Dostoyevsky's Biography

Whatever I say about Dostoyevsky's Biography by Henry Troyat will not be enough. Ever since I started managing my own blog I have conveniently evaded commenting on world classics; I just felt that the titles speak for themselves. Moreover, some of these classics are so profound and psychological; they are amazing on so many levels and I do not flatter myself to think I even understood 1/3 of them.

Dostoyevsky is one of the authors whom I greatly admire. I have read Crime and Punishment, The Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov. All three novels reveal the great psychological genius of Dostoyevsky. The plot is not important, the author gives us a limited portrait of the characters' outward appearance. The most important topics in Dostoyevsky's literature are the metaphysical anguish of the soul, the conflict between God and the Church, the meaning of life, the connection children - father, all seen through the eyes of the ordinary person. What made Dostoyevsky, otherwise an aristocrat, to focus on the beggar, the prostitute, the murderer, the thief, the rapist, the atheist, etc instead of the glamorous Russian bourgeois class. Why do women always play a secondary role in his works? Where does the fascination with God and the church come from? Why focus on the metaphysical expressions of the mind? Many more questions rise in my mind and to many of them the answer was given in Henry Troyat's Dostoyevsky's Biography.

Henry Troyat is a French author, biographer, and historian from an Armenian descent. He was born in Russia in 1907 but his family fled the country due to a threat of a revolution. They settled in Paris, where Troyat received a degree in law. His rich biography includes novels about some of the most eminent Russian figures - Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, Gogol, Boris Godunov, Tolstoy, etc. For Dostoyevsky's Biography Troyat shares in an interview: Many famous people have lead a life, which is not as nearly impressive as their works. Faced with their monotonous lives, the biographer feels the incentive to romantize, invent, interpret, and even make up. Dostoyevsky's case is different. His life path is so rich, passing from infinite despair to miraculous exaltation, that the author is more likely to diminish the tones, than to exaggerate them. It seems as the life of the genial writer is his best novel. 


Having read Dostoyevsky's Biography, I would have to agree with Troyat. Dostoyevsky's life, just like his novels, was full of rises and falls. Born in an aristocratic family, the young Fyodor spent his childhood in a severe isolation. His father deprived the family from any social activity; a typical scrooge, he established an unbearable routine, where Fyodor grew up as a loner. Even as a student in St Petersburg, his father refused to send him enough money and Dostoyevsky lived in poverty. A trend that continued during a big part of his life. Hence, the constantly repeating theme of the complex relationship father - son (mostly evident in The Brothers Karamazov). When his father died, Dostoyevsky felt guilty for ever wishing his death (remember Ivan Karamazov).

The four years in prison in Siberia greatly shaped the author's character. He was accused of a betrayal against the king for his ideas; at that time movements for the abolishment of the serfdom were highly popular. Dostoyevsky portrays his sufferings in Siberia in Notes from the Dead House.

Dostoyevsky's personal life was also difficult. He felt unrequited love several times; the author willingly sacrificed his feelings to connect the women he loved to their chosen ones. These love sacrifices have found their places in his novels as well.

The great author struggled with two sicknesses - epilepsy and gambling. The first tortured his physical body, the second - his mind. As a result most of his life he spend in constant poverty, borrowing money from friends and relatives. His second wife, 24 years younger than him, supported him greatly despite the death of two of their children.

The literary career of Dostoyevsky didn't have the best start either. He was accused of copying Gogol, of  not having a talent, even of lack of understanding of the human nature. Still, the author continued writing  and proved his opponents wrong. As already mentioned, the Russian author focused on the metaphysical anguish of the sole; he didn't care about what happened to the individual. Instead, he was fascinated with the internal dialogue, the motivation; not the actual crime, but what happened before that and after that in the human mind. Dostoyevsky was in love with the Russian people. He believed them to be European prophets, meant to take care of and wake up the Western world. The clash between God and the Church and the problem of the true faith were also central in his literature. Again, mostly evident in the novel that made him famous - The Brothers Karamazov.

I can continue writing about Dostoyevsky's life and how it shaped his talent and this blog will not be enough. As for Henry Troyat, his style is amazing. Dostoyevsky's biography is far from boring and uneventful, but I believe that even if it was, Troyat would still make a masterpiece worth reading from it. Indeed, a very good novel. If you are fascinated with Dostoyevsky, just like I am, you won't let go until you finish it. Highly recommended for all of you Russian fans.

Gogol denounces...

Being a huge admirer of Russian Literature, from mid 19th century classics to contemporary authors, I was quite surprised when I realized I haven't dedicated to it a single post since starting my blog. Beginning with Gogol today, I will correct this mistake and I will try to keep you updated about all the amazing Russian novels I have read.

Nikolay Gogol, one of the most mystic and enigmatic Russian authors, was born in the beginning of the 19th century in the family of small landowners. The eminent poet Alexander Pushkin introduced him to the literature elite in Saint Petersburg. Gogol's work is characterized by satirical mockery of the serfdom, absurd bureaucracy, and corrupted Russian society in the 19th century. An acknowledged genius, the author denounces the stupidity, greed, triteness, and narrowness of the typical clerk or landowner.

Dead Souls was intended as a trilogy, similar to Dante's Divine Comedy. However, several years before his death, Gogol falls into a depression and mystic crisis and destroys the manuscripts, depriving the generations to come of yet another clever and cynical denunciation of human weaknesses and flaws.

In Dead Souls Chichikov arrives in a small town with a rather unusual purpose - he wants to buy dead peasants from the local serfs. Fraud, charlatan, or the pure devil, Chichikov encounters several typical Russian serfs, whose characters Gogol uses to criticize the degradation of the contemporary society. From the naive bootlicker Manilov, through the gambler and alcoholic Nozdriov, the greedy and cunning Sobakevich to the typical scrooge Plushkin ( I finally understood the origin of the popular saying "Pushkin" for a person, who keeps all kinds of useless possessions), Gogol creates an extensive and grim gallery of human flaws and imperfections. Of course, Chichikov's strange business is intended to benefit only himself, as the reader understands by the end of the novel. The character of Chichikov encompasses all that Gogol fights against: a clever, cunning, and corrupted hustler, ready to do anything for money, fame, and position in society.

Gogol's works are certainly not an easy morsel for every reader. The story is not that important; instead the author focuses on human values (or the lack of those), perceptions, actions, and motives. If you do not enjoy extensive descriptions and deviations, you might be bored or uninterested. However, Gogol's works are an essential tool to understanding the reality in 19th century Russian, the corruption and degradation of morality, honesty, and integrity. In that sense the "dead souls" are the serfs and clerks, whose characters the author ridicules and denounces throughout the novel. These men lack any virtues worth of respect; they are submerged in their simple life, where the norms of behavior are dictated by self interest, greed, deceit, and fraud. In addition, the author possess a rich fantasy and inimitable irony, which makes his comic novels worth reading and a vital part of your home library.

Interesting trivia about Nikolay Gogol: rumor has it that when his grave was opened by his heirs, the author was found lying on his belly. Several years before his death Gogol falls into numerous conditions between life and death and some believe he was mistakenly buried alive. Whether or not this is true, he remains one of the strangest and most mystic Russian authors.

@ Amazon: Dead Souls: A Novel