Literature

Among Dostoevsky's later novels, The Adolescent occupies a very special place: published three years after The Devils and five years before his final masterpiece, The Karamazov Brothers, the novel charts the story of nineteen-year-old Arkady – the illegitimate son of the landowner Versilov and the maid Sofia Andreyevna – as he struggles to find his place in society and “become a Rothschild” against the background of 1870s Russia, a nation still tethered to its old systems and values but shaken up by the new ideological currents of socialism and nihilism.

Both a Bildungsroman and a novel of ideas, dealing with themes such as the relationship between fathers and sons and the role of money in modern society, The Adolescent – here presented in a brand-new translation by Dora O'Brien – shows Dostoevsky at his finest as a social commentator and observer of the workings of a young man's mind.

Having travelled from her native New York to London to meet her relatives, Isabel Archer, a young, independently minded young woman, rejects the marriage proposals of two suitors in her determination to stay in control of her destiny. When she suddenly comes into a large legacy, Isabel believes that this windfall will finally ensure the freedom that she yearns for and embarks on an exhilarating journey through France and Italy, only to find her endeavours thwarted by the sinister plotting of some of her acquaintances. Considered by many to be Henry James's finest novel, The Portrait of a Lady is a subtle examination of Victorian society and power relations, providing a groundbreaking psychological study of its protagonist. This volume is based on the authoritative New York Edition, and includes the author's seminal preface.

In this dark and compelling short novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky tells the story of Alexey Ivanovitch, a young tutor working in the household of an imperious Russian general. Alexey tries to break through the wall of the established order in Russia, but instead becomes mired in the endless downward spiral of betting and loss. His intense and inescapable addiction is accentuated by his affair with the General’s cruel yet seductively adept niece, Polina. In The Gambler, Dostoevsky reaches the heights of drama with this stunning psychological portrait.

“كان يوسف وحيدًا، لكن وحدته هذه لن تدوم طويلًا.يعمل يوسف في قسم الحوادث بمجلة Andlaquo;المجلةAndraquo;، وذات يوم يكلِّفه مدير التحرير بإجراء حوار صحفي مع أستاذ جامعي حُكِم عليه بالإعدام لقتله ابنه. وبدلًا من أن يحصل يوسف على إجابات عن أسئلته، يجد نفسه قد سقط في لعبة لا تحمل له إلا الأسرار والمفاجآت والأهوال التي تفوق أسوأ كوابيسه!لعبة قواعدها لا ترحم، لعبة لا يستطيع الخروج منها. فيحارب بلا أمل وبلا هوادة، لا بحثًا عن الحقيقة، بل لينجو بحياته.كان يوسف خليل وحيدًا لكن…لكنه سيفتقد وحدته هذه قريبًا!”

تدور الرواية حول “الشرقاوي” الذي يدخل في غيبوبة لم يعرف الأطباء سببًا لها وينتظر الجميع إفاقته، وبينما يرقد جسد الشرقاوي في المستشفى، إلا أنه ينتقل بشكلٍ غريب إلى عالم الظلام حيث يجد عالمًا تكوَّن بعد سقوط نيزك كبيرعلى كوكب الأرض إلا أنه لم يدمر الكوكب، بل حجب أشعة الشمس عن الأرض ما سبب اختفاء كل مصادر الطّاقة حتى غرق العالم في الظلام الحالك وبدأ بالتعفّن، ثم ظهور شخصيّة القومندان الذي يفرض عقيدة الظلام كمذهب جديد للبشر وعليه فكل من يُضبط متلبسًا بإنتاج النور حتى لو كان مجرّد إشعال نار فإنّه يُعدم دون محاكمة. يدخل الشرقاوي إلى هذا العالم المليئ بالضعف والجهل والخرافات، ونظر إليه الناس على أنه منقذهم ومُخلصهم مما هم فيه في وسط تعجبه ودهشته. انضم الشرقاوي ينضم إلى بعض الشباب المتمردين في عالم الظلام والذين أطلقوا على أنفسهم جماعة “النورانيين” حيث طالبوا بالضوء كحق مُكتسب للجميع فيُصبح مطاردًا من الشرطة. يذهب الشرقاوي والنورانيون في مغامرة غير محسوبة العواقب نحو جبال الهيمالايا على أمل إعادة الشمس إلى الأرض أو على الأقل الانتقال من عالم الظلام إلى عالم النور. وتأتي النهاية مفاجئة ومختلفة وسوداوية على عكس النهايات السعيدة المعتادة.

Rodion Raskolnikov is a handsome, yet impoverished student. Morally conflicted, he believes that extraordinary men who contribute much to society by their thinking are above the law, and in order to prove his theory, he decides to murder a grasping old money lender and, through unforeseen circumstances, her sister. Unexpectedly filled with remorse, Raskolnikov is caught in a moral dilemma: while he believes he can get away with the perfect murder, he also finds his conscience challenged by his developing relationship with the beautiful, but deeply religious Sonia. Crime and Punishment was first published in 1866 and has become one of Russian literature's most famous and influential works.

Inspired by Dostoevsky's own gambling addiction and written under pressure in order to pay off his creditors and retain his rights to his literary legacy, The Gambler is set in the casino of the fictional German spa town of Roulettenburg and follows the misfortunes of the young tutor Alexei Ivanovich. As he succumbs to the temptations of the roulette table, he finds himself engaged in a battle of wills with Polina, the woman he unrequitedly loves.

With an unforgettable cast of fellow gamblers and figures from European high society, this darkly comic novel of greed and self-destruction reveals Dostoevsky at his satirical and psychological best.

 

When an ageing, impoverished nobleman decides to style himself “Don Quixote” and embarks upon a series of daring endeavours, it is clear that his ability to distinguish between reality and the fantasy world of literary romance has broken down. His exploits turn into comic misadventures, in which everyday objects are transformed into the accoutrements of chivalry, peasant girls become princesses and windmills are mistaken for formidable giants, leading the hero and his squire Sancho Panza into the realms of absurdity and humiliation.

Renowned for its comical set pieces, Don Quixote is a profound meditation on the relationship between truth and fiction and the morality of deception, as well as the foundation stone of the modern novel.