Constance Garnett Libri

The final masterpiece from the celebrated author of Crime and Punishment and The Idiot... This extraordinary novel, Dostoyevsky’s last and greatest work, tells the dramatic story of four brothers—Dmitri, pleasure-seeking, impatient, unruly . . . Ivan, brilliant and morose . . . Alyosha, gentle, loving, honest . . . and the illegitimate Smerdyakov, sly, silent, cruel. Driven by intense passion, they become involved in the brutal murder of their own father, one of the most loathsome characters in all literature. Featuring the famous chapter, “The Grand Inquisitor,” Dostoyevsky’s final masterpiece is at once a complex character study, a riveting murder mystery, and a fascinating examination of man’s morality and the question of God’s existence. Translated by Constance Garnett Edited and with a Foreword by Manuel Komroff and an Afterword by Sara Paretsky

“Tutte le famiglie felici si somigliano; ogni famiglia infelice lo è a modo proprio” “Qual è il vero peccato di Anna, quello che non si può perdonare e che la fa consegnare alla vendetta divina? È la sua prorompente vitalità, che cogliamo in lei fin dal primo momento, da quando è appena scesa dal treno di Pietroburgo, il suo bisogno d’amore, che è anche inevitabilmente repressa sensualità; è questo il suo vero, imperdonabile peccato. Una scoperta allusione alla sotterranea presenza nel suo inconscio della propria colpevolezza è il sogno, minaccioso come un incubo che ritorna spesso nel sonno o nelle veglie angosciose, del vecchio contadino che rovista in un sacco borbottando, con l’erre moscia, certe sconnesse parole in francese: Il faut le battre le fer, le broyer, le pétrir [...]. Il ferro che il vecchio contadino vuole battere, frantumare, lavorare, cioè distruggere, è la stessa vitalità, il desiderio sessuale, l’amore colpevole e scandaloso di Anna; e così essa lo sente e lo intende come la colpa che la condanna[...]. Ed è quel vecchio a farle improvvisamente comprendere cosa deve fare: distruggere quella vitalità, e cioè distruggere se stessa per espiare la sua colpa.” Dalla Postfazione di Gianlorenzo Pacini

First published in Germany in 1894, after being banned in Russia, The Kingdom of God Is within You reveals Tolstoy’s world outlook after his conversion to Christianity. He argues that the kingdom of God is within reach of all. The core of the book deals with his nonresistance to evil, a principle Tolstoy passionately advocated. Gandhi was won over by the book. Tolstoy clearly describes the hazards that bullying governments and false beliefs produced. “The situation of the Christian part of humanity—with its prisons, forced labor, gallows, saloons, brothels, constantly increasing armaments, and millions of confused people ready like trained hounds to attack anyone against whom their masters set them—this situation would be terrible if it were the product of coercion, but it is above all the product of public opinion.” Abhorring the violence of revolution, Tolstoy calls on Christians to remember that the only guide for their actions is to be found in the divine principle dwelling within them, which in no sense can be checked or governed by anyone or anything else.

Presented here in a masterful new translation by Michael Pursglove, this landmark collection established the literary reputation of the author, who considered it his most significant contribution to Russian literature, and is universally regarded as a milestone in the Russian realist tradition.

Brand-new translation of one of Turgenevs major novels, includes pictures and an extensive section on Turgenevs life and works.

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS series, aimed at reviving public domain literature in print. TREDITION supports non-profit literary projects and donates part of the proceeds from sales, allowing readers to help preserve remarkable works of world literature.

A thrilling study of guilt and power, the Penguin Classics edition of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment is translated with an introduction and notes by David McDuff. Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Porfiry, a suspicious detective, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption. As the ensuing investigation and trial reveal the true identity of the murderer, Dostoyevsky's dark masterpiece evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur and everyone's faith in humanity is tested. This vivid translation by David McDuff has been acclaimed as the most accessible version of Dostoyevsky's great novel, rendering its dialogue with a unique force and naturalism.