The Possessed The Devils Annotated

The Possessed also translated as The Devils or Demons, is an 1872 novel Fyodor Dostoevsky. For an explanation of the marked difference in the English-language title, please...

Devils, also known in English as The Possessed and The Demons, was first published in 1871-2. The third of Dostoevsky's five major novels, it is at once a powerful political tract and a profound study of atheism, depicting the disarray which follows the appearance of a band of modish radicals in a small provincial town. Dostoevsky compares infectious radicalism to the devils that drove the Gadarene swine over the precipice in his vision of a society possessed by demonic creatures that produce devastating delusions of rationality. Dostoevsky is at his most imaginatively humorous in Devils: the novel is full of buffoonery and grotesque comedy. The plot is loosely based on the details of a notorious case of political murder, but Dostoevsky weaves suicide, rape, and a multiplicity of scandals into a compelling story of political evil. This new translation also includes the chapter `Stavrogin's Confession', which was initially considered to be too shocking to print. In this edition it appears where the author originally intended it.

Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky , an Russian novelist and short story writer. He was born on 11th Nov 1821 and was died on 9th Feb 1881. His famous works includes: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov.

Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky is regarded by scholars and critics as one of the most important writers of the nineteenth century. His deeply philosophical novels present a nuanced look at some of the psychological struggles that men and women face. This novel, set against the backdrop of the initial rumblings of revolution in Imperial Russia, delves into the motivations that inspire extreme political ideologies. The Possessed, also translated as The Devils or Demons, is an 1872 novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. As the revolutionary democrats begin to rise in Russia, different ideologies begin to collide. Dostoevsky casts a critical eye on both the left-wing idealists, exposing their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences.

"The Possessed" (also known in English as "The Devils" and "The Demons") is the greatest novel ever written about the politics of revolution. It is a social and political satire, a psychological drama, and large scale tragedy. Published in 1871, Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel foretold with uncanny prescience events that would occur almost fifty years later during the Bolshevik Revolution and the Communist tyranny that followed. Inspired by the true story of a political murder that horrified Russians in 1869, Dostoevsky conceived of "Demons" as a "novel-pamphlet" in which he would say everything about the plague of materialist ideology that he saw infecting his native land. The novel's relevance, however, is not limited to Russia and its revolution. With its cast of idealistic murderers and suicides, seductive madmen and glamorous fanatics, "The Possessed" is a novel for our time as well.

The Possessed is an anti-nihilistic novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. An extremely political book, Demons is a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century. As the revolutionary democrats begin to rise in Russia, different ideologies begin to collide. Dostoyevsky casts a critical eye on both the radical idealists, portraying their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences. Dostoyevsky's novels focus on the idea that utopias and positivist ideas, in being utilitarian, were unrealistic and unobtainable.

In The Devils Dostoyevsky created a chilling and prophetic story of revolutionaries and nihilists plotting the overthrow of the Russian government and the downfall of the Russian church. It focuses on the complex and tormented character of Stavrogin, a desperate man whose loss of faith makes him dangerous. Believing he is beyond guilt and remorse, he commits terrible crimes, infects others with ideas he does not believe in and accepts love he does not deserve. Yet Stavrogin is only one of a small band of rebels whose hunger for a more democratic, Western system threatens the fabric of Russian society, and The Devils is a brilliant psychological analysis of a group of people possessed by a destructive passion for revolution.

Pyotr 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. The Possessed, also known in English as Devils ('Besy') and The Demons is the third of Dostoevsky's five major novels.