Dostoevsky's Greatest Characters - by B Paris (Paperback)

About the Book

Addressed to all readers of Dostoevsky, as well as to teachers, students, and specialists, this lucidly-written study approaches the underground man, Raskolnikov, and Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov as imagined human beings whose feelings, behaviors, and ideas are expressions of their personalities and experience. While asserting the autonomy of Dostoevsky's characters, Paris shows that there is a tension between them and the author's rhetoric and demonstrates that the characters often escape their illustrative roles. By paying close attention to mimetic detail, this book seeks to recover Dostoevsky's psychological intuitions and fully to appreciate his brilliance in characterization.

Book Synopsis

Addressed to all readers of Dostoevsky, as well as to teachers, students, and specialists, this lucidly-written study approaches the underground manm Raskolnikov, and Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov as lucidly imagined beings whose feelings, behaviours, and ideas are expressions of their personalities and experience.

Review Quotes

"Dostoevsky s fictional characters - qua characters - have not received the attention they deserve from Bakhtinian Slavists and other critics. Bernard Paris aims to correct this situation by looking at the underground man, Raskolnikov, and two of the Karamazov brothers through a post-Freudian psychoanalytic lens. The result is a savvy and very readable study which helps us to appreciate both the profound humanity of individual Dostoevskian characters as well as Dostoevsky s extraordinary talent for mimetic portrayal." - Daniel Rancour-Laferriere, Emeritus Professor of Russian, University of California, Davis

"I know of no other book that comes even close to this one in explaining the intricacies of Dostoevsky's major characters. Having taught Dostoevsky's novels for over twenty years, I count myself lucky to have come upon this outstanding study. . . . To me, this is the best book in English on Dostoevsky's major characters. . . . Paris writes clearly and without jargon. Undergraduates and other non-specialists could follow his paragraphs without difficulty. Psychologists, philosophers, and teachers of literature and creative writing will profit greatly from his work." - Joe E. Barnhart, Emeritus Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas and editor of Dostoevsky s Polyphonic Talent

About the Author

Bernard J. Paris is Emeritus Professor of English and former Director of the Institute for Psychological Study of the Arts at the University of Florida.