A drama of parricide and intense family rivalry, The Brothers Karamazov is Dostoyevsky's acknowledged masterpiece. It tells the story of the murder of a depraved landowner, Fyodor Karamazov, and the ensuing investigation and trial, concentrating on the parts played by Karamazov's three sons, Mitya, Ivan and Alyosha. Ivan is a revolutionary intellectual, while the young novice Alyosha is, according to Dostoyevksy, the novel's 'hero'. It is Mitya's passion for two women that contributes to disaster, and it is he who inwardly accepts the guilt of his father's murderer.
In unfolding the fates of the Karamazov's, Dostoyevsky creates a tragedy of Shakespearian force and vividness, a story that embodies the disintegration of a whole society, Russia in the 1870s. The Brothers Karamazov is the culmination of his work, enduring in its vitality, masterly inventiveness and vision.
About the Author
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881), one of nineteenth-century Russia’s greatest novelists, spent four years in a convict prison in Siberia, after which he was obliged to enlist in the army. In later years his penchant for gambling sent him deeply into debt. Most of his important works were written after 1864, including Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.
David McDuff was educated at the University of Edinburgh and has translated a number of works for Penguin Classics, including Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.
