Product Description

Set in mid 19th-century Russia, DEMONS examines the effect of a charismatic but unscrupulous self-styled revolutionary leader on a group of credulous followers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51759 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-25
• Original language: Russian
• Binding: Hardcover
• 784 pages

Review
" 'Volokhonsky's and Pevear's translation brings to the surface all of Dostoevsky's subtle linguistic and nationalist humour, and the copious notes are indispensable for making one's way through the thicket of 19th-century Russian politics' - Kirkus Reviews. 'An outstanding achievement' John Bayley. 'As close to Dostoevsky's Russian as is possible in English' - Chicago Tribune"

About the Author
Born in Moscow in 1821, Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoevsky is regarded as one of the greatest writers who ever lived. Literary modernism and various schools of psychology and theology have been deeply changed by his ideas. He died in 1881 in St Petersburg, Russia. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky were awarded the PEN Book-of-the-Month Club Translation for their version of The Brothers Karamazov. They are married and live in France.

Customer Reviews

A Mesmerising Experience
This is the fourth long novel by Dostoevsky that I have read, and for my money by far the best. It concerns the rise of nihilism in the Russian soul in the 1820s and is partially based on a factual murder. Far from being a dull subject the plot is fabulously exciting, and Dostoevsky weaves into it a multilayered examination of how powerful ideas can ensnare peoples will. As ever in Dosteoevsky heavy Christian themes pervade the novel- how can a man do good deeds in a world filled with evil? His narrative artistry - allowing the characters to drive the novel with their dialogue, so that complex ideas gradually flower in the readers mind - works beautifully in this flawless translation. It took me about 6 weeks to read this book and I really felt like it lived with me and grew inside me over that time - not just a read, but a genuine experience. Take a deep breath, and let Dostoevsky into your life!

Get the best translation
Demons is intensely depressing and intensely bloody, though its dialogue-driven plotline also contains some of Dostoevsky's cleverest and funniest scenes. The novel (based on a true story) portrays Nihilist terrorists with harrowing realism, and as a result is as relevant as ever today.

This often-forgotten classic is commonly translated as "The Possessed" or the "The Devils". "Demons" makes more sense, and this is just one of the strengths of the magnificent Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. The notes and introduction are excellent, and Pevear and Volokhonsky's attention to detail renders the novel in idiosyncratic, flowing, fantastically readable prose that really shows you the best of Dostoevsky.

This will chew you up and spit you out
This is Dostoyevsky at his bipolar best - the most hysterically funny and shockingly tragic book ever written, with a twitching, leaping cast of characters all hellishly lit by the brilliant halloween lantern Stavrogin. There is no more original or powerful characterization than this in literature - he appears as a kind of blank slate or ghost who can only be read by reference to the contradictory ways he has influenced, almost 'created' the other amazing characters in the book, as if they were acting out his potential while he remains untouched and spiritually dead. This is the great existentialist figure, eclipsing everything before and since. Not that I'd recommend this book to anyone, if you are worth anything it will haunt you and your dreams forever.