The Idiot

A classic novel of innocence, guilt, and morality by a Russian master

In one of Dostoevsky's most personal novels, Prince Myshkin, an almost comically innocent Christ figure in a land of sinners, returns to Russia from a sanitorium in Switzerland. His naivete and his faith in beauty contrasts sharply with that of his society, earning him the reputation of "the idiot." Prince Myshkin's morality is tested when he becomes caught in a love triangle and falls into betrayal and tragedy.Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881), one of nineteenth-century Russia’s greatest novelists, spent four years in a convict prison in Siberia, after which he was obliged to enlist in the army. In later years his penchant for gambling sent him deeply into debt. Most of his important works were written after 1864, including Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov, all available from Penguin Classics.