FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

‘Poor people’

Dostoevsky’s debut novel became his “lucky ticket” in his writing career. The novel consists of 49 letters between Makar Devushkin and Varvara Dobroselova, in which they recount their difficult, penniless lives. Dostoevsky would return to the theme of poverty in virtually every of his subsequent works. For this, he would be dubbed “a writer who tells stories about people in attics and basements”.

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‘Crime and Punishment’ 

A poor student named Rodion Raskolnikov struggles to make ends meet and is forced to borrow money from an old woman, who is a shylock. Tired of his life of poverty, he asks himself a philosophical question: Am I a trembling creature? To prove to himself that he is not and that he is the master of his own destiny, he decides to commit a crime – to kill the old woman. Fyodor Dostoevsky reflects on the nature of violence and the circumstances in which life can place a person.

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‘The Idiot’ 

Dostoevsky is known for probing the evil that lurks inside the human soul, but, in this novel, he depicts not just a positive character, but an almost ideal person, with Christ-like characteristics. Prince Myshkin – naive, trusting, unaffected – finds himself at the center of a whirlpool of passions, but rises above the crowd of liars and drunkards surrounding him. Even in Nastasya Filippovna, regarded by society as a “fallen” woman, the main character sees only beauty and goodness, becoming imbued with tremendous affection for her.

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‘The Brothers Karamazov’

The author's last and longest novel and the quintessence of his reflections on faith, morality, duty and love. In fact, it's also a detective story. The author borrowed the plot from various crime reports: one of three sons was accused of murdering his father.

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IVAN TURGENEV

‘A Sportsman’s Sketches’

These stories were written by Ivan Turgenev, based on true stories he had heard on his family estate. The writer presents a diverse range of characters from the Russian hinterland, with their daily struggles and problems. The work was considered groundbreaking at the time: Turgenev was the first to depict peasants as intelligent, talented, as well as deeply emotional individuals.

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‘The Torrents of Spring’

A young man named Sanin travels through Europe and meets a young Italian woman, gradually falling in love with her. Thinking about marriage, he goes on business to Wiesbaden, Germany, where he is seduced by a noble lady… 

Turgenev became one of the first writers who put women an order of magnitude above men in terms of strength of mind and moral qualities. The image of the so-called “Turgenev's girl” appears in many of his novels alongside will-less, impoverished men. 

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‘A nest of nobles’

Ivan Turgenev addresses issues of the nobility, the confrontation between Russia and the West and also focuses on moral principles. Disillusioned with European life, main character Fyodor Lavretsky returns to his estate in Russia to "plough the land" and falls in love with his neighbor's daughter, Liza. Their love is mutual and, upon learning of the death of his wife, who remained in Europe, he proposes to her. However, it turns out that his wife is still alive. Heartbroken, Lisa enters a monastery…

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‘Fathers and Children’

A young man named Arkady Kirsanov returns home to his father's estate with his friend, Yevgeny Bazarov, a nihilistic student. Bazarov is studying to be a doctor and plans to join the people. He rejects all authority, continuously arguing with his landowner father and Arkady's aristocratic uncle, who both hold liberal views. But, even a nihilist cannot resist love…

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