Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
He comes silently and unannounced; yet all--how strange--yea, all recognize Him, at once! The population rushes towards Him as if propelled by some irresistible force; it surrounds, throngs, and presses around, it follows Him.... Silently, and with a smile of boundless compassion upon His lips, He crosses the dense crowd, and moves softly on. The Sun of Love burns in His heart, and warm rays of Light, Wisdom and Power beam forth from His eyes, and pour down their waves upon the swarming multitudes of the rabble assembled around, making their hearts vibrate with returning love. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The Grand Inquisitor is a Russian Russian story
The 'Grand Inquisitor ' is the central chapter of Dostoevsky's great work , "The Brothers Karamazov". In it the brother of intellect Ivan tells a story to the saintly Karamazov brother, Alyosha. He tells of how Jesus came once to Spain in the time of the Inquistion .He tells how Jesus performed a series of miracles which caused the people to cry out for him. He tells how the 'Grand Inquisitor ' whose exposition fills a good share of the text, tells why Christ must be banished and the Grand Inquisitor must continue to rule. The essence of his message is that the people cannot endure freedom. They are not really able to bear responsibility for themselves and must be fed, spiritually protected by an authoritarian power, the Grand Inquisitor and the Church.
This assumption that the people cannot bear their own freedom seems to me very Russian. It is I think quite difficult for an American who supposes that freedom is natural andmost desirable, to understand this.
Dostoevsky as usual in powerful, dramatic, psychologically penetrating prose creates in this work one of World Literature's great chapters.
A number of readers have rightly commented that it is preferable to read this chapter in the context of the whole novel. But it too can be read and understood on its own terms.
One more point which comes to mind is that here the Church is made to be the instrument of interfering with true freedom.

good...but lacking. an incomplete edition.
While this story is truly an essential writing of Dostoevsky, it lacks the appropriate context to be read as sold in this copy.If you are interested in reading "The Grand Inquisitor" without reading the rest of The Brothers Karamazov, I would recommend the Guignon edition, sold for only a little more.This work includes the two chapters preceeding "The Grand Inquisitor" as well as what Dostoevsky intended as the refutation for this tale, "The Russian Monk," which follows this legend.Dostoevsky did not intend for this to be separated from the book as a whole, but I think it could be legitimately done when read with a little more context than is present in this copy.Additionally, this alternate edition includes a very complete introduction by Charles Guignon, which is much more informative than the brief one by Anne Fremantle provided in this copy.

It is important to remember that "The Grand Inquistor" was not Dostoevsky's final answer in The Brothers Karamazov.Reading this edition alone provides a flawed view of both Dostoevsky's writing and philosophy and The Brothers Karamazov.

I would recommend reading the book as a whole instead [and I particularly recommend the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation for that: it is much more accurate to the original Russian].Or at a minimum, reading the other edition of this book.Either way, you will get a more complete glimpse to the genius of Dostoevsky, which this fails to provide.

The Grand Inquisitor is truly an essential read, but not in this presentation of it.

Yes, Read the whole thing!
I don't see how you can isolate "The Grand Inquisitor" chapter from the novel in which it is situated, The Brothers Karamazov.I think that knowing who is telling the story, who he is telling the story too, what the story means to each of these people, and what the consequences of what the Grand Inquisitor have to say, are ALL important; important because it is a great novel and important in understanding the grand inquisitor!!!!!!!My suggestion: Buy The Brothers Karamazov instead of this.It's excellent.

Thought Provoking
The Grand Inquisitor loves humanity but the question is: Is he misguided? The Grand Inquisitor is by no means a trivial person. According to Dostoyevsky most humans are by nature incapable of handling freedom, of taking care of their basic needs, of accepting the moral responsibility of conscience or of living with differences ? we like to be sheep ? apparently. ?[?] Thee, what is to become of the millions and tens of thousands of millions of creatures who will not have the strength to forego the earthly bread for the sake of the heavenly? Or dost Thou care only for the tens of thousands of the great and strong, while the millions, numerous as the sands of the sea, who are weak but love Thee, must exist only for the sake of the great and strong? No, we care for the weak too. They are sinful and rebellious, but in the end they too will become obedient. They will marvel at us and look on us as gods, because we are ready to endure the freedom which they have found so dreadful and to rule over them- so awful it will seem to them to be free. But we shall tell them that we are Thy servants and rule them in Thy name. We shall deceive them again, for we will not let Thee come to us again. That deception will be our suffering, for we shall be forced to lie? (Dostoyevsky 8-9).

Dostoyevsky, in The Grand Inquisitor, arrives at this conclusion since his observations suggest that this has been the pattern of human behavior from the beginning of human history. Ti interpret the quote above, Dostoyevsky does believe there is a relatively small group (tens of thousands) of people who are different by nature and who can do for themselves, handle responsibility and conscience and not only live with difference, but even create it. Again, he appeals to experience, being able to cite these people in human history. When Jesus lands in Inquisition Spain, he is quickly arrested. He confronts Jesus for giving people inner freedom. Christianity proper was built for the few: only the minority go to Heaven because Christianity has very high standards: ?narrow is the way to Heaven? and ?it is easier for a candle to enter the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven? Yet, religion in general is catered to the masses, most of whom believe they are going to Heaven. There is a contradiction there, and Dostoyevsky zeroes in on that The Inquisitor proceeds to list three temptations that the Catholic Church has remedied. ?From those questions alone, from the miracle of their statements, we can see that we have here to do not with the fleeting human intelligence, but with the absolute and eternal. For in those three questions the whole subsequent history of mankind is, as it were, brought together into one whole, and foretold, and in them are united all the unsolved historical contradictions of human nature? (Dostoyevsky 7).

To summarize the issues from the quote above: [1] First temptation: MIRACLE (Dostoyevsky 7). [2] Second temptation: MYSTERY (Dostoyevsky 10). [3] Third temptation: AUTHORITY (Dostoyevsky 14). According to the Inquisitor, the Church fills the people?s need for a sense of unity. The Church has removed all temptations by being the conscience of the people. Do we really need the illusion or can and should we be able to think for ourselves? Where does Dostoyevsky REALLY stand on this issue? Read it and judge for yourself.

Miguel Llora

Five stars PLUS
"The Grand Inquisitor" is a story embeded within THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. However, the story is "self-contained." Nothing is lost by reading it as a complete short story. In my opinion, "The Grand Inquisitor" is the greatest single story ever written. It's an interesting look at humanity, spirituality, and the church. If you are only going to read one more thing before you die, you must read "The Grand Inquisitor."
*This particular edition, however, seems to have some typos that were not caught by the proof-reader, but they're nothing very serious. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Dostoevsky... Dancer in the dark....
Here are the dark side of the human soul, with all its charm and idealism! The beauty of the female, the goodness of the idiot, the criminal who falls in love and punishes himself. Here are love stories that make you weep and laugh. You meet a noble thief, and get to know the insulted and the inhumiliated that suddenly seem to you to be the most loveable people in the world. The world of Dostoyevsky is full of love, children, women and... contradictions and conflicts.

Homilies in Classic Literature
The Soviet Union burned Bibles and banned their importation.Yet, possibly out of national pride, they never censored the work of this great Russian novelist.Luther once said that if the entire Bible were lost,except the Book of Romans, that it alone would be enough for salvation. Dostoyevesky takes us a step further:in a land where one could be born,grow up, and die at normal life expectancy, all under the aegeis ofCommunism, without ever seeing a Bible, could the message of the Gospelstill be found?Of course, the author died decades before the Revolutionof 1917, but his work answeres the question we pose in the affirmative. His works, excerpted for this book, contain what can only be described aslengthy homilies, clothed as literature.From the famous "GrandInquisitor" from "The Brothers Karamatzov," to lesser-knownpassages from "The Idiot" and other works, each selectionexpounds on Christian doctrine.Strongly influenced by the Gospel of St.John, Dostoyevesky uses the resurrection of Lazarus, for example, as thebasis of a conversation between a murderer and a prostitute in "Crimeand Punishment."The eleventh chapter of John is included in nearentirety, as one sufferer reads it to the other.Nearly all of the imageryhere is Johnnine; perhaps Dostoyevesky was a visionary:Spengeler wrotethat the next millenium of Russian histoty would belong to St. John.Alall events, this is a bedside companion that will provoke deep reflectionin those who read it, and perhaps make them wonder, as I do, ifDostoyevesky's works weren't intended by a higher power to be a light inthe darkest days of the Evil Empire. -Lloyd A. Conway

Brightful and Enlightening
These two words describe simply the book. However, for those "busy souls intimidated by the length of his great novels", I must say: "Buy his long great novels, particularly 'The Idiot' and 'Crime andPunishment'. It will only take you more time reading them but it will beworth it for sure. Believe me."

Great for discussion groups.
There are two books that I know of that are truly great introductions to the Russian Classics. "Walk in the Light" compiles some of the best short stories from Tolstoy and "The Gospel in Dostoyevsky"collects important excerpts from Fyodor that stand on their own as readablestories. Both are great for discussion groups, or even out loud familyreading.

A good intro to the Russian classics!
While the Dostoyevski excerpts compiled in this collection stand on their own as meaningful and wonderfully readable short stories, they will also serve to awaken an interest in the more complete Russian classics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Writer, Great Life
This compulsively readable biography by a Norwegian professor (in an excellent translation by the writer Siri Hustveldt and David McDuff) immerses the modern reader in the literary, social and philosophical currents that shaped Dostoevsky's thinking and writing.

Professor Kjetsaa has great material to work with, because the novelist's life would have made a page turning Russian novel.Before he was forty, Dostoevsky's father had died at the hands of his own serfs, a close childhood friend was kidnapped and killed, and he came within minutes of being executed by a firing squad for his political beliefs.His death sentence was commuted to exile, and he spent a decade in Siberia as a political prisoner and military conscript before making his way back to St Petersberg and literary respectability.Lifelong attacks of epilepsy gave him glimpes of the divine before plunging him into incapacitating depressions.Time and again, he gambled away what little money he had, which forced him to write many of his major works under the threat of debtor's prison.

Professor Kjetsa is particulary good at tracing the development of Dostoevsky'spolitical and religious ideas.The young idealist who almost dies for his ties to international socialismbecomes a xenophobic reactionary.The casual nihilist turns into a devout Christian, though one who continually wrestles with doubt and unbelief.

Dostoevsky is revered as a thinker and a religious prophet, but first and foremost he was a popular novelist.While Professor Kjellstra does a fine job of mapping the contours of Dostoevsky's ideas as they play out in the novels, he spends less time on literary issues.Dostoevsky's ability to bring ideas to life through powerful scenes and unforgettable characters, and his refusal to force tidy conclusions about the big issues of faith, love and redemption are what make the novels so fresh and compelling to the modern reader.One could wish for a deeper examination of what makes him novel as a novelist, such as his stylistic innovations, the inticacy and pacing of his plots, and his masterful use of narrative voice.

Another quibble is the way Professor Kjetsaa rehashes the rumors that Dostoevsky may have been a pedophile without taking a stand on the issue.The approach to this issue is voyeuristic, adds nothing to the debate, and is in striking contrast to the well-reasoned decisiveness with which the author addresses the other major controversies in Dostoevsky's life.

Otherwise, this fine book will broaden your understanding of the world Dostoevsky moved in, increase your sympathy for the obstacles he overcame on his way to world acclaim, and expand your appreciation of his magnificent literary creations, characters who embody the failings and aspirations that reside in us all.

A superb biography, beautifully translated
This biography reads with the pace and interest of a well-written novel - a tribute to the translator no less than to the writer. It brings Dostoyevsky and his time to life and lends considerable perspective to his writings by relating them not only to the overall social context but also to the novelist's personal experiences and development. Quite inevitably, the mock-execution of Dostoyevsky and his companions - an act of calculated and petty sadism by Czar Nicholas I which it is hard to comprehend or to excuse, even after a century and a half of greater atrocities - stands as the watershed of the book, no less than of the writer's own life and it explains much that informs his subsequent work. Dostoyevsky's letter to his brother immediately after his reprieve still has power to move and the sense of rebirth conveyed in it goes far to explain how he somehow survived and made sense of the years of imprisonment, privation and exile that followed. The most heartbreaking sections of the book are not however those that deal with Siberia, but rather those detailing Dostoyevsky's gambling addiction, of which he appears never to have been cured, but rather to have been rescued by Bismarck's closure of the German casinos. The wonder is that during these years of degradation masterpieces were somehow produced and Dostoyevsky higher, almost mystical, vision of human potential evolved and came to full fruition in his last great work. The story, so full of contradictions, is well told against the background of a Russia groping towards modernity and reform, yet never finding it, and heading blindly for the abyss. Within this context Dostoyevsky's own identification with an ideal of conservative and regressive cultural and political nationalism cannot but jar the modern reader, contrasting as it does with the sublimity of so much else of his thought. Throughout it all however one gains an impression of a man who must have been difficult to like but impossible not to love ... In short, this is a splendid biography and a delight for any who admire the subject or have an interest in Russia, its literature and its history.

Excellent writer, difficult life
Petersburg, December 22, 1849: The convicts kiss the cross before the firing squad takes aim. Thirty seconds never took that long. Then, the hasty messenger with the tsarean pardon, given in secret three days beforethe squad lifted their guns. The "execution" was a sham. Oneconvict loses his sanity, none regain their freedom. Ah - a plot in abook by Dostoyevsky? No. A day in his life. (But he described his thoughtsin The Idiot, twenty years later.) At his death in 1881, Fjodor M.Dostoyevsky (b. 1821) was a famous writer in Russia, by many compared toPushkin, Russia's late "national poet". Dostoyevsky's funeralturned out a national event; his widow was barely admitted without herforgotten ticket. "You are the sixth `Dostoyevsky's widow` demandingto get in", she was told by the annoyed head of police. Nevertheless, he was virtually unknown abroad. That changed. He istranslated into 170 languages, and by 1985, the copies of his bookstotalled 15 million.

Who was this man, who wrote most all hisfiction fighting deadlines and creditors, creating masterpieces with hisback to the wall? This question is eloquently answered by the author -insofar as it is answerable. Dostoyevsky is a fascinating figure, asdifficult to pin down as his most subtle characters. The symmetrybetween the life and the writings is hardly paralleled in a writer. Thus,this biography also gains insight from Dostoyevsky's own writings, andsheds light upon them. Dostoyevsky himselg claimed that to be a greatwriter, one must suffer a lot. The biography tells us how. Dostoyevsky became well-known in Russia after his debut with Poor Folks,1846. Facing the executioners' guns three years later was a pivotal pointin his life. The four years in a Siberian prison changed his outlooksignificantly. He turned from the nihilists (atheists) and back to theChristian faith of his youth. He was a slavophile, and deeply sceptical tothe ways of the West. Concerned with the fate of goodness in this evilworld, he also held that even the worst criminal must be won back to thefellowship. But the debt must be paid. At his brother's death,Dostoyevsky took upon him the responsibility for the unpaid debts. Thesedebts sent him abroad for years to avoid the debtors' prison. But hispassion for gambling didn't improve his finances, either. (The Gamblerhardly needed special research, nor The Young Man's attempt to salvage adesperate situation by always playing on zero.) According to Mr. Kjetsaa,the main point for Dostoyevsky was not the money, but the thrill of thegame. Actually, the guilt incurred after losing at the green tables gaveDostoyevsky a creative boost. Even if you have never read a line ofDostoyevsky's works, you will be gripped by this biography. Read it. Itwill draw you gently into Dostoyevsky's own writing. And he will show youjoy, sorrow and profound insight into questions worth thinking about. (Thisreview refers to the Norwegian, original version of this title.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dostoevsky's Grim View of Mankind
This collection of six short stories and the novella Notes from the Underground give the reader a glimpse into the mind of one of the 19th Centuries greatest authors. The collection literally covers the entire career of the novelist. The stories offer compact detailed descriptions of life in St. Petersburg at the end of the last century.

While the stories are certainly not happy they are worth reading. The selections include the following: White Nights: a love story between a dreamer and a woman he meets and loses in a time span of 4 days. This story hearkens to later dreamers in Dostoevsky's writings including the Underground Man.

In The Honest Thief we see a more mature writer grappling with the idea of guilt associated with a minor crime. The honest thief of the title is Yemalyan who may be the genesis for later characters who are unable to avoid crime that surrounds them

The Christmas Tree and a Wedding is a straight forward story with a twist that is almost O. Henry-ish in its finale. It is probably the most perfect story in the collection.

The Peasant Marey is a recollection from the author's youth which was written during a prison stay. The purpose is to show the nobility of the peasant class.

Notes From Underground has been reviewed earlier and needs no more discussion at this point.

A Gentle Creature is an excellent example of realism. The story recounts the tortured thoughts of a less than perfect husband on the occassion of his young wife's suicide.

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man recounts Dostoevsky's final analysis of the human condition. Man is essentially good but can be corrupted bt reason and science.

On the whole this is a good introduction to the author's shorter works that with careful reading can be if not joyful quite meaningful. ... Read more

Book Description
An interesting study of Russia's greatest novelist by his daughter. Includes chapters on the Origins of the Dostoyevsky Family, the Childhood of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Adolescence, The Petrachevsky Conspiracy, Prison Life, Dostoyevsky as Soldier, Dostoyevsky's Marriages, His Travels, Dostoyevsky as a Father, His Relations with Turgenev and Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky as Slavophil. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Some of Dostoevsky's Finest
Those who would read Dostoevsky but, are intimidated by the sheer magnitude of his epics, should read this collection of three great shorter works.Bobok is strikingly amusing and clever.The Gambler brilliantlydepicts the all too real dynamics of a toxic relationship. My favorite, ANasty Story, is such an hilarious and witty story.It's almost painful toread as one is compelled to sympathize with the character's best intentionsgone wrong.All marvelous works from the brilliant mind of Dostoevsky. ... Read more

Book Description
Eight short masterworks, including White Nights, Notes from Underground, The Gambler, A Gentle Creature, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Short Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky
This is a wonderful book for anyone just entering into Russian literature (or someone who has yet to gain a passion for reading). Dostoevsky is very poignant and clearly articulates the feelings humans go through, including the inner turmoil associated with daily life... Great night time reading.

An Excellent Collection
This collection can be recommended to anyone interested in sampling Dostoyesvky's shorter fiction;it contains within the one volume a good number of stories which in other editions (Penguin and Oxford) fill morethan one volume.

The short stories themselves are just sublime and shouldnot be overlooked by those who tend to think that the best work will benecessarily contained in the novels.The Double is my favourite; it is anespecially humorous tale, though sombre in its overall vision.Notes fromthe Underground is seminal,of course,and is probably the most importantstory included;A Gentle Creature is disturbing.

Unrelenting Brilliance
One night i decided to "start" the first story in the book, TheDouble.I was up a little past four in the morning, finishing the story. I was simply enthralled.I continued in this fashion for eight days; untili had finished all eight stories.Dostoevsky seems to have endowed everypiece of everything he ever wrote with complete brilliance.Though myfavorite story in the collection was Notes From the Underground, all thestories were generally entertaining and almost always enlightening. ... Read more