|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
From Library Journal
Pevear and Volokhonsky have found critical acclaim with previous translations of Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov (Classic Returns, LJ 8/90), Crime and Punishment (Classic Returns, LJ 1/92), and Notes from Underground (Classic Returns, LJ 7/93). Their Demons should be equally respected.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Dostoevsky's sprawling political novel is given new life in this fresh translation. The previous translations of the husband-and-wife team of Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear--The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, and Notes From Underground--have been universally praised for capturing Dostoevsky's force and subtlety, and all three works are now considered the English standards. Now they have successfully tackled one of Dostoevsky's most complex and dense works. Mistakenly translated in the past as ``The Possessed,'' the title refers to the infestation of foreign political and philosophical ideas that swept Russia in the second half of the 19th century. Pevear writes in the introduction, ``These demons, then, are ideas, that legion of -isms that came to Russia from the West: idealism, rationalism, empiricism, materialism, utilitarianism, positivism, socialism, anarchism, nihilism, and, underlying them all, atheism.'' Dostoevsky, taking as his starting point the political chaos around him at the time, constructs an elaborate morality tale in which the people of a provincial town turn against one another because they are convinced of the infallibility of their ideas. Stepan Trofimovich, an affable thinker who does little to turn his liberal ideas into action, creates a monster in his student, Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin, who takes his spiritual father's teaching to heart, joining a circle of other nihilists who will justify any and all violent excesses for the sake of their ideas. Stavrogin aims for a ``systematic corrupting of society and all its principles'' so that out of the resulting destruction he may ``raise the banner of rebellion.'' A chilling foreshadowing of Stalinist logic. Volokhonsky and Pevear's translation brings to the surface all of Dostoevsky's subtle linguistic and nationalist humor, and the copious notes are indispensable for making one's way through the thicket of 19th-century Russian politics. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Difficult but rewarding work,
By
This review is from: Demons (Paperback)
It's hard for the modern mind or the casual reader to make sense of Dostoevsky's narrative at times. However, Dostoevsky does reward perseverance, especially if you follow the necessary footnotes to keep tabs on his purpose. This is the first of Dostoevsky's work that I've read in the trendy Volokhonsky/Pevear translation - it's quite readable but I don't know that I'm overwhelmed by its superiority to other translators I've read (making exception of course for the stuffy Constance Garnett).The story is quite dark overall, although Dostoevsky does provide unexpected comic relief, sometimes in very absurd places. Of course, the saddest thing about this novel is that Dostoevsky's hunch that the revolutionary ideas fulminating in Russia were leading towards mass murder - that the murderers would take charge and not be a radical fringe - turned out to be far too correct.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Evil ghosts,
By
This review is from: Demons (Paperback)
I recently read this Dostoyevski in a French traduction of the 1960's. They titled it 'The possessed', but one can also buy it in the bookshops as 'The demons'. I definitely liked 'The possessed' more as a title. Until I strolled down in a local library in Gouda, where the Dutch translation read 'Evil ghosts'. Which to me entirely captures the spirit of the book. It was a fascinating read, but none of the characters were likeable and a good many seemed possessed by evil ghosts indeed.What struck the previous reviews was that they blamed the ideologies, the '-isms', for the terrible acts they fomented. I thoroughly disagree. All the characters seemed more driven by the weaknesses of their character than by a genuine ideological drive. Piotr Stepanovitch is a dark manipulator; Piotr's entire entourage a bunch of mindless - though evil - followers; Stepan Tropimovitch a pathetic old loser; Varvara Petrovna a murky and greedy old lady, while the most fascinating character of them all, Nicolai Vsevolodovitch had every characteristic of a deeply insane and charismatic seducer. The book stresses more than anything else that human nature will only use an ideology to push forward personal ambtions, and not be driven by them.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Genius,
By Prokievitch Bazarov "Bazarov" (POLOTROV RUSSIA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Demons (Paperback)
Dostoevsky's tackling political novel is given new life in this fresh translation. This work has been unilaterally been praised for capturing Dostoevsky's power and subtlety. This story is about the political and philosophical ideas that swept Russia in the second half of the 19th century. These demons, then, are ideas, that legion of -isms that came to Russia from the West: idealism, rationalism, empiricism, materialism, utilitarianism, positivism, socialism, anarchism, nihilism, and, underlying them all, atheism.'' Dostoevsky, taking as his starting point the political chaos around him at the time, constructs an elaborate morality tale in which the people of a provincial town turn against one another because they are convinced of the infallibility of their ideas. Stepan Trofimovich, an affable thinker who does little to turn his liberal ideas into action, creates a monster in his student, Nikolai Stavrogin, who takes his spiritual father's teaching to heart, joining a circle of other nihilists who will justify any and all violent excesses for the sake of their ideas. Stavrogin aims for a systematic corrupting of society and all its principles so that out of the resulting destruction he may raise the banner of rebellion. A chilling foreshadowing of Stalinist years. This is a work of art in literature!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics > Russian
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary
- Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Eastern European
- Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Russian
- Books > Nonfiction > Education > Language Instruction
- Books > Reference > Foreign Languages
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
