The Possessed The Devils

‘The Possessed’ is considered to be one of the four masterpieces written by Dostoevsky after he returned from his Siberian exile. The story takes place in a small Russian town that is thrown into chaos by the arrival of a mystery man, Pyotr Stepanovich. Paranoia grips the town as family and friends betray one another while Pyotr plans a violent political uprising. The novel builds to a brutal and bloody climax, as the town is engulfed by flames and the death toll rises. ‘The Possessed’ displays Dostoevsky’s mastery of tragedy and social satire as the established political and familial norms of the town are uprooted and destroyed by the young revolutionaries. Dostoevsky explores the loss of morality in 19th Century Russia, as a society without a moral grounding tragically turns to nihilism and violence, but its ideas are just as resonant in today’s secular world. Celebrated author Joyce Carol Oates described ‘The Possessed’ as a work of ‘unparalleled genius’ and its epic scope and blend of political intrigue and familial tragedy make it the perfect read for fans of classic Russian or Greek literature. Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was a famous Russian writer of novels, short stories, and essays. A connoisseur of the troubled human psyche and the relationships between the individuals, Dostoevsky’s oeuvre covers a large area of subjects: politics, religion, social issues, philosophy, and the uncharted realms of the psychological. He is most famous for the novels ‘Crime and Punishment’, ‘The Idiot’, and ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. James Joyce described Dostoevsky as the creator of ‘modern prose’ and his literary legacy is influential to this day as Dostoevsky’s work has been adapted for many movies including ‘The Double’ starring Jesse Eisenberg.

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.

Demons is an anti-nihilistic novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is the third of the four great novels written by Dostoyevsky after his return from Siberian exile, the others being Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. Demons is a social and political satire, a psychological drama, and large scale tragedy.

The most openly political of Dostoevsky's four major novels, The Devils has left literary scholars intrigued with its difficult narrative structure which veers back and forth between first and third person, and fascinated by the political overtones and social commentary it includes. For these reasons, The Devils often anchors courses on Dostoevsky's works. This critical companion contains essays that shed light on both the tricky literary structure of the novel as well as its social and political components.

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.

Inspired by the true story of a political murder that horried Russians in 1869, Fyodor 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. What emerged was a prophetic and ferociously funny masterpiece of ideology and murder in pre-revolutionary Russia.

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.

This carefully crafted ebook: "Demons (The Possessed / The Devils) - The Unabridged Garnett Translation" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Demons is an 1872 novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Though titled The Possessed in the initial English translation, Dostoyevsky scholars and later translations favour the titles The Devils or Demons. 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 liberal idealists, portraying their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences. The entire novel takes place in a small town outside of Petersberg and is narrated by a man named Mr. Govorov. Mr. Govorov does not witness every conversation first hand, but nonetheless the narrator describes the story as if he partook in every situation or as a chronicler, who had the events described to him. We know very little of Mr. Govorov, except that he is a close friend of Stephan Trofimovich. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky ( 1821 – 1881) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the context of the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmosphere of 19th-century Russia. Many literary critics rate him as one of the greatest and most prominent psychologists in world literature.