White Nights

Poverty-stricken and cut off from society, former law student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov leads a desolate life in a dreary little room in St Petersburg. Having abandoned all hopes of sustaining himself through work, he now obsesses over the idea of changing his fortunes through an act of extreme violence: the killing of an elderly pawnbroker. His mind baulks at the horror of his plan, but when he hears that his sister Dunya is about to agree to a loveless marriage in order to escape the advances of her employer, his disgust for the world becomes unbounded, and his feelings of rebellion and revenge push him closer and closer to the edge of the precipice. A masterpiece of psychological insight, Dostoevsky's 1866 novel features some of its author's most memorable characters - from the temperamental protagonist Raskolnikov to the amoral sensualist Svidrigailov and the immoral lawyer Luzhin. Presented here in a sparkling new translation by Roger Cockerell, Crime and Punishment is a towering work in nineteenth-century Russian fiction and a landmark of world literature.

Crime and Punishment is one of the most important novels of the nineteenth century. It is the story of a murder committed on principle, of a killer who wishes to set himself outside and above society. It is marked by Dostoevsky's own harrowing experience in penal servitude, and yet contains moments of wild humour. (lib)

Presented in a new translation by Roger Cockrell, The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants was originally conceived as a play and first published in 1859, shortly after the author's release from forced military service. Gogolian in style and tone, and waspish in its description of the villainous Opiskin, it is a sustained exercise in caricatural cruelty and a comedic tour de force. The young Sergei is summoned from St Petersburg by his uncle, the retired colonel Yegor Rostanev, to the remote country estate of Stepanchikovo. Rostanev's household, populated by a medley of remarkable characters, is dominated by the figure of Foma Opiskin, a devious, manipulative hanger-on who has everyone in thrall and plots to marry the colonel to the woman of his choice, Tatyana Ivanova. When Opiskin finds that his plans are being thwarted, a confrontation with Rostanev ensues, and all hell is let loose.

Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in Moscow on 11th November 1821. He had six siblings and his mother died in 1837 and his father in 1839. He graduated from the St Petersburg Academy of Military Engineering in 1846 but decided to change careers and become a writer. His first book, Poor Folk, did very well but on 23rd April 1849 he was arrested for subversion and sentenced to death. After a mock-execution his sentence was commuted to hard labour in Siberia where he developed epilepsy.He was released in 1854. His 1860 book, The House of the Dead was based on these experiences. In 1857 he married Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva. After his release he adopted more conservative and traditional values and rejected his previous socialist position. In the following years he spent a lot of time abroad, struggled with an addiction to gambling and fell deeply in debt. His wife died in 1864 and he married Anna Grigoryeva Snitkina. In the following years he published his most enduring and successful books, includingCrime and Punishment (1865). He died on 9th February 1881.

Is éard atá i Coireacht agus Pionós le Fyodor Dostoevsky ná iniúchadh corraitheach ar mhoráltacht, ciontacht agus fuascailt, atá suite i gcoinne chúlra gruama agus leatromach St. Petersburg sa 19ú haois. I gcroílár na sárshaothar síceolaíochta seo tá Rodion Raskolnikov, iar-mhac léinn a dhéanann dúnmharú brúidiúil ina éadóchas. Tá sé lánchinnte gur féidir a ghníomhartha a chosaint le fealsúnacht chaoch a chuireann os cionn gnáth-mhoráltacht é, is gearr go mbíonn Raskolnikov faoi léigear ag brú a choinsiasa féin. De réir mar a thagann an t-úrscéal chun cinn, tagann meath ar staid mheabhrach Raskolnikov. Nochtann a chuid idirghníomhaíochtaí le Sonia atruach ach i mbaol, an t-imscrúdaitheoir stuama Porfiry Petrovich, agus a theaghlach féin gréasán casta, tangled motives agus mothúcháin dhaonna. Tá sé gafa idir a mhian a shármhaitheas a dhearbhú agus an chiontacht dhomhain gnawing a itheann a anam. Déanann Dostoevsky an psyche daonna a dhíroinnt go máistriúil, ag fiosrú na cuais is dorcha de chiontacht, eagla agus coinbhleacht mhorálta. Trí mheon céasta Raskolnikov, cuirtear iallach ar léitheoirí aghaidh a thabhairt ar cheisteanna bunúsacha maidir le ceartas, moráltacht, agus cad is brí le fuascailt a lorg. An féidir éalú ó iarmhairtí gníomhaíochtaí duine? An féidir le duine éirí as coireacht nach féidir a mhaitheamh? Le carachtair bheoga do-dhearmadta agus plota casta a mheascann smaointe fealsúnacha le fionraí teann, ingne, tá Coireacht agus Pionós ar cheann de na héachtaí is mó i litríocht an domhain. Luíonn genius Dostoevsky ní hamháin ina chuid scéalaíochta ach ina léargas domhain ar an staid dhaonna, rud a fhágann go bhfuil Coireacht agus Pionós chomh hábhartha inniu agus a bhí sé nuair a foilsíodh é. Úrscéal gan ré faoi chastacht shíceolaíoch, téann Coireacht agus Pionós i ngleic leis an streachailt shíoraí idir an mhaith agus an t-olc, ag iarraidh ar léitheoirí machnamh a dhéanamh ar an líne thanaí atá eatarthu. Agus an léiriú dodhearmadta á dhéanamh aige ar fhear a bhfuil a choinsias féin á ghruaim aige, leanann sárshaothar Dostoevsky ag spreagadh léitheoirí ar fud an domhain, ag tabhairt dúshlán dóibh agus á spreagadh.