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Devils (The World's Classics)
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Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Author: Fedor M. Dostoevsky
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
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Our Price:
You Save: $ 7.95 ( 100% )
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Author: Fedor M. Dostoevsky
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Average Customer Rating:
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Devils (The World's Classics) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.733
EAN: 9780192818508
ISBN: 0192818503
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 792
Publication Date: 1992-06-18
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.733
EAN: 9780192818508
ISBN: 0192818503
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 792
Publication Date: 1992-06-18
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
Editorial Review of Devils (The World's Classics)
The third of Dostoevsky's five major novels, Devils (1871-2), also known as The Possessed, is at once a powerful political tract and a profound study of atheism, depicting the disarray that follows the appearance of a band of modish radicals in a small provincial town. This new translation includes the chapter "Stavrogin's confession," initially censored by Dostoevsky's publisher.
Customer Reviews of Devils (The World's Classics)
Customer Rating: 
Review Summary: A real slog, but a rewarding read
Review: I am a very amateurish reviewer of Dostoevskey, but let me humbly suggest that you begin with "Crime and Punishment" or "Notes from Underground" before approaching this novel. "Devils" is a study of nihilism, but it is very demanding of the reader. I get the impression that "Devils" provides some extremely subtle satire of upper-class Russian society circa the 19th century, but this satire does not necessarily translate effectively into 21st-century English.
Having said that, I should state that "Devils" offers a compelling portrait of nihilism in the form of Stavrogin, a character who embodies vividly the anomie of 19th century European intellectuals. As well, students of international Communism will learn a great deal from the author's depiction of the prototype radicalism that would eventually fuel the Stalinist movements of the 20th century. In short: be prepared for a real slog, but a rewarding one.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: 'Oxford World Classics' delivers again with Devils.
Review: If it were up to me there wouldn't be so many translations and so many publications of the old Russian classics. That's partially why I'm writing this review: to help you decide which version you want to purchase. Really, I think it can be narrowed down to two choices.
If you want hardcover I suggest the luxurious Demons (Everyman's Library, 182). It's the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, which has been praised by critics, but hasn't been praised by me. There's nothing blairingly wrong with the P/V translation and I certainly wouldn't call it bad. I just don't think it's as good as the Constance Garnett classic translation.
My favorite Dostoevsky translator is Michael Katz (Ralph E. Matlaw is good too). His are based on the Garnett translations, but are slightly revised. He updates Garnett (who's translations are said to be somewhat dated), and he reworks the parts of Garnett that strayed too far from Dostoevsky's original Russian.
It's the Katz's translation you'll be getting if you purchase Devils: The Possessed (Oxford World's Classics). Here is a fine quality paperback. Paper, Ink, Binding are all satisfactory; they seem to last longer than most paperbacks do. Endnotes, Character list, Dostoevsky/Historical timelines are included--all that extra good stuff; perhaps even more of it (certainly no less) than the Hardcover Everyman's edition. Of course, it's half the price.
As a novel, I highly recommend Devils. Set in provincial Russia, the story is eerily prophetic of the Russian revolution that would take place some fifty years later. The story begins with a lengthy biographical sketch of two characters. Then, the focus shifts to those character's sons, who happen to be at the head of a group of pseudo-revolutionaries. Multiple scandals ensue.
In Devils, Dostoevsky addresses his own concerns about the existence of god. He questions the merits of wholesale social/political reform and the Revolutionary groups who propose said reform. As always, Dostoevksy impressively displays the realistic psychological nuances of his characters. As an added bonus, there's also a parody of the Russian writer Turgenev.
If you haven't read any Dostoevsky before this is a good a place as any to start, though you might try Crime and Punishment first.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: one of dostoyevksy's best
Review: this poor novel does not get the attention it deserves. it is far better than the idiot and on par with notes from underground. this is dostoyevsky's most precise response to chernyshevsky's brand of moral nihilism that was corrupting the youth of 19th century russia. and, of course, this corruption ultimately triumphed: lenin, after all, named one of his pamphlets after chernyshevky's "what is to be done."
the problem is not the philosophy of determinism itself: it is the slippery slope determinism takes into moral nihilism. i STILL hear members of my generation speaking against ethics in favor of "science" -- sadly they, like chernyshevsky's and stavrogin's mob, cannot recognize the simple "science" of social contract. thus, i suppose, the book remains somewhat relevant.
anyhow, this novel has all of the elements of a dostoyevskian masterpiece: love, death, and philosophy. read it and you wont regret it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Laodiceans
Review: The four years that Dostoyevski spent in a Siberian prison for "liberal" activities during his mid-twenties indelibly influenced his later literary efforts. It can be argued that all of his major works deal, in one way or another, with the connection between criminality and the inordinate prevalence of self-will in the human character. Most of his characters, from Raskolnikov to Ivan Karamazov, display the same thought tormented traits and general lack of moral consciousness; but they have one more important trait in common: that no matter how reprehensible, they are able to be redeemed by the acceptance of Christianity, more specifically Russian Orthodoxy. Two other character types fascinated him: what he conceived to be the positively good man, Prince Myshkin of the Idiot, and what he saw as the consummate evil personage. It is in this novel that Dostoyevski wanted to examine the latter idea.
Intrigued with the literary possibilities of dualism, Dostoyevski set out to write, in 1869, the "Life of a Great Sinner", going so far as to make preliminary character sketches that would eventually result in the character of Stavrogin. But as he began work on this novel, current political events and the newspaper coverage of a sensational murder which had overtones of political conspiracty lead him to rethink this literary plans. Once again, his penchant for writing about the crimianl mind held sway. But instead of writing two novels, one philosophical, one sensational, Dostoyevski decided to combine both ideas into one novel; the result was The Devils. Any such amalgam, attempted by a less talended author, would have lead to certain disaster; but because of Dostoyevski's brilliance, his effort was at least partially successful.
It is Dostoyevski's comic brilliance and his ability to create believable characters that saves this novel and places it in the top tier of Russian literature. Although the novel seems torn with itself, in many places, resembling a book looking for a reason to exist, the author was able to create a cast of characters that hold the book together: the enigmatic Stavrogin; the quixotic Stepan Trofimovitch; Pyotr Stepanovitch, the revolutionary ring leader and perhaps the true "evil man" that Dostoyevski was attempting to describe - together with all the towns people, petty revolutionaries, intellectuals and criminals that have their role to play in the drama that unfurls.
It has always struck me as strange that Stavrogin has always been described as Dostoyevski's "evil" man and not Pyotr Stepanovitch. Stavrogin always seemed to me as neither capable of complete evil nor of good, occupying a place somewhere in the middle. It is by no coincidence that Dostoyevski twice mentions the passage from Revelations, "Write to the Angel of the Laodicean Church" (once in the originally expurgated Stavrogin's Confession chapter, and in the chapter describing Stephan Trofimovitch's last wanderings) and the implications are clear. It is much better in God's eye to be either cold or hot rather than just lukewarm, a description that best suits Stavrogin's aimlessness better than any other dramatic descriptor.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Rats with perverted minds
Review: Dostoyevsky's possessed are not only the politically perverted minds, but also the psychic, religious or amorous possessed.
One of the main characters of this book could only express his love in a letter left after his death, having waited for more than twenty years to speak.
The most possessed characters however are the revolutionaries. Their portraits and ideas are forcefully foreboding the mass killers to come (Lenin, Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot), who turned against their own population and fellow travelers: `We will have to face thousands and thousands of (killings).'
Their policies are extremely cynical ... but not for themselves:
`There will be total obedience and total depersonalization ... Because no sooner people have a family and experience love than we begin to desire to own things. We shall kill that desire; we shall strangle every genius in infancy; everything must be reduced to the common denominator of complete equality.'
Except ... `you are placing yourself outside the system? ... Yes, because `slaves must always have rulers.'
All means justify the ends (take over complete power): volunteers prepared to assassinate anyone, arson, subversive propaganda, myths.
A very intriguing part of this book is Stavrogin's confession of a child rape. It reminds one of a very disturbing scene in London's Covent Garden's told in the author's memoirs `Winter Notes on Summer Impressions.'
This book shows also Dostoyevsky's deep pessimism: `Life is pain, life is fear, man is unhappy.' `The higher the stage of development a man reaches, the more prone he becomes to cynicism.'
This slowly progressing novel with the author's perfect sense of drama is a very disturbing read.
Highly recommended.
Review Summary: A real slog, but a rewarding read
Review: I am a very amateurish reviewer of Dostoevskey, but let me humbly suggest that you begin with "Crime and Punishment" or "Notes from Underground" before approaching this novel. "Devils" is a study of nihilism, but it is very demanding of the reader. I get the impression that "Devils" provides some extremely subtle satire of upper-class Russian society circa the 19th century, but this satire does not necessarily translate effectively into 21st-century English.
Having said that, I should state that "Devils" offers a compelling portrait of nihilism in the form of Stavrogin, a character who embodies vividly the anomie of 19th century European intellectuals. As well, students of international Communism will learn a great deal from the author's depiction of the prototype radicalism that would eventually fuel the Stalinist movements of the 20th century. In short: be prepared for a real slog, but a rewarding one.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: 'Oxford World Classics' delivers again with Devils.
Review: If it were up to me there wouldn't be so many translations and so many publications of the old Russian classics. That's partially why I'm writing this review: to help you decide which version you want to purchase. Really, I think it can be narrowed down to two choices.
If you want hardcover I suggest the luxurious Demons (Everyman's Library, 182). It's the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, which has been praised by critics, but hasn't been praised by me. There's nothing blairingly wrong with the P/V translation and I certainly wouldn't call it bad. I just don't think it's as good as the Constance Garnett classic translation.
My favorite Dostoevsky translator is Michael Katz (Ralph E. Matlaw is good too). His are based on the Garnett translations, but are slightly revised. He updates Garnett (who's translations are said to be somewhat dated), and he reworks the parts of Garnett that strayed too far from Dostoevsky's original Russian.
It's the Katz's translation you'll be getting if you purchase Devils: The Possessed (Oxford World's Classics). Here is a fine quality paperback. Paper, Ink, Binding are all satisfactory; they seem to last longer than most paperbacks do. Endnotes, Character list, Dostoevsky/Historical timelines are included--all that extra good stuff; perhaps even more of it (certainly no less) than the Hardcover Everyman's edition. Of course, it's half the price.
As a novel, I highly recommend Devils. Set in provincial Russia, the story is eerily prophetic of the Russian revolution that would take place some fifty years later. The story begins with a lengthy biographical sketch of two characters. Then, the focus shifts to those character's sons, who happen to be at the head of a group of pseudo-revolutionaries. Multiple scandals ensue.
In Devils, Dostoevsky addresses his own concerns about the existence of god. He questions the merits of wholesale social/political reform and the Revolutionary groups who propose said reform. As always, Dostoevksy impressively displays the realistic psychological nuances of his characters. As an added bonus, there's also a parody of the Russian writer Turgenev.
If you haven't read any Dostoevsky before this is a good a place as any to start, though you might try Crime and Punishment first.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: one of dostoyevksy's best
Review: this poor novel does not get the attention it deserves. it is far better than the idiot and on par with notes from underground. this is dostoyevsky's most precise response to chernyshevsky's brand of moral nihilism that was corrupting the youth of 19th century russia. and, of course, this corruption ultimately triumphed: lenin, after all, named one of his pamphlets after chernyshevky's "what is to be done."
the problem is not the philosophy of determinism itself: it is the slippery slope determinism takes into moral nihilism. i STILL hear members of my generation speaking against ethics in favor of "science" -- sadly they, like chernyshevsky's and stavrogin's mob, cannot recognize the simple "science" of social contract. thus, i suppose, the book remains somewhat relevant.
anyhow, this novel has all of the elements of a dostoyevskian masterpiece: love, death, and philosophy. read it and you wont regret it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Laodiceans
Review: The four years that Dostoyevski spent in a Siberian prison for "liberal" activities during his mid-twenties indelibly influenced his later literary efforts. It can be argued that all of his major works deal, in one way or another, with the connection between criminality and the inordinate prevalence of self-will in the human character. Most of his characters, from Raskolnikov to Ivan Karamazov, display the same thought tormented traits and general lack of moral consciousness; but they have one more important trait in common: that no matter how reprehensible, they are able to be redeemed by the acceptance of Christianity, more specifically Russian Orthodoxy. Two other character types fascinated him: what he conceived to be the positively good man, Prince Myshkin of the Idiot, and what he saw as the consummate evil personage. It is in this novel that Dostoyevski wanted to examine the latter idea.
Intrigued with the literary possibilities of dualism, Dostoyevski set out to write, in 1869, the "Life of a Great Sinner", going so far as to make preliminary character sketches that would eventually result in the character of Stavrogin. But as he began work on this novel, current political events and the newspaper coverage of a sensational murder which had overtones of political conspiracty lead him to rethink this literary plans. Once again, his penchant for writing about the crimianl mind held sway. But instead of writing two novels, one philosophical, one sensational, Dostoyevski decided to combine both ideas into one novel; the result was The Devils. Any such amalgam, attempted by a less talended author, would have lead to certain disaster; but because of Dostoyevski's brilliance, his effort was at least partially successful.
It is Dostoyevski's comic brilliance and his ability to create believable characters that saves this novel and places it in the top tier of Russian literature. Although the novel seems torn with itself, in many places, resembling a book looking for a reason to exist, the author was able to create a cast of characters that hold the book together: the enigmatic Stavrogin; the quixotic Stepan Trofimovitch; Pyotr Stepanovitch, the revolutionary ring leader and perhaps the true "evil man" that Dostoyevski was attempting to describe - together with all the towns people, petty revolutionaries, intellectuals and criminals that have their role to play in the drama that unfurls.
It has always struck me as strange that Stavrogin has always been described as Dostoyevski's "evil" man and not Pyotr Stepanovitch. Stavrogin always seemed to me as neither capable of complete evil nor of good, occupying a place somewhere in the middle. It is by no coincidence that Dostoyevski twice mentions the passage from Revelations, "Write to the Angel of the Laodicean Church" (once in the originally expurgated Stavrogin's Confession chapter, and in the chapter describing Stephan Trofimovitch's last wanderings) and the implications are clear. It is much better in God's eye to be either cold or hot rather than just lukewarm, a description that best suits Stavrogin's aimlessness better than any other dramatic descriptor.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Rats with perverted minds
Review: Dostoyevsky's possessed are not only the politically perverted minds, but also the psychic, religious or amorous possessed.
One of the main characters of this book could only express his love in a letter left after his death, having waited for more than twenty years to speak.
The most possessed characters however are the revolutionaries. Their portraits and ideas are forcefully foreboding the mass killers to come (Lenin, Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot), who turned against their own population and fellow travelers: `We will have to face thousands and thousands of (killings).'
Their policies are extremely cynical ... but not for themselves:
`There will be total obedience and total depersonalization ... Because no sooner people have a family and experience love than we begin to desire to own things. We shall kill that desire; we shall strangle every genius in infancy; everything must be reduced to the common denominator of complete equality.'
Except ... `you are placing yourself outside the system? ... Yes, because `slaves must always have rulers.'
All means justify the ends (take over complete power): volunteers prepared to assassinate anyone, arson, subversive propaganda, myths.
A very intriguing part of this book is Stavrogin's confession of a child rape. It reminds one of a very disturbing scene in London's Covent Garden's told in the author's memoirs `Winter Notes on Summer Impressions.'
This book shows also Dostoyevsky's deep pessimism: `Life is pain, life is fear, man is unhappy.' `The higher the stage of development a man reaches, the more prone he becomes to cynicism.'
This slowly progressing novel with the author's perfect sense of drama is a very disturbing read.
Highly recommended.