Fyodor Dostoevsky
Novelist · Russian · 19th Century
Fyodor Dostoevsky
1821–1881
The great cartographer of self-punishment. His characters confess in order to be caught, then resent being understood.
The writings
Novel
Novel · 1846
Poor Folk
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Poor Folk
1846 · Epistolary novel · Social realism
An impoverished clerk and a young woman sustain one another through letters; also translated as Poor People.
Novel · 1849
Netochka Nezvanova
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Netochka Nezvanova
1849 · Unfinished novel · Bildungsroman
A young girl's account of a destructive household and her developing emotional life, left unfinished after the author's arrest.
Novel · 1859
The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants
1859 · Comedy · Social satire
Foma Fomich rules a household through moral posturing; also translated as The Friend of the Family.
Novel · 1860–1862
The House of the Dead
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The House of the Dead
1860–1862 · Prison literature · Autobiographical fiction
A fictional frame holds observations drawn from Dostoevsky's Siberian penal imprisonment.
Novel · 1861
Humiliated and Insulted
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Humiliated and Insulted
1861 · Social novel · Melodrama
A young writer witnesses intertwined betrayals and the cruelty of Prince Valkovsky.
Novel · 1866
The Gambler
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Gambler
1866 · Psychological fiction
A tutor's love and roulette obsession unfold in a European spa town.
Novel · 1868–1869
The Idiot
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Idiot
1868–1869 · Philosophical fiction · Psychological novel
Prince Myshkin's radical openness enters a society governed by vanity and injury.
Novel · 1871–1872
Demons
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Demons
1871–1872 · Political fiction · Philosophical fiction
A provincial revolutionary circle spirals toward murder; also translated as The Devils or The Possessed.
Novel · 1875
The Adolescent
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Adolescent
1875 · Bildungsroman · Psychological fiction
Arkady Dolgoruky pursues an idea of financial independence while searching for his father's meaning; also called A Raw Youth.
Novel · 1866
Crime and Punishment
1866 · Psychological novel · Philosophical fiction
A student murders a pawnbroker to prove a theory and is undone by his own nerves.
Novel · 1880
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Brothers Karamazov
1880 · Philosophical fiction
Three brothers, a murdered father, and God on trial.
Novella
Novella · 1846
The Double
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Double
1846 · Psychological fiction · Fantastic fiction
Golyadkin encounters a double who succeeds everywhere he fails.
Novella · 1847
The Landlady
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Landlady
1847 · Gothic · Psychological fiction
A secluded scholar becomes entangled with a mysterious woman and her domineering companion.
Novella · 1848
White Nights
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
White Nights
1848 · Sentimental fiction · Romance
A Petersburg dreamer meets Nastenka over four nights and one morning.
Novella · 1859
Uncle's Dream
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Uncle's Dream
1859 · Social satire · Farce
A provincial schemer tries to marry her daughter to a wealthy elderly prince.
Novella · 1870
The Eternal Husband
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Eternal Husband
1870 · Psychological fiction
A widower returns to confront a man who may have been his wife's lover.
Novella · 1864
Notes from Underground
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Notes from Underground
1864 · Psychological novel
'I am a sick man… I am a spiteful man.'
Short story
Short story · 1846
Mr. Prokharchin
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Mr. Prokharchin
1846 · Social satire
A seemingly destitute lodger secretly hoards savings.
Short story · 1847
A Novel in Nine Letters
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
A Novel in Nine Letters
1847 · Epistolary fiction · Satire
Two correspondents exchange increasingly suspicious letters.
Short story · 1848
Polzunkov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Polzunkov
1848 · Satire
An impoverished entertainer recounts a disastrous attempt to improve his position.
Short story · 1848
A Weak Heart
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
A Weak Heart
1848 · Psychological fiction
A clerk's happiness at his engagement becomes unbearable anxiety; also translated as A Faint Heart.
Short story · 1848
An Honest Thief
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
An Honest Thief
1848 · Realism
A former soldier remembers a dependent companion and a stolen pair of trousers.
Short story · 1848
A Christmas Tree and a Wedding
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
A Christmas Tree and a Wedding
1848 · Social satire
A children's party reveals a wealthy man's calculation about a girl's future dowry.
Short story · 1848
Another Man's Wife and a Husband under the Bed
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Another Man's Wife and a Husband under the Bed
1848 · Farce · Satire
A jealous husband's investigation becomes bedroom farce; revised and combined in 1860.
Short story · 1857
A Little Hero
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
A Little Hero
1857 · Coming-of-age fiction
Written in prison in 1849, this story follows a boy's encounter with adult social and emotional secrets.
Short story · 1862
A Nasty Story
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
A Nasty Story
1862 · Satire
A general's attempt to show humane solidarity at a subordinate's wedding ends disastrously; also called An Unpleasant Predicament.
Short story · 1865
The Crocodile
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Crocodile
1865 · Absurdism · Satire
A civil servant is swallowed alive by an exhibited crocodile and starts making plans inside it.
Short story · 1873
Bobok
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
Bobok
1873 · Fantastic fiction · Satire
A listener overhears recently buried corpses deciding to abandon restraint.
Short story · 1876
The Heavenly Christmas Tree
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Heavenly Christmas Tree
1876 · Christmas tale · Social criticism
A freezing child outside Petersburg festivities is imagined among children at Christ's Christmas tree.
Short story · 1876
A Gentle Creature
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
A Gentle Creature
1876 · Psychological fiction
A pawnbroker speaks beside his wife's body; also translated as The Meek One.
Short story · 1876
The Peasant Marey
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Peasant Marey
1876 · Autobiographical fiction
A prison memory returns the narrator to a peasant's reassuring gesture in childhood.
Short story · 1877
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
1877 · Philosophical fiction · Dream vision
A suicidal narrator dreams of an unfallen world that his presence corrupts.
