837, he retired and settled in Darovo. According to documents, he died of apoplexy; according to the memories of relatives and oral traditions, was killed by his peasants. Mother, Maria Fedorovna (née Nechaeva; 1800-1837). There were six more children in the Dostoevsky family: Mikhail, Varvara (1822-1893), Andrei, Vera (1829-1896), Nikolai (1831-1883), Alexandra (1835-1889).
In 1833 Dostoevsky was sent to half board by N.I. Drashusov; he and his brother Mikhail went there “daily in the morning and returned by lunchtime.” From the autumn of 1834 to the spring of 1837, Dostoevsky attended the private boarding school of L. I. Chermak, where astronomer D. M. Perevoshchikov and paleologist A. M. Kubarev taught. Russian language teacher N.I. Bilevich played a certain role in spiritual development Dostoevsky. Memories of the boarding school served as material for many of the writer’s works.
Having had a hard time surviving the death of her mother, which coincided with the news of the death of A.S. Pushkin (which he perceived as a personal loss), Dostoevsky in May 1837 traveled with his brother Mikhail to St. Petersburg and entered the preparatory boarding school of K. F. Kostomarov. At the same time, he met I. N. Shidlovsky, whose religious and romantic mood captivated Dostoevsky. From January 1838, Dostoevsky studied at the Main Engineering School, where he described a typical day as follows: “... from early morning until evening, we in the classrooms barely have time to follow the lectures. ... We are sent to military training, we are given fencing and dancing lessons , singing...they are put on guard, and all the time passes in this way...". The difficult impression of the “hard labor years” of the training was partially brightened by friendly relations with V. Grigorovich, doctor A. E. Riesenkampf, duty officer A. I. Savelyev, and artist K. A. Trutovsky.
Even on the way to St. Petersburg, Dostoevsky mentally “composed a novel from Venetian life,” and in 1838 Riesenkampf told “about his own literary experiments". Around Dostoevsky in the school a literary circle. On February 16, 1841, at an evening given by his brother Mikhail on the occasion of his departure to Revel, Dostoevsky read excerpts from two of his dramatic works- “Mary Stuart” and “Boris Godunov”.
Dostoevsky informed his brother about his work on the drama “The Jew Yankel” in January 1844. The manuscripts of the dramas have not survived, but the literary hobbies of the aspiring writer emerge from their titles: Schiller, Pushkin, Gogol. After the death of his father, the relatives of the writer's mother took care of Dostoevsky's younger brothers and sisters, and Fyodor and Mikhail received a small inheritance. After graduating from college (end of 1843), he was enrolled as a field engineer-second lieutenant in the St. Petersburg engineering team, but already in the early summer of 1844, having decided to devote himself entirely to literature, he resigned and retired with the rank of lieutenant.
In January 1844, Dostoevsky completed the translation of Balzac's story "Eugene Grande", which he was especially keen on at that time. The translation became Dostoevsky's first published literary work. In 1844 he began and in May 1845, after numerous alterations, he completed the novel “Poor People.”
The novel "Poor People", whose connection with " Stationmaster“Pushkin and Gogol’s “Overcoat” were emphasized by Dostoevsky himself, which was an exceptional success. Based on the traditions of the physiological essay, Dostoevsky creates a realistic picture of the life of the “downtrodden” inhabitants of “St. Petersburg corners”, a gallery of social types from the street beggar to “his excellency”.
Dostoevsky spent the summer of 1845 (as well as the next) in Reval with his brother Mikhail. In the fall of 1845, upon returning to St. Petersburg, he often met with Belinsky. In October, the writer, together with Nekrasov and Grigorovich, compiled an anonymous program announcement for the almanac “Zuboskal” (03, 1845, No. 11), and in early December, at an evening with Belinsky, he read the chapters of “The Double” (03, 1846, No. 2), in which gives for the first time psychological analysis split consciousness, "dualism".
The story "Mr. Prokharchin" (1846) and the story "The Mistress" (1847), in which many of the motives, ideas and characters of Dostoevsky's works of the 1860-1870s were outlined, were not understood by modern criticism. Belinsky also radically changed his attitude towards Dostoevsky, condemning the “fantastic” element, “pretentiousness”, “manneredness” of these works. In other works of the young Dostoevsky - in the stories “Weak Heart”, “White Nights”, the cycle of sharp socio-psychological feuilletons “The Petersburg Chronicle” and the unfinished novel “Netochka Nezvanova” - the problems of the writer’s work are expanded, psychologism is intensified with a characteristic emphasis on the analysis of the most complex, elusive internal phenomena.
At the end of 1846, there was a cooling in the relations between Dostoevsky and Belinsky. Later, he had a conflict with the editors of Sovremennik: Dostoevsky’s suspicious, proud character played a big role here. The ridicule of the writer by recent friends (especially Turgenev, Nekrasov), the harsh tone of Belinsky’s critical reviews of his works were acutely felt by the writer. Around this time, according to the testimony of Dr. S.D. Yanovsky, Dostoevsky showed the first symptoms of epilepsy. The writer is burdened by exhausting work for "Notes of the Fatherland". Poverty forced him to take on any job literary work(in particular, he edited articles for the "Reference encyclopedic dictionary"A.V. Starchevsky).
In 1846, Dostoevsky became close to the Maykov family, regularly visited the literary and philosophical circle of the Beketov brothers, in which V. Maykov was the leader, and A.N. was the regular participants. Maikov and A.N. Pleshcheev are friends of Dostoevsky. From March-April 1847 Dostoevsky became a visitor to the “Fridays” of M.V. Butashevich-Petrashevsky. He also participates in the organization of a secret printing house for printing appeals to peasants and soldiers. Dostoevsky's arrest occurred on April 23, 1849; his archive was taken away during his arrest and probably destroyed in the III department. Dostoevsky spent 8 months in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress under investigation, during which he showed courage, hiding many facts and trying, if possible, to mitigate the guilt of his comrades. He was recognized by the investigation as “one of the most important” among the Petrashevites, guilty of “intent to overthrow existing domestic laws and public order". The initial verdict of the military judicial commission read: "... retired engineer-lieutenant Dostoevsky, for failure to report the dissemination of a criminal letter about religion and government by the writer Belinsky and the malicious writing of lieutenant Grigoriev, to be deprived of ranks, all rights of state and subjected to death penalty execution." On December 22, 1849, Dostoevsky, along with others, awaited the execution of the death sentence on the Semyonovsky parade ground. According to the resolution of Nicholas I, the execution was replaced by 4 years of hard labor with deprivation of "all rights of state" and subsequent surrender as a soldier.
On the night of December 24, Dostoevsky was sent from St. Petersburg in chains. On January 10, 1850 he arrived in Tobolsk, where in the caretaker’s apartment the writer met with the wives of the Decembrists - P.E. Annenkova, A.G. Muravyova and N.D. Fonvizina; they gave him the Gospel, which he kept all his life. From January 1850 to 1854, Dostoevsky, together with Durov, served hard labor as a “laborer” in the Omsk fortress. In January 1854, he was enlisted as a private in the 7th Line Battalion (Semipalatinsk) and was able to resume correspondence with his brother Mikhail and A. Maikov. In November 1855, Dostoevsky was promoted to non-commissioned officer, and after much trouble from prosecutor Wrangel and other Siberian and St. Petersburg acquaintances (including E.I. Totleben) to warrant officer; in the spring of 1857, the writer was returned to hereditary nobility and the right to publish, but police surveillance over him remained until 1875.
In 1857 Dostoevsky married the widowed M.D. Isaeva, who, in his words, was “a woman of the most sublime and enthusiastic soul... An idealist in the full sense of the word... she was both pure and naive, and she was just like a child.” The marriage was not happy: Isaeva agreed after much hesitation that tormented Dostoevsky. In Siberia, the writer began work on his memoirs about hard labor (the “Siberian” notebook, containing folklore, ethnographic and diary entries, served as a source for “Notes from House of the Dead"and many other books by Dostoevsky). In 1857, his brother published the story " Little hero", written by Dostoevsky in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Having created two "provincial" comic stories - "Uncle's Dream" and "The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants", Dostoevsky, through his brother Mikhail, entered into negotiations with M.N. Katkov, Nekrasov, A.A. Kraevsky, however. modern criticism did not appreciate and passed by almost completely in silence these first works of the “new” Dostoevsky.
On March 18, 1859, Dostoevsky, at the request, was dismissed “due to illness” with the rank of second lieutenant and received permission to live in Tver (with a ban on entry into the St. Petersburg and Moscow provinces). On July 2, 1859, he left Semipalatinsk with his wife and stepson. From 1859 - in Tver, where he renewed his previous literary acquaintances and made new ones. Later, the chief of gendarmes notified the Tver governor about permission for Dostoevsky to live in St. Petersburg, where he arrived in December 1859.
Dostoevsky's intensive activity combined editorial work on "other people's" manuscripts with the publication of his own articles, polemical notes, notes, and most importantly works of art. The novel “The Humiliated and Insulted” is a transitional work, a kind of return at a new stage of development to the motives of creativity of the 1840s, enriched by the experience of what was experienced and felt in the 1850s; it has very strong autobiographical motives. At the same time, the novel contained the features of the plots, style and characters of the works of the late Dostoevsky. "Notes from the House of the Dead" was a huge success.
In Siberia, according to Dostoevsky, his “convictions” changed “gradually and after a very, very long time.” The essence of these changes, Dostoevsky formulated in the most general form as “a return to the folk root, to the recognition of the Russian soul, to the recognition of the folk spirit.” In the magazines "Time" and "Epoch" the Dostoevsky brothers acted as ideologists of "pochvennichestvo" - a specific modification of the ideas of Slavophilism. “Pochvennichestvo” was rather an attempt to outline the contours of a “general idea”, to find a platform that would reconcile Westerners and Slavophiles, “civilization” and the people’s principle. Skeptical about the revolutionary ways of transforming Russia and Europe, Dostoevsky expressed these doubts in works of art, articles and announcements of Vremya, in sharp polemics with the publications of Sovremennik. The essence of Dostoevsky's objections is the possibility, after the reform, of a rapprochement between the government and the intelligentsia and the people, their peaceful cooperation. Dostoevsky continues this polemic in the story “Notes from the Underground” (“Epoch”, 1864) - a philosophical and artistic prelude to the writer’s “ideological” novels.
Dostoevsky wrote: “I am proud that for the first time I brought out the real man of the Russian majority and for the first time exposed his ugly and tragic side. Tragedy consists in the consciousness of ugliness. Only I brought out the tragedy of the underground, which consists in suffering, in self-punishment, in the consciousness of the best and in the inability to achieve him and, most importantly, in the vivid conviction of these unfortunates that everyone is like that, and therefore, there is no need to improve!”
In June 1862, Dostoevsky traveled abroad for the first time; visited Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, England. In August 1863 the writer went abroad for the second time. In Paris he met with A.P. Suslova, whose dramatic relationship (1861-1866) was reflected in the novel “The Player”, “The Idiot” and other works. In Baden-Baden, carried away by the gambling nature of his nature, playing roulette, he loses “all, completely to the ground”; This long-term hobby of Dostoevsky is one of the qualities of his passionate nature. In October 1863 he returned to Russia. Until mid-November he lived with his sick wife in Vladimir, and at the end of 1863-April 1864 in Moscow, traveling to St. Petersburg on business.
1864 brought heavy losses to Dostoevsky. On April 15, his wife died of consumption. The personality of Maria Dmitrievna, as well as the circumstances of their “unhappy” love, were reflected in many of Dostoevsky’s works (in particular, in the images of Katerina Ivanovna - “Crime and Punishment” and Nastasya Filippovna - “The Idiot”). On June 10, M.M. died. Dostoevsky. On September 26, Dostoevsky attends Grigoriev’s funeral. After the death of his brother, Dostoevsky took over the publication of the magazine “Epoch”, which was burdened with a large debt and lagged behind by 3 months; The magazine began to appear more regularly, but a sharp drop in subscriptions in 1865 forced the writer to stop publishing. He owed creditors about 15 thousand rubles, which he was able to pay only towards the end of his life. In an effort to provide working conditions, Dostoevsky entered into a contract with F.T. Stellovsky for the publication of collected works and undertook to write for him new novel by November 1, 1866.
In the spring of 1865 Dostoevsky - frequent guest family of General V.V. Korvin-Krukovsky, eldest daughter whom A.V. Korvin-Krukovskaya he was very passionate about. In July he went to Wiesbaden, from where in the fall of 1865 he offered Katkov a story for the Russian Messenger, which later developed into a novel. In the summer of 1866, Dostoevsky was in Moscow and at a dacha in the village of Lyublino, near the family of his sister Vera Mikhailovna, where he spent his nights writing the novel Crime and Punishment.
“The psychological report of one crime” became the plot outline of the novel, the main idea of which Dostoevsky outlined as follows: “Unsolvable questions arise before the murderer, unsuspected and unexpected feelings torment his heart. God’s truth, earthly law takes its toll, and he ends up forced I am forced to denounce myself, so that, although I may die in hard labor, I will join the people again..." The novel accurately and multifacetedly depicts Petersburg and “current reality,” a wealth of social characters, “a whole world of class and professional types,” but this is reality transformed and revealed by the artist, whose gaze penetrates to the very essence of things. Intense philosophical debates, prophetic dreams, confessions and nightmares, grotesque caricature scenes that naturally turn into tragic, symbolic meetings of heroes, an apocalyptic image of a ghostly city are organically linked in Dostoevsky’s novel. The novel, according to the author himself, was “extremely successful” and raised his “reputation as a writer.”
In 1866, an expiring contract with a publisher forced Dostoevsky to simultaneously work on two novels - Crime and Punishment and The Gambler. Dostoevsky resorts to in an unusual way works: October 4, 1866 stenographer A.G. comes to him. Snitkina; he began dictating to her the novel “The Player,” which reflected the writer’s impressions of meeting Western Europe. At the center of the novel is the clash of a “multi-developed, but unfinished in everything, distrustful and not daring not to believe, rebelling against authority and fearing them” “foreign Russian” with “complete” European types. Main character- “a poet in his own way, but the fact is that he himself is ashamed of this poetry, for he deeply feels its baseness, although the need for risk ennobles him in his own eyes.”
In the winter of 1867, Snitkina became Dostoevsky's wife. New marriage was more successful. From April 1867 to July 1871, Dostoevsky and his wife lived abroad (Berlin, Dresden, Baden-Baden, Geneva, Milan, Florence). There, on February 22, 1868, a daughter, Sophia, was born, whose sudden death (May of the same year) Dostoevsky took seriously. On September 14, 1869, daughter Lyubov was born; later in Russia July 16, 1871 - son Fedor; Aug 12 1875 - son Alexey, who died at the age of three from an epileptic fit.
In 1867-1868 Dostoevsky worked on the novel "The Idiot". “The idea of the novel,” the author pointed out, “is my old and favorite one, but it’s so difficult that I didn’t dare take on it for a long time. the main idea novel - portray positively wonderful person. There is nothing more difficult than this in the world, and especially now..."
Dostoevsky began the novel "Demons" by interrupting work on the widely conceived epics "Atheism" and "The Life of a Great Sinner" and hastily composing the "story" "The Eternal Husband." The immediate impetus for the creation of the novel was the “Nechaev case.” The activities of the secret society "People's Retribution", the murder by five members of the organization of a student of the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy I.I. Ivanov - these are the events that formed the basis of “Demons” and received a philosophical and psychological interpretation in the novel. The writer's attention was drawn to the circumstances of the murder, the ideological and organizational principles of the terrorists ("Catechism of a Revolutionary"), the figures of the accomplices in the crime, the personality of the head of the society S.G. Nechaeva. In the process of working on the novel, the concept was modified many times. Initially, it is a direct response to events. The scope of the pamphlet subsequently expanded significantly, not only Nechaevites, but also figures of the 1860s, liberals of the 1840s, T.N. Granovsky, Petrashevites, Belinsky, V.S. Pecherin, A.I. Herzen, even the Decembrists and P.Ya. The Chaadaevs find themselves in the grotesque-tragic space of the novel.
Gradually, the novel develops into a critical depiction of the common “disease” experienced by Russia and Europe, a clear symptom of which is the “demonism” of Nechaev and the Nechaevites. At the center of the novel, its philosophical and ideological focus is not the sinister “swindler” Pyotr Verkhovensky (Nechaev), but the mysterious and demonic figure of Nikolai Stavrogin, who “allowed everything.”
In July 1871, Dostoevsky with his wife and daughter returned to St. Petersburg. The writer and his family spent the summer of 1872 in Staraya Russa; this city became the family's permanent summer residence. In 1876 Dostoevsky purchased a house here.
In 1872, the writer visited the “Wednesdays” of Prince V.P. Meshchersky, a supporter of counter-reforms and publisher of the newspaper-magazine “Citizen”. At the request of the publisher, supported by A. Maikov and Tyutchev, Dostoevsky in December 1872 agreed to take over the editorship of "Citizen", stipulating in advance that he would assume these responsibilities temporarily. In "The Citizen" (1873), Dostoevsky realized the long-conceived idea of "A Writer's Diary" (a cycle of essays of a political, literary and memoir nature, united by the idea of direct, personal communication with the reader), published a number of articles and notes (including political reviews " Foreign events"). Dostoevsky soon began to be burdened by editorial work; his clashes with Meshchersky also became more and more violent; the impossibility of turning the weekly into “an organ of people with independent convictions” became more obvious. In the spring of 1874, the writer refused to be an editor, although he occasionally collaborated in “Citizen” and later, due to deteriorating health (increased emphysema), in June 1847 he left for treatment in Ems and repeated trips there in 1875, 1876 and 1879.
In the mid-1870s. Dostoevsky's relationship with Saltykov-Shchedrin, interrupted at the height of the controversy between "Epoch" and "Sovremennik", and with Nekrasov, was renewed, at whose suggestion (1874) the writer published his new novel "Teenager" - "a novel of education" in "Otechestvennye zapiski" a kind of "Fathers and Sons" by Dostoevsky.
The hero’s personality and worldview are formed in an environment of “general decay” and the collapse of the foundations of society, in the fight against the temptations of the age. The confession of a teenager analyzes the complex, contradictory, chaotic process of personality formation in an “ugly” world that has lost its “moral center,” the slow maturation of a new “idea” under the powerful influence of the “great thought” of the wanderer Versilov and the philosophy of life of the “good-looking” wanderer Makar Dolgoruky.
In con. 1875 Dostoevsky again returns to his journalistic work - the “mono-journal” “A Writer’s Diary” (1876 and 1877), which had great success and allowed the writer to enter into a direct dialogue with corresponding readers. The author defined the nature of the publication in this way: “A Writer’s Diary will be similar to a feuilleton, but with the difference that a month’s feuilleton naturally cannot be similar to a week’s feuilleton. I am not a chronicler: this, on the contrary, is a perfect diary in the full sense of the word, that is, a report on what interested me most personally." "Diary" 1876-1877 - a fusion of journalistic articles, essays, feuilletons, "anti-criticism", memoirs and fiction works. The Diary reflected Dostoevsky’s immediate impressions and opinions about the most important phenomena European and Russian socio-political and cultural life, which worried Dostoevsky about legal, social, ethical-pedagogical, aesthetic and political problems. Great place in the "Diary" the writer's attempts to see in the modern chaos the contours of a "new creation", the foundations of an "emerging" life, to predict the appearance of the "coming" future Russia honest people who want only one truth."
Criticism of bourgeois Europe and a deep analysis of the state of post-reform Russia are paradoxically combined in the Diary with polemics against various trends of social thought of the 1870s, from conservative utopias to populist and socialist ideas.
IN last years life, Dostoevsky's popularity increases. In 1877 he was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In May 1879, the writer was invited to the International Literary Congress in London, at the session of which he was elected a member of the honorary committee of the international literary association. Dostoevsky actively participates in the activities of the St. Petersburg Frebel Society. He often performs at literary and musical evenings and matinees, reading excerpts from his works and poems by Pushkin. In January 1877 Dostoevsky was impressed by " Latest songs"Nekrasova visits the dying poet, often sees him in November; on December 30, she makes a speech at Nekrasov's funeral.
Dostoevsky's activities required direct acquaintance with "living life." He visits (with the assistance of A.F. Koni) colonies for juvenile delinquents (1875) and the Orphanage (1876). In 1878, after the death of his beloved son Alyosha, he made a trip to Optina Pustyn, where he talked with Elder Ambrose. The writer is especially concerned about events in Russia. In March 1878, Dostoevsky was at the trial of Vera Zasulich in the St. Petersburg District Court, and in April he responded to a letter from students asking to speak out about the beating of student demonstration participants by shopkeepers; In February 1880, he was present at the execution of I. O. Mlodetsky, who shot M. T. Loris-Melikov. Intensive, varied contacts with surrounding reality, active journalistic and social activity served as multifaceted preparation for a new stage in the writer’s work. In the "Diary of a Writer" ideas and the plot of it matured and were tested. last novel. At the end of 1877, Dostoevsky announced the termination of the Diary in connection with his intention to engage in “one artistic work that took shape... during these two years of publication of the Diary, inconspicuously and involuntarily.”
"The Brothers Karamazov" is the final work of the writer, in which many of the ideas of his work received artistic embodiment. The history of the Karamazovs, as the author wrote, is not just a family chronicle, but a typified and generalized “image of our modern reality, our modern intelligentsia Russia.” The philosophy and psychology of “crime and punishment”, the dilemma of “socialism and Christianity”, the eternal struggle between “God” and “the devil” in the souls of people, the traditional theme of “fathers and sons” in classical Russian literature - these are the problems of the novel.
In "The Brothers Karamazov" the criminal offense is connected with the great world "questions" and eternal artistic and philosophical themes.
In January 1881, Dostoevsky speaks at a meeting of the council of the Slavic Charitable Society, works on the first issue of the renewed “Diary of a Writer,” learns the role of a schema-monk in “The Death of Ivan the Terrible” by A. K. Tolstoy for a home performance in S. A. Tolstoy’s salon, and makes a decision “ definitely take part in the Pushkin evening" on January 29. He was going to “publish “A Writer’s Diary” ... for two years, and then dreamed of writing the second part of “The Brothers Karamazov”, in which almost all the previous heroes would appear...” On the night of January 25-26, Dostoevsky’s throat began to bleed. On the afternoon of January 28, Dostoevsky said goodbye to the children at 8:38 a.m. evening he died.
On January 31, 1881, the writer’s funeral took place in front of a huge crowd of people. He is buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.
Years of life: from 10/30/1821 to 01/28/1881
One of the largest figures in Russian and world literature, author of many novels and stories, journalist, editor, philosopher.
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born on October 30 (November 11), 1821 in Moscow. He was the second child in the family.
In 1837, a number of important events for the writer’s fate took place: his mother, Maria Feodorovna, died in a duel, A.S. Pushkin, whose works F.M. Dostoevsky had read since childhood, in addition, it was in this year that Fyodor Mikhailovich entered the military -Engineering School in St. Petersburg.
Two years later, in 1839, Dostoevsky received news of the murder of his father, Mikhail Andreevich, by serfs.
Mine creative path Dostoevsky begins as a translator: in 1843, “Eugene Grande” by O. de Balzac, translated by him, was published. However, a year later in 1844, Dostoevsky wrote his first independent work, which immediately brought him great fame - “Poor People” (published in 1846).
In 1849, F.M. Dostoevsky was arrested for participating in M.V. Petrashevsky’s circle. After an 8-month judicial investigation, the writer was found guilty of “intention to overthrow... state order” and was initially sentenced to death, which in last moment was replaced by civil execution, deprivation of noble rights and four years of hard labor followed by surrender as a soldier.
Dostoevsky spent the next four years in hard labor in Omsk. In 1854, when the four years to which Dostoevsky was sentenced had expired, he was released from hard labor and sent as a private to the seventh linear Siberian battalion. He served in the fortress in Semipalatinsk and rose to the rank of ensign.
There he met Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva, who later became his first wife.
Secret surveillance of the writer did not stop until the mid-1870s, although permission to live in St. Petersburg was received back in 1859.
In 1864, Dostoevsky’s wife died, and in 1867 Dostoevsky married again - to Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, who became good genius writer: helped to overcome the passion for playing roulette, facilitated the creative process.
Dostoevsky spent the last years of his life in the city of Staraya Russa, Novgorod province. These eight years became the most fruitful in the writer’s life: the novels “Demons”, “Teenager”, “The Brothers Karamazov” were created.
In the winter of 1881, there was an exacerbation of the writer's illness - emphysema, which led to his death.
Information about the works:
First literary experience
In 1844, Dostoevsky began work on a short novel, Poor People. D.V. Grigorovich, with whom the aspiring writer shared an apartment at that time, delivered the novel to N.A. Nekrasov, and they read it together, without stopping, all night long. In the morning they came to Dostoevsky to express admiration. With words " New Gogol appeared!" Nekrasov handed over the manuscript to V.G. Belinsky, who told P.V. Annenkov: "The novel reveals such secrets of life and characters in Rus' that no one had ever dreamed of before."Hard labor
During a short stay in Tobolsk on the way to the place of hard labor (January 11-20, 1850), the writer met the wives of the exiled Decembrists: Zh.A. Muravyova, P.E. Annenkova and N.D. Fonvizina. The women gave him the Gospel, which the writer then kept all his life as a great value.Dostoevsky later described much of his experience of life in hard labor in his novel Notes from the House of the Dead. Many of the characters of the criminal heroes were introduced by the writer precisely from the impressions of these years.
It was during hard labor and in the first years after it that the Christian-philosophical concept of the writer was formed.
Roulette
The writer's addiction to roulette repeatedly put the writer in an extremely difficult financial situation.Chapters from the novel “Crime and Punishment” were written one after another and were immediately sent to the magazine set and immediately appeared in print.
“The Player” was written in just 21 days - if the terms of the contract concluded with the publisher F.T. Stellovsky were not fulfilled, the writer lost the rights to his publications for nine years. Only thanks to the stenographer Anna Grigorievna Snitkina, who later became the writer’s wife, Dostoevsky managed to fulfill the terms of the contract.
Bibliography
Novels
1844 -1861 -
1866 -
1866 -
1868 -
1871-1872 -
1875 -
1879-1880 -
Novels and stories
1846 -1846 -
1847 - A Novel in Nine Letters
1847 - Mistress
1848 - Sliders
1848 - Weak Heart
1848 - Netochka Nezvanova
1848 -
1859 - Uncle's dream
1859 -
1860 -
1860 -
1862 - Winter notes about summer impressions
1864 -
1864 - Bad joke
1865 - Crocodile
1869 - Eternal Husband
1876 - Meek
1877 -
Film adaptations of works, theatrical productions
* White Nights - film by Luchino Visconti (Italy, 1957)
* White Nights - film by Ivan Pyryev (USSR, 1959)
* Demons - film by Andrzej Wajda (France, 1988)
* Demons - film by Igor and Dmitry Talankin (Russia, 1992)
* Demons - film by Felix Schulthess (Russia, 2007)
* The Brothers Karamazov - film by Victor Turyansky (Russia, 1915)
* The Brothers Karamazov - film by Richard Brooks (USA, 1958)
* The Brothers Karamazov - film by Ivan Pyryev (USSR, 1969)
* Boys - a free fantasy film based on the novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky “The Brothers Karamazov” by Renita Grigorieva (USSR, 1990)
* The Brothers Karamazov - film by Yuri Moroz (Russia, 2008)
* The Brothers Karamazov - film by Petr Zelenka (Czech Republic - Poland, 2008)
* Eternal Husband - film by Evgeny Markovsky (Russia, 1990)
* Uncle's Dream - film by Konstantin Voinov (USSR, 1966)
* The Player - film-opera by Yuri Bogatyrenko (USSR, 1966)
* The Player - film by Alexei Batalov (USSR, 1972)
* The Idiot - film by Pyotr Chardynin (Russia, 1910)
* The Idiot - film by Georges Lampin (France, 1946)
* The Idiot - film by Akira Kurosawa (Japan, 1951)
* Idiot - film by Ivan Pyryev (USSR, 1958)
* The Idiot - TV series by Alan Bridges (UK, 1966)
* Crazy Love - film by Andrzej Zulawski (France, 1985)
* Idiot - television series by Mani Kaul (India, 1991)
* Down House - film interpretation by Roman Kachanov (Russia, 2001)
* Idiot - television series by Vladimir Bortko (Russia, 2003)
* Meek - film by Alexander Borisov (USSR, 1960)
* The Meek - film interpretation of Robert Bresson (France, 1969)
* Meek - drawn cartoon Petra Dumala (Poland, 1985)
* Partner - film by Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy, 1968)
* Teenager - film by Evgeny Tashkov (USSR, 1983)
* Crime and Punishment - film by Pierre Chenal (France, 1935)
* Crime and Punishment - film by Georges Lampin (France, 1956)
* Crime and Punishment - film by Lev Kulidzhanov (USSR, 1969)
* Crime and Punishment - film by Aki Kaurismaki (Finland, 1983)
* Crime and Punishment - television series by Dmitry Svetozarov (Russia, 2007)
* Dream funny man- cartoon by Alexander Petrov (Russia, 1992)
* The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants - television film by Lev Tsutsulkovsky (USSR, 1989)
* Bad joke - comedy film by Alexander Alov and Vladimir Naumov (USSR, 1966)
* Humiliated and Insulted - TV film by Vittorio Cottafavi (Italy, 1958)
* Humiliated and Insulted - television series by Raul Araiza (Mexico, 1977)
* Humiliated and Insulted - film by Andrei Eshpai (USSR - Switzerland, 1990)
* Someone else's wife and husband under the bed - film by Vitaly Melnikov (USSR, 1984)
Many novels and stories by F.M. Dostoevsky were staged on the stages of the world's leading theaters. The first of many was V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who directed a two-day performance based on The Brothers Karamazov.
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Fyodor Dostoevsky was born on November 11, 1821 in the family of a nobleman doctor. His mother, the daughter of a merchant, was an unusually kind and religious woman, and his father was her complete opposite, a suspicious, gloomy and nervous person. Therefore, Dostoevsky, if he remembered his parents, then only about his mother - always with love and gratitude.
Already at the age of 18, Dostoevsky was characterized by deep philosophical thoughts: he believed that in a person there is hidden big secret, and it may take a lifetime to unravel. Thus, Fyodor Mikhailovich seemed to have foreseen his calling: the writer really tried to unravel the greatest secret of the human soul in all his works.
Father arranged for Dostoevsky to work in one of the most prestigious educational institutions Petersburg at that time - Military Engineering School. Upon completion of his studies, Fedor was assigned as an employee in the drawing room of the Engineering Department, but he soon resigned, as he saw himself only in literature. And he was not mistaken: critics responded favorably to his first work, “Poor People.” At that time, young Dostoevsky was only 23 years old.
In 1849, fate played a cruel joke on Fyodor Mikhailovich - he was arrested “for freethinking.” Dostoevsky, sentenced to death, receives a pardon at the last moment (Prince Myshkin from The Idiot will later talk about this in his famous monologue). Instead of death, the writer was given life... in hard labor, from which Dostoevsky was able to free himself only after five years.
You can find a lot of information on the Internet regarding the personal life of Fyodor Dostoevsky, but such materials most likely belong in the tabloid press, and not in the biography of the writer. Therefore, if we really focus on the writer’s personal life, then it’s worth talking about Anna Snitkina - true love the brilliant Dostoevsky. Being a stenographer, this young girl (she was only 20, and he was 45 years old) wrote down the novel “The Player” in 21 days. Anna became a source of inspiration for the writer, a guardian angel and, at the same time, a personal manager and accountant.
The writer died on January 26, 1881, and they say that on that day his face was calm and bright. Beloved Anna Grigorievna, who became a real gift for Dostoevsky during his lifetime, remained faithful to him after his death. In addition, until the end of her days, she was actively involved in organizing the literary legacy of Fyodor Mikhailovich, published a collection of his works, and collected letters and diaries. Anna lived her life in full accordance with her promise “I am ready to spend the rest of my life on my knees before him”...
Fyodor Dostoevsky, bibliography
All books by Fyodor Dostoevsky:
Novels
1846
"Poor People"
1861
"Humiliated and Insulted"
1866
1866
"Player"
1869
"Idiot"
1872
"Demons"
1875
"Teenager"
1880
Novels and stories
1846
"Double"
1846
“How dangerous it is to indulge in ambitious dreams”
1846
"Mr. Prokharchin"
1847
"A Novel in Nine Letters"
1847
"Mistress"
1848
"Crawlers"
1848
"Weak heart"
1848
"Honest Thief"
1848
"Christmas tree and wedding"
1848
"Netochka Nezvanova"
1848
"White Nights"
1849
"Little Hero"
1859
"Uncle's Dream"
1859
"The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants"
1860
"Someone else's wife and husband under the bed"
1860
"Notes from the House of the Dead"
1862
"Bad joke"
1864
"Notes from the Underground"
1865
"Crocodile"
1870
"Eternal Husband"
1873
"Bobok"
1876
"Meek"
1876
"The Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree"
1877
"The Dream of a Funny Man"
Journalism, criticism, essays
1847
"Petersburg Chronicle"
1861
“Stories by N.V. Uspensky"
1862
“Winter notes about summer impressions”
1880
"Sentence"
1880
"Pushkin"
Although snow, rain and everything that doesn’t even have a name, when the blizzard and gloom broke out under the St. Petersburg November sky, suddenly attacked Mr. Golyadkin, already killed by misfortunes, without giving him the slightest mercy and rest, piercing him to the bones, blinding his eyes, blowing from all sides, leading him astray and with the last impulse, although all this at once overturned on Mr. Golyadkin, as if deliberately communicating and agreeing with all his enemies to give him a day, an evening and a night of glory - despite all this , Mr. Golyadkin remained almost insensitive to this latest evidence of the persecution of fate: he was so deeply shocked and amazed by everything that happened to him a few minutes ago at Mr. State Councilor Berendeyev’s! If now some outsider, uninterested observer were to look so-so, from the side, at the melancholy run of Mr. Golyadkin, then he, too, would be immediately imbued with everything terrible horror his misfortunes and would certainly say that Mr. Golyadkin now looks as if he wants to hide from himself somewhere, as if he wants to run away from himself somewhere. Yes! it really was like that. Let’s say more: Mr. Golyadkin now not only wanted to run away from himself, but even to be completely destroyed, not to exist, to turn into dust. At the present moment he did not pay attention to anything around him, did not understand anything that was happening around him, and looked as if for him neither the troubles of a stormy night nor the long journey , no rain, no snow, no wind, no all the bad weather. The galosh, which had fallen behind the boot on Mr. Golyadkin’s right foot, immediately remained in the mud and snow on the sidewalk of the Fontanka, and Mr. Golyadkin did not even think of going back for it and did not notice that it was missing. He was so puzzled that several times, suddenly, in spite of everything around him, completely imbued with the idea of his recent terrible fall, he stopped motionless, like a pillar, in the middle of the sidewalk; at that moment he died, disappeared; then he suddenly took off like mad and ran, ran without looking back, as if fleeing from someone’s pursuit, from some even more terrible disaster... Indeed, the situation was terrible!.. Finally, exhausted, Mr. Golyadkin stopped, leaned on the railing of the embankment in the position of a man whose nose suddenly, quite unexpectedly began to bleed, and began to gaze intently at the muddy, black water of the Fontanka. It is unknown exactly how much time he spent in this activity. It is only known that at that moment Mr. Golyadkin reached such despair, he was so tormented, he was so exhausted, he was so exhausted and sank with already weak remnants of spirit that he forgot about everything: about the Izmailovsky Bridge, and about Shestilavochnaya Street, and about your present... Well, really? after all, he didn’t care: the job was done, over, the decision was sealed and signed; what should he do?.. Suddenly... suddenly his whole body shuddered and involuntarily jumped back two steps to the side. With inexplicable anxiety he began to look around; but there was no one, nothing special happened - and yet... meanwhile it seemed to him that someone now, this very minute, was standing here, next to him, next to him, also leaning on the railing of the embankment, and - a wonderful thing! - he even said something to him, said something quickly, abruptly, not entirely intelligibly, but about something very close to him, relevant to him. “Well, I imagined it, or what? - said Mr. Golyadkin, looking around again. “Where am I standing?.. Eh, eh!” - he concluded, shaking his head, and meanwhile, with a restless, melancholy feeling, even with fear, he began to peer into the muddy, wet distance, straining his vision with all his might and trying with all his might to pierce with his myopic gaze the wet middle that spread out before him. However, there was nothing new, nothing special caught Mr. Golyadkin’s eye. It seemed that everything was in order, as it should be, that is, the snow was falling even harder, larger and thicker; at a distance of twenty steps nothing was visible; the lanterns creaked even more piercingly than before, and the wind seemed to draw out its melancholy song even more lamentably, even more pitifully, like a persistent beggar begging for a copper penny for his food. “Eh, eh! What’s wrong with me?” - Mr. Golyadkin repeated again, setting off on the road again and still looking around slightly. Meanwhile, some new sensation echoed throughout Mr. Golyadkin’s entire being: melancholy, not melancholy, fear, not fear... a feverish trembling ran through his veins. The minute was unbearably unpleasant! “Well, nothing,” he said to cheer himself up, “well, nothing; Maybe this doesn’t spoil anyone’s honor at all. Maybe it was just what was needed,” he continued, not understanding what he was saying, “maybe all this will work out for the better in due time, and there will be nothing to claim, and it will justify everyone.” Thus speaking and relieving himself with words, Mr. Golyadkin shook himself off a little, shook off the snow flakes that had fallen like thick bark on his hat, on his collar, on his overcoat, on his tie, on his boots and everything - but of a strange feeling, of his strange dark melancholy I still couldn’t push it away from myself, throw it off myself. Somewhere in the distance a cannon shot was heard. “What a weather,” our hero thought, “wow!” will there be a flood? Apparently the water has risen too much.” Mr. Golyadkin had just said or thought this when he saw a passer-by ahead of him walking towards him, also, probably, like him, belated for some reason. The matter would seem to be empty, accidental; but, no one knows why, Mr. Golyadkin became embarrassed and even chickened out, a little lost. It’s not that he was afraid of an unkind person, but maybe... “And who knows, this belated one,” flashed through Mr. Golyadkin’s head, “maybe he’s the same, maybe he’s the same one here.” the main thing is, and it’s not for nothing that it comes, but it goes with a purpose, it crosses my path and hurts me.” Perhaps, however, Mr. Golyadkin did not think exactly this, but just instantly felt something similar and very unpleasant. However, there was no time to think or feel: the passerby was already two steps away. Mr. Golyadkin immediately, as was his usual habit, hastened to assume a completely special appearance - an appearance that clearly expressed that he, Golyadkin, was on his own, that he was nothing, that the road was quite wide for everyone, and that he, Golyadkin, was no one himself. touches. Suddenly he stopped rooted to the spot, as if struck by lightning, and then quickly turned back, following the passerby, who had just passed him - he turned around with such an appearance, as if something had jerked him from behind, as if the wind had turned his weather vane. The passer-by quickly disappeared in a snowstorm. He, too, walked hastily, just like Mr. Golyadkin, he was dressed and bundled up from head to toe, and, just like him, he walked and trotted along the sidewalk of the Fontanka with frequent, small steps, a little shaky. “What, what is this?” - Mr. Golyadkin whispered, smiling incredulously, but his whole body trembled. A chill ran down his back. Meanwhile, the passerby disappeared completely, his steps could no longer be heard, and Mr. Golyadkin still stood and looked after him. However, he finally, little by little, came to his senses. “What is this,” he thought with annoyance, “am I really crazy?” - he turned around and went his way, speeding up his steps and taking more and more frequent steps, and trying better not to think about anything at all. I even finally closed my eyes for this purpose. Suddenly, through the howling wind and the noise of bad weather. The sound of someone's very close steps again reached his ears. He shuddered and opened his eyes. In front of him again, about twenty paces from him, was a black man quickly approaching him. This little man was in a hurry, he was in a hurry, he was in a hurry; the distance quickly decreased. Mr. Golyadkin could even completely see his new belated comrade - he saw it and cried out in amazement and horror; his legs gave way. It was the same pedestrian he knew, whom he had let pass by about ten minutes ago and who suddenly, quite unexpectedly, now appeared in front of him again. But it was not just this miracle that struck Mr. Golyadkin, but Mr. Golyadkin was so amazed that he stopped, screamed, wanted to say something, and started to catch up with the stranger, even shouted something to him, probably wanting to stop him as quickly as possible. The stranger actually stopped, ten steps from Mr. Golyadkin, and so that the light near the standing lantern fell completely on his entire figure - he stopped, turned to Mr. Golyadkin and with an impatiently worried look waited for what he would say. “Sorry, I may have been mistaken,” our hero said in a trembling voice. The stranger turned silently and with annoyance and quickly went his way, as if he was in a hurry to make up for the lost two seconds with Mr. Golyadkin. As for Mr. Golyadkin, all his veins trembled, his knees buckled and weakened, and he sat down on the sidewalk table with a groan. However, there really was something to be so embarrassed about. The fact is that this stranger now seemed somehow familiar to him. That would still be nothing. He saw him often, this man, he had seen him once, even quite recently; where would it be? wasn't it yesterday? However, again the main point was not that Mr. Golyadkin saw him often; and there was almost nothing special about this man; at first glance this man did not excite anyone’s special attention. So, the man was, like everyone else, decent, of course, like all decent people, and, perhaps, he had some and even quite significant merits - in a word: he was a man in himself. Mr. Golyadkin did not even harbor hatred, enmity, or even the slightest hostility towards this man, even on the contrary, it would seem - and yet (and in this very circumstance there was main strength), and yet for all the treasures of the world I would not want to meet him and especially to meet him as now, for example. Let's say more: Mr. Golyadkin knew this man completely; he even knew his name, the man’s surname; and yet, for nothing, and again not for any treasures in the world, I would not want to name him, agree to admit that, they say, his name is so-and-so, that he is so-and-so by his father’s name, and so-and-so by his last name. How long or how long did Mr. Golyadkin’s misunderstanding last, how long exactly did he sit on the sidewalk pole? I can’t say, but only, finally coming to his senses a little, he suddenly started running without looking back, that there was no strength in him; his spirit was busy; he stumbled twice, almost fell - and under this circumstance, Mr. Golyadkin’s other boot, also abandoned by its galosh, was orphaned. Finally, Mr. Golyadkin slowed down his pace a little to catch his breath, hurriedly looked around and saw that he had already run, without noticing it, his entire way along the Fontanka, crossed the Anichkov Bridge, passed part of Nevsky and was now standing at the turn to Liteinaya. Mr. Golyadkin turned into Liteinaya. His position at that moment was like the position of a man standing over a terrible rapids, when the ground beneath him breaks off, has already swayed, has already moved, last time sways, falls, drags him into the abyss, and yet the unfortunate man has neither the strength nor the fortitude to jump back, to take his eyes off the yawning abyss; the abyss pulls him, and he finally jumps into it himself, hastening the moment of his own death. Mr. Golyadkin knew, felt and was absolutely sure that something bad would certainly happen to him on the way, that some other trouble would break out over him, that, for example, he would meet his stranger again; but - a strange thing, he even wanted this meeting, considered it inevitable and asked only that all this would end as soon as possible, that his situation would be resolved at least somehow, but only sooner. Meanwhile, he kept running and running, as if moved by some extraneous force, for in his whole being he felt some kind of weakening and numbness; he could not think about anything, although his ideas clung to everything like thorns. Some lost dog, all wet and shivering, tagged along with Mr. Golyadkin and also ran sideways beside him, hurriedly, with its tail and ears between its legs, looking at him timidly and intelligently from time to time. Some distant, long-forgotten idea - a memory of some long-ago circumstance - now came into his head, knocked like a hammer in his head, annoyed him, did not get rid of him. “Oh, that nasty little dog!” - Mr. Golyadkin whispered, not understanding himself. Finally, he saw his stranger at the turn into Italian Street. Only now the stranger was no longer walking towards him, but in the same direction as he, also running, a few steps ahead. Finally, we entered Shestilavochnaya. Mr. Golyadkin took his breath away. The stranger stopped right in front of the house in which Mr. Golyadkin lived. The ringing of a bell was heard and almost at the same time the creaking of an iron bolt. The gate opened, the stranger bent down, flashed and disappeared. Almost at the same moment Mr. Golyadkin arrived and, like an arrow, flew under the gate. Without listening to the grumbling janitor, out of breath, he ran into the yard and immediately saw his interesting companion, lost for a moment. The stranger flashed at the entrance to the staircase that led to Mr. Golyadkin’s apartment. Mr. Golyadkin rushed after him. The stairs were dark, damp and dirty. At all the corners there was piled up an abyss of all sorts of residential rubbish, so that a stranger, an unexperienced person, having found himself on this staircase in the dark, was forced to travel along it for half an hour, risking breaking his legs and cursing, along with the stairs, his acquaintances who had settled inconveniently like that . But Mr. Golyadkin’s companion was like a friend, like someone at home; ran up easily, without difficulty and with perfect knowledge of the area. Mr. Golyadkin was almost completely catching up with him; even two or three times the hem of the stranger's overcoat hit him on the nose. His heart sank. Mysterious man stopped right in front of the door of Mr. Golyadkin’s apartment, knocked, and (which, however, would have surprised Mr. Golyadkin at another time) Petrushka, as if he had been waiting and had not gone to bed, immediately opened the door and followed the man who had entered with a candle in his hands. The hero of our story ran into his home beside himself; Without taking off his overcoat and hat, he walked down the corridor and, as if struck by thunder, stopped at the threshold of his room. All of Mr. Golyadkin’s premonitions came true completely. Everything that he feared and foresaw has now happened in reality. His breath caught and his head began to spin. The stranger was sitting in front of him, also in an overcoat and hat, on his own bed, smiling slightly, and, squinting a little, nodded his head in a friendly manner. Mr. Golyadkin wanted to scream, but couldn’t; to protest in some way, but he didn’t have the strength. The hair stood on end on his head, and he sat down unconscious in horror. Yes, and there was a reason, however. Mr. Golyadkin completely recognized his friend from the night. His night friend was none other than himself - Mr. Golyadkin himself, another Mr. Golyadkin, but exactly the same as himself - in a word, as they say, his double in all respects...
Today the world celebrates the birthday of one of greatest writers in the history of mankind. On November 11 (October 30, old style), 1821, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born. His “great pentateuch” - “Crime and Punishment”, “The Brothers Karamazov”, “The Idiot”, “The Teenager” and “Demons” - is well known to every educated person.
It is interesting that on the same day, only a century later (1922), the outstanding American classic Kurt Vonnegut was born, who believed that “everything you need to know about life” can be found in The Brothers Karamazov. However literary heritage Fyodor Mikhailovich, of course, is by no means limited to the “Pentateuch”. Less famous works an outstanding researcher of human quirks are an integral part of his work, and in them the reader can learn a lot of new and unexpected things not only about the author and the world around him, but also - as it should be when reading such literature - about himself. The RG website decided to recall several important works from Dostoevsky’s bibliography, which modern readers often unfairly ignore (we also suggest leaving the monumental collection “A Writer’s Diary” outside the brackets - it requires a separate discussion).
1. "Poor People", novel, 1846
Dostoevsky wrote only eight novels, five of which constitute the “Great Pentateuch.” But the remaining three definitely fall into the category of necessary reading. The first work in this genre by Dostoevsky, who was then just becoming an independent author, was written in epistolary form. Dostoevsky is credited with the phrase “we all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat.” Be that as it may, the influence of Nikolai Vasilyevich on Fyodor Mikhailovich - especially the early one - is obvious. And a famous figure" little man"became main theme in Dostoevsky's first major work. This book, which evokes unprecedented melancholy in the reader, provoked a real stir in 1846 and immediately attracted attention to the young author among writers and publicists. Critics even then noted the “psychological” orientation of Dostoevsky (contrasting it with the “sociality” of Gogol, which, however, is not always fair). But this was just the beginning!
2. "Humiliated and Insulted", novel, 1861
Dostoevsky wrote his next novel only 15 years later, having already returned from exile. Here the features of the writer’s work that later became known are clearly visible. The terrible anguish that this novel evokes is consonant with the feelings that arise when reading “The Idiot” - and this is each time a very difficult (and useful) psychological and emotional experience. In “The Humiliated and Insulted” there is no such degree of permanent hysteria that Dostoevsky masterfully maintains in “The Idiot,” but the terrible morbidity characteristic of the relationships between the characters in the books of the great psychologist permeates the entire work.
3. "The Gambler", novel, 1866
The third major work not included by critics in the “Pentateuch” is “The Player”. However, it cannot be said that this novel lacks attention from readers. Still, the topic of excitement has always been close and interesting to the Russian public. The history of the creation of the work is anecdotal - “The Gambler” was written by a completely lost Dostoevsky in order to cover his debts. And although it was difficult for the author to hide from the reader that the book was written in a hurry and to fulfill an urgent contract, the description of the psychology of a gambler by the gambler himself, who has the literary gift and insight of Dostoevsky, is a real treasure.
4. "Double", story, 1846
The early story of the young Dostoevsky was able to arouse approval from Turgenev and Belinsky themselves, and this, of course, at that time was the best pass to the literary environment. Here, Fyodor Mikhailovich’s orientation towards early years on the work of Gogol. Light surrealism, which Dostoevsky did not resort to very often, reveals the dark depths of the fears and ambitions of petty bureaucrats. The grotesque atmosphere and the corresponding ending - it is no coincidence that the story made an impression on the literary elite of his time.
5. "Netochka Nezvanova", story, 1848
One of the strangest and unusual works Dostoevsky was planned as a novel. The result is a story, but despite its unfinished nature, it still makes a colossal impression. With a frankness unprecedented even for Fyodor Mikhailovich, the mechanisms and nature of the “aberrations of consciousness” of the characters are revealed, and the intensity with which they inflict moral injuries on each other cannot but frighten.
6. "White Nights", story, 1848
Another heartbreaking story by the master, distinguished by a sentimentality that is generally uncharacteristic of Fyodor Mikhailovich. Poetic image the dreamer, who by the end of the book discovers stoicism unexpected for such a character, evokes sympathy akin to the disinterested compassion that he himself experiences. The atmosphere of the quiet white nights of imperial St. Petersburg, during which the drama unfolds, has such a bewitching effect that it was filmed short story In the 20th century, several filmmakers took it up. A wonderful film by the outstanding director Luchino Visconti (who, however, moved the scenery to his native Italy) is the best recognition of the story.
7. "Notes from the House of the Dead", story, 1860
The story "Notes from the House of the Dead", which has the features of an autobiography, is an interesting document that describes the life and morals of criminals who Russian Empire exiled to Siberia. The types that the reader learns about from the book were brought by Dostoevsky from exile. Told with the writer’s characteristic love for detail and his insight, the sketches truly cannot be overestimated.
8. "Notes from the Underground", story, 1864
"Notes from the Underground" is one of Dostoevsky's works that you should get acquainted with immediately after reading the "Great Pentateuch." It is not for nothing that this story is called a “prologue” to it and is considered a harbinger of existentialism. The problem of the “underground” into which the reflective St. Petersburg official drives himself remains relevant and understandable to many of our contemporaries. Reflection and inaction as a result of existential despair provoke decadence, and here the danger of a habit of cruelty and full-fledged moral ugliness arises - and, worst of all, the character himself, of course, understands all this perfectly well. The real “Dostoevschina” begins here. Two years later, Crime and Punishment appeared.
9. “Someone else’s wife and husband under the bed,” story, 1860
It is interesting that while writing such a difficult book as “Notes from the House of the Dead,” Fyodor Mikhailovich turned to his early humorous sketches, which resulted in the very funny story “Someone else’s Wife and Husband Under the Bed.” The name itself is typical of vaudeville shows of that time. And vaudeville can be found, frankly speaking, rarely in Dostoevsky’s works. And how can you miss this? The story was not ignored by Soviet filmmakers, who in 1984 filmed its film adaptation with Oleg Tabakov in the title role.
10. "Crocodile", story, 1865
And finally, one cannot help but recall such an unusual story for Dostoevsky as “The Crocodile”. It is not known whether the gloomy surrealist Franz Kafka, who was born two years after the death of the Russian writer, read it, but it is simply impossible not to remember him when reading this story. Just like Gogol’s “Nose,” in imitation of which “Crocodile” was obviously written. And the action of the work is as bizarre as it is simple: an official, swallowed whole by a crocodile and inexplicably left alive, absurdly talks about the career prospects opening up to him thanks to this incident. Here Fyodor Mikhailovich with particular causticity attacks his political opponents from the liberal camp - there is much more malice and bile here than even in his other story of the same direction, “A Bad Anecdote.”