内容简介
"The Idiot," by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is part of the "Barnes andNoble Classics"" "series, which offers quality editions ataffordable prices to the student and the general reader, includingnew scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully craftedextras. Here are some of the remarkable features of "Barnes andNoble Classics": New introductions commissioned from today's topwriters and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies ofcontemporary historical, biographical, and cultural eventsFootnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations,parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, andfilms inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Studyquestions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectationsBibliographies for further reading Indices and Glossaries, whenappropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed tosuperior specifications; some include illustrations of historicalinterest. "Barnes and Noble Classics "pulls together aconstellation of influences-biographical, historical, andliterary-to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduringworks. Just two years after completing "Crime and Punishment,"which explored the mind of a murderer, Dostoevsky produced anothermasterpiece, "The Idiot." This time the author portrays a trulybeautiful soul-a character he found difficult to bring to lifebecause, as he wrote, "beauty is the ideal, and neither my country,nor civilized Europe, know what that ideal of beauty is." Theresult was one of Dostoevsky's greatest characters-Prince Myshkin,a saintly, Christ-like, yet deeply human figure. The story beginswhen Myshkin arrives on Russian soil after a stay in aSwisssanatorium. Scorned by St. Petersburg society as an idiot forhis generosity and innocence, the prince finds himself at thecenter of a struggle between a rich, kept woman and a beautiful,virtuous girl, who both hope to win his affection. Unfortunately,Myshkin's very goodness seems to bring disaster to everyone hemeets. The shocking denouement tragically reveals how, in a worldobsessed with money, power, and sexual conquest, a sanatorium isthe only place for a saint. Joseph Frank is Professor Emeritus ofComparative Literature at Princeton University and ProfessorEmeritus of Comparative Literature and Slavic Languages andLiterature at Stanford University. He is the author of afive-volume study of Dostoevsky's life and work. The first fourvolumes received the National Book Critics Circle Award forBiography, two Christian Gauss Awards, two James Russell LowellAwards of the Modern Language Association, a Los Angeles Times BookPrize, and other honors. Frank is also the author of "Through theRussian Prism: Essays on Literature and Culture, The WideningGyre," and "The Idea of Spatial Form." He also wrote theintroduction to the Barnes and Noble Classics edition ofDostoevsky's "The House of the Dead and Poor Folk."