Book description
With their penetrating psychological insight and their emphasis on
human dignity, respect and forgiveness, Dostoyevsky's early short
stories contain the seeds of the themes that came to his major novels.
Poor Folk, the author's first great literary triumph, is the story of a
tragic relationship between an impoverished copy clerk and a young
seamstress, told through their passionate letters to each other. In The
Landlady Dostoyevsky portrays a dreamer hero who is captivated by a
curious couple and becomes their lodger. Mr Prokharchin, inspired by a
true story, is a sly comedy centring on an eccentric miser, and
Polzunkov is a powerful character sketch which, in common with the other
tales in this volume, questions the very nature of existence.
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821, the 2nd
of 7 children. From 1849 to 1854 he lived in a convict prison, and in
later years his passion for gambling led him deeply into debt. In 1880
he delivered his famous address at theunveiling of Pushkin's memorial
in Moscow; he died six months later in 1881.
David McDuff has translated a number of works for the Penguin
Classics, including The Idiot, Crime and Punishment and the Brothers
Karamazov, and Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories.
