Fyodor Dostoevsky By Peter Leithart

 Fyodor Dostoevsky

By Peter Leithart

Series: Christian Encounters Series

Fyodor Dostoevsky, was a prolific 19th century Russian writer, who is probably most famous for his work, The Brothers Karamazov. This biography is set up as a conversation between Dostoevsky and his friend, Maikov after dinner one evening. It is almost as if Maikov is interviewing Dostoevsky or that Dostoevsky is reminissing about his life. He shares about his childhood, spending time in Darovoe. Then he moves on to talk about exile in Siberia. The majority of the book is about Dostoevsky’s  two marriages, struggles with debt, and his writings.

While a relatively well known author, many people know very little about his life. Even taking a Russian literature class in high school didn’t teach me much about him other than what he wrote and that he wrote about the common people, the peasants. Like many of the Russian stories I read, it was hard to keep the various names straight as they can be similar. Once you get passed that, it was a good biography and I learned a lot about Dostoevsky’s life.