12 best books of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is known all over the world - his works in Russia are included in the list of literature studied in secondary schools, in universities, students of linguists and theater-goers in different countries read books, they make performances on them, they remove films. Deep drama, classical language and the reader’s acquaintance with different sections of the 19th century population, their way of life and traditions — these qualities are appreciated by the novels, plays and novels of the great Russian prose writer. We represent the rating, which includes the 12 best books of Fyodor Dostoevsky - you can return to their reading as many times as you like and discover something new for yourself.
| Nomination | a place | composition | rating |
| Rating the best books of Dostoevsky | 1 | The Karamazov brothers (1879-1880) | 4.9 |
| 2 | Crime and Punishment (1866) | 4.9 | |
| 3 | The Idiot (1867-1869) | 4.8 | |
| 4 | Humiliated and offended (1861) | 4.8 | |
| 5 | Demons (1870-1872) | 4.8 | |
| 6 | Notes from the Underground (1864) | 4.7 | |
| 7 | Player (1866) | 4.7 | |
| 8 | Notes from the House of the Dead (1860-1861) | 4.7 | |
| 9 | Poor people (1844-1845) | 4.6 | |
| 10 | White Nights (1948) | 4.6 | |
| 11 | Teenager (1875) | 4.5 | |
| 12 | Netochka Nezvanova (1849) | 4.5 |
Rating the best books of Dostoevsky
The Karamazov brothers (1879-1880)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.9
One of the last works of Fyodor Mikhailovich "The Brothers Karamazov" covers the issues of morality, freedom, relationship with God. Critics call the novel the pinnacle of Dostoevsky's work: it had a significant impact on world culture and especially Russian culture, literature and philosophy.
In the work, on which the author worked for 2 years, there are notes of a thriller, a detective, many psychological techniques and behavior analysis of the characters, of which there are many in the novel. The basic idea is to define the secrets of the human soul and the essence of everyone’s existence in this world. The story of the Karamazov family is in the center of the story - they, in the process of development, show by example what the answers to the main questions that are relevant in our modern world can be. Relationships of the characters are not simple, but the strong spiritual connection of all members of the gens can be clearly seen. Dostoevsky manages to show the reader the two sides of the human soul - the divine and the devilish beginning.
The Brothers Karamazov is a novel in four parts. After reading the work, everyone will have their own aftertaste: someone does not agree with the author’s vision, it appeals to someone. Probably for this reason, the book is still in demand and is actively discussed by artistic figures, students and other societies in different countries.
Crime and Punishment (1866)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.9
Who does not know about Rodion Raskolnikov? The novel “Crime and Punishment” is included in the program of studying by high school students for a reason: the work addresses the problem of morality, the author has compiled a real psychological thriller, clearly showing the consequences of rash (or deliberate?) Actions of young people.Raskolnikov finds himself in the grip of fate after the murder of an old woman lender, the author directs the hero to the study of conscience, plunges into faith, calls for conscience, awakens in Rodion the responsibility and the need for atonement for sin. Details describing the inner experiences of the hero suggest that Dostoevsky himself committed a crime, otherwise, where does such a range of feelings come from?
The work is difficult for perception, however, Russian students learn about it, in other countries the novel is offered to older students with a more mature mind. However, people who read "Crime and Punishment" in different years, look at the plot in their own way, from the point of view of the experience gained, and evaluate what is happening in a different way. Rodion Raskolnikov around the world has become a nominal character.
The Idiot (1867-1869)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.8
On the third line of our ranking, the experts placed the well-known novel Idiot, whose main character, Prince Myshkin, became one of the favorite characters of Fyodor Mikhailovich. Why? Perhaps it’s a matter of Myshkin’s delicate mental organization, his honesty and openness, which people perceive as something abnormal, from which the hero doesn’t get the most pleasant nickname, like mental illness. By the way, it really happened to him once ... The idea of a novel was born when Fyodor Mikhailovich was abroad. Work on the work lasted 2 years.
Dostoevsky wanted to show the main character as purity, even childish naivety, lost by society, but gradually washing away the rage of anger and greed from the characters. Sensitivity to others, their grief, the ability to sympathize and maintain their own balance - all this can only really sincere person, embodied in Myshkin. However, the other characters are also spelled out by the author incredibly subtle, so much so that it is simply impossible to forget them - the images are firmly fixed in the memory and confused them during the reading of the four books that make up the novel are impossible.
Many modern readers in Russia and other countries, after becoming acquainted with the novel, turn into their own lives and often change those traits of their character that were deliberately distinguished in consciousness through the reflection of acting characters.
Humiliated and offended (1861)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.8
In the middle of the XIX century there was an upsurge in the social life of the Russian people, at the same time Fyodor Mikhailovich was working on creating the novel “Humiliated and offended” - his publication at that time was significant. The work highlights the problem of social stratification using the example of the family of Prince Valkovsky, a cynical philosopher and a prototype for the consciousness of the later heroes of Dostoevsky (Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov and others), and poor people incarnated by the family owner Ihmenev. The so-called higher and lower strata, despite the apparent remoteness, inevitably interact, and the decision of the children of families to link their destinies without the blessing of parents in general seems impossible for that time. In addition to social stratification, Fyodor Mikhailovich shows the problem of selfishness, blind and proud, which Valkovsky demonstrates.
Dostoevsky worked on the novel immediately after returning from exile, which lasted several years. This may have affected the quality of the work - “The Humiliated and Offended” were written in a particularly interesting and diverse manner, as the Russian classic pen does.
Demons (1870-1872)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.8
One of the most difficult and difficult novels “Demons” was created on the basis of real events: in the 70s of the 19th century, revolutionaries from one of the many circles decided to do away with the former like-minded person who decided to retire. Many politicians, the interweaving of veiled well-known figures and thinkers of that time, a premonition of the decomposition of an intelligent society into terrorist and radical groups, characterize the novel and Dostoevsky himself as a visionary of the events to come after decades.“One denial, without any generosity and without any force” - this phrase of one of the heroes of Nikolai Stavrogin perfectly describes the essence of the novel “Demons”.
The impetus for writing a political novel was the murder of a student, organized by a revolutionary terrorist group led by Sergei Nechaev. This student became the prototype of a book revolutionist, who changed the vector and decided to “hand over” the whole company. The event was so resonant, absurd and cruel for those times that Dostoevsky found it necessary to draw the attention of readers to this.
According to Fyodor Mikhailovich from a letter addressed to the critic and philosopher Nikolai Strakhov, the novel “Demons” is an attempt to convey a few thoughts about the emerging revolutionary movements, and the artistic presentation suffered from this. And indeed, it is not so easy to read it, in particular, due to the complication of the plot due to the controversy of the ideological heroes.
Notes from the Underground (1864)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.7
The next in the rating novel “Notes from the Underground” is written in the first person of the collegiate assessor (judge, official) setting out his confession on paper. Transcending his position, showing courage, he appeals to his Soul and conscience, because his political and social activities do not follow the standards of morality even at that time. The hero constantly feels guilty for his inability to restore order in the reality entrusted to him.
The Underground is an allegory, it embodies the hero’s attempt to psychologically shut off from the outside world in complete contempt of people. This is where the questions about the purpose of man occur in parallel with the denial of good, scientific progress and all that is positive in the world. It is preceded by the presentation of the early years of the official, where the embryos of future fears and emotional throwings are traced.
Fyodor Mikhailovich with the novel “Notes from the Underground” laid the foundation for existentialism in world literature — in this direction writers worked until the middle of the 20th century. Once Nietzsche admitted that Dostoevsky was the only psychologist from whom the German thinker could at least learn something.
Player (1866)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.7
The story of the creation of the novel “The Player” is very interesting. As you know, Dostoevsky himself was an avid player. Once in Wiesbaden, he lost all his money, and in order to compensate for the lack of funds, he signed a contract with one publishing company to write a novel in an unrealistically short time frame - 26 days. In order to be in time at a given time, Fyodor Mikhailovich had to hire a stenographer, whom he dictated in many respects his autobiographical novel. The stenographer turned out to be Anna Snitkina, who later became the wife and inspirer of genius.
Dostoevsky dedicates the novel to gambling and their influence on the consciousness and life of a person who loses his entire fortune. The problem is that money becomes an end in itself.
Alexey Ivanovich on a trip to Germany with the family of a retired captain serves as a teacher of children of the family. He has warm feelings for the non-native general’s daughter Polina, but she does not reciprocate Alexei, the subject of her sympathies is the French marquis. The family of the general lives in anticipation of the death of his grandmother, which should leave a huge fortune in inheritance. However, the old woman is getting better, nothing threatens her life, and she arrives in a German town where the action takes place, and there she loses a large part of her fortune. Upon learning of this, Alexey wins a large sum for Polina, but she does not accept money out of pride.
Excitement delays, and now Alexey Ivanovich becomes a player, putting the idea of winning money in the first place. After a while, the main character learns that his beloved actually had mutual feelings for him ...
Notes from the House of the Dead (1860-1861)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.7
The story "Notes from the Dead House" is a description of the hero's life in prison from the first person.The reader gets acquainted with all the exiles of the XIX century, transferred in the form of individual sketches without connection into a single plot. Dostoevsky conveys life, emotions and feelings of prisoners - the hero himself and his "comrades in misfortune."
The work is based on the real experience of Dostoevsky, who was in exile, so there is no need to doubt the authenticity of events. “Dead House” is a prison in Siberia, the prototype of which was the Omsk prison, where the author was serving 4 years in the case of Petrashevists.
The nobleman A.P. Goryanchikov, the main character of the story, after serving his sentence in prison, breaks all ties with his relatives and remains in Siberia, leads a secluded life, and earns his living by private lessons. Readings and sketches about hard labor become the only entertainment of the former prisoner. He tells how hard it was for him to get used to the peasant environment, how he got acquainted with the life in prison, with the customs of the prisoners and their interpersonal relations. The hero fell under the second rank of service in the fortress in the departure department of criminals in especially serious cases (accused of killing his wife for 10 years), where prisoners serve under the control of the military.
The story "Notes from the House of the Dead" is a documentary. From it you can learn about the life of prisoners in the second half of the XIX century, about their dreams, entertainment, etc. In the letters, F. M. Dostoevsky confesses to his brother: "How much I have learned from prison types of people, characters ... I will get them for whole volumes".
Poor people (1844-1845)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.6
The story, written in the epistolary genre at the dawn of the twenty-five-year-old Fyodor Dostoevsky, is “Poor People” - this is a description of life in the letters of Makar Alekseevich Devushkin and an orphan, a young girl Varvara Alekseevny Dobroselova. They know each other about the course of life, from individual letters you can put the plots.
By "poor" we should understand not the financial situation, but the spiritual emptiness of the characters, the tragedy of their fate and misfortunes. The characters are borrowed from European writers, the young Dostoevsky used the basis of the plot, transforming it and adapting it to a specific story. Critics praised the first work of Fedor Mikhailovich for the depth and innovative approach that determined the basis of the previously non-existing genre of writing “natural school”. “Poor people”, in the opinion of Pletnev’s critic, are close in spirit to the works of N. V. Gogol.
White Nights (1948)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.6
One of the first lyrical stories of the young Dostoevsky "White Nights" takes the reader to St. Petersburg, the writer's favorite city. The dreamer, the main character, meets a beautiful Nastenka, a strong friendship arises between them: meetings, walks, heart-to-heart talks, during which the girl shares with her new friend her feelings for the guest in the room of her grandmother. He promised a year later to return to the young person, but she did not wait for him in due time. The dreamer, without noticing it, falls in love with Nastya and invites her to help her find the lodger.
The work was originally dedicated to Dostoevsky’s friend Alexey Plescheev. 12 years later, in 1860, Fyodor Mikhailovich returned to the editorial board of the White Nights and significantly reworked the work, adding Pushkin romanticism and at the same time stiffness to the main character, transforming his monologues.
Teenager (1875)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.5
The novel "Teenager" is another story of a man in the notes. The main character is a young man of nineteen, Arkady Dolgoruky, who imagines himself a great sinner. It is driven by greed, greed, debauchery - the formation of personality occurs outside the traditional psychological and spiritual framework. Such a development takes place against the background of the complicated relations of his parents, the problem of fathers and children stands out - it is precisely from it that the difficulties of forming a child’s personality often flow. Arkady is torn in his own contradictions.Dostoevsky simultaneously with the development shows the beginning of the destruction of the personality at such a young age, provoked by external circumstances and the inability of the still weak psyche to resist them.
Another question raised by the author, whether there is a chance for personal growth after 19 years, is also partially covered in the work.
Netochka Nezvanova (1849)
The author of the book: F.M. DostoevskyRating: 4.5
The unfinished novel, transformed by Dostoevsky into a story, “Netochka Nezvanova” completes the ranking of popular works of the Russian classic pen. Suddenly, an eight-year-old girl who remained in orphans gets into care for strangers who showed sympathy to a girl thrown on the street to the dream house with red curtains, which she saw from the window of her home. Life goes on smoothly - Alexandra Mikhailovna is trying with all her might to replace the heroine with her mother. Everything ends when Netochka finds a letter addressed to the named mother from a long-time fan. The husband, having learned of this, begins tyrannizing his wife, for which the young heroine will hate him and, in a fit of quarrel, intends to leave home.
The most poignant and soulful history of Fyodor Mikhailovich is full of psychological strength and depth that Netochka, an emancipated character, who has been used in other works by the author under different names more than once (Dunya Raskolnikov, Natasha Ikhmenyova, etc.), has to experience. The writer raised hot for the XIX century problems - the low position of women in society and family, showed the girl's attempt to escape from the clutches of domestic tyranny into an independent independent life.
Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.
