The Idiot (1868), written under the appalling personal circumstances Dostoevsky endured while travelling in Europe, not only reveals the author's acute artistic sense and penetrating psychological insight, but also affords his most powerful indictment of a Russia struggling to emulate contemporary Europe while sinking under the weight of Western materialism. It is the portrait of nineteenth-century Russian society in which a "positively good man" clashes with the emptiness of a society that cannot accommodate his moral idealism. Meticulously faithful to the original, this new translation includes explanatory notes and a critical introduction by W.J. Leatherbarrow.

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Review

"A fine new translation that retains the flavor and vigor of the original. The ghost of Dostoevsky must be laughing with pleasure: at least we have his linguistic humor, solecisms and all. In short, a fine new edition."--Clifford Hardie, Wilmington College

"Myers translation is much more readable than the Garnett one."--Sr. Anna M. Conklin, Spalding University

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian