Everything Dostoevsky

A blog for fans of the wonderful works of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. Although Dostoyevsky began writing books in the mid-1850s, his best remembered work was done in his last years, including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. He wrote eleven novels, three novellas, seventeen short novels and three essays and is often acknowledged by critics as one of the greatest and most prominent psychologists in world literature.
Fyodor Dostoevsky was born and raised within the grounds of the Mariinsky hospital. At an early age he was introduced to English, French, German and Russian literature, as well as to fairytales and legends. His mother's sudden death was devastating for Dostoevsky, and he had to leave private school for a military school. After his graduation he worked as an engineer and briefly enjoyed a primarily liberal lifestyle. He soon began translating books to make up for money problems. Around the mid-1840s he wrote his first novel, Poor Folk, which brought him into the mainstream. In 1849 he was arrested for his involvement with the Petrashevsky Circle, a progressive discussion group. He and other members were condemned to death for their participation in the group, but the mock execution was overturned at the last moment, and Dostoevsky's sentence was commuted to four years of imprisonment in Siberia. After his release from prison he lived as a soldier, but then resigned to continue writing.
In the following years Dostoevsky began working as a journalist. He also published and edited several magazines of his own and later his serial A Writer's Diary. Beginning with his travels to Europe he struggled with money issues caused by his gambling addiction, and the resulting humiliation of being forced to beg for money. He also suffered from epilepsy throughout his adult life. Through his considerable productivity he eventually became one of the most widely read and renowned Russian writers. His books have been translated into more than 170 languages and have sold around 15 million copies. Dostoevsky left a lasting influence on other people, ranging from James Joyce to Ernest Hemingway.