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The Adolescent (1875)

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,6821810,313 (3.81)25
The narrator and protagonist of Dostoevsky's novel The Adolescent (first published in English as A Raw Youth) is Arkady Dolgoruky, a na*ve 19-year-old boy bursting with ambition and opinions. The illegitimate son of a dissipated landowner, he is torn between his desire to expose his father's wrongdoing and the desire to win his love. He travels to St. Petersburg to confront the father he barely knows, inspired by an inchoate dream of communion and armed with a mysterious document that he believes gives him power over others. This new English version by the most acclaimed of Dostoevsky's translators is a masterpiece of pathos and high comedy.… (more)
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» See also 25 mentions

English (14)  Dutch (3)  Spanish (1)  All languages (18)
Showing 1-5 of 14 (next | show all)
Bota intime e një djaloshi të zjarrtë përballë të papriturave të pakëndshme në një ndeshje të pakufishme me të vjetrën, bota e trazuar, e lodhur dhe e freskët njëkohësisht.
  BibliotekaFeniks | Nov 27, 2020 |
This was a fairly decent Dostoyevsky book, which parts that highly stimulated my interest and attention. However, it was a little long-winded in parts and it dragged on for bit too long. Nevertheless, although I don't consider it among Dotoyevsky's finer works, it is still a good novel.

3 stars. ( )
  DanielSTJ | Nov 16, 2019 |
As with The Devils, I think here, Dostoevsky's reach exceeded his grasp artistically - and while the former novel was hindered by censorship (Stavrogin's "confession" was not allowed to appear in the original version, and since each character represents a "type," this necessitated a re-working of the book in such a way that blunts the coherency and strength of its implicit social-political commentary), the latter is hindered by a mix of self-censorship and self-indulgence.

Dostoevsky was placing his novel in a journal with political leanings seen as contrary to his own, with an editor who had earlier derided Dostoevsky for his focus on pathological sensationalism - consequently he seems to restrict his subject matter and motifs to a greater degree than with any other work from his mature period. At the same time, there seems to be no limit to the number of devices, plot points, or character-traits haphazardly recycled from his published and unpublished oeuvre. This is also easily the most convoluted of his books, with every character pushed across hundreds of pages from one ridiculous intrigue to the next (Dostoevsky even mistakenly changed the name of one character from one part of the book to the next, so the reader should be forgiven for having any trouble keeping up with the action).

There are a few striking or memorable passages, as well as a clear theme (i.e. who can/should the Russian youth look to for moral guidance or as models?), but overall the novel seems distinctly and strangely unfocused. Perhaps the novel makes more sense when situated in the context of contemporaneous depictions of the Russian "family" - especially Turgenev's [b:Fathers and Sons|19117|Fathers and Sons|Ivan Turgenev|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390793535s/19117.jpg|1294426] and Tolstoy's [b:Anna Karenina|15823480|Anna Karenina|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1352422904s/15823480.jpg|2507928] - but [b:The Brothers Karamazov|4934|The Brothers Karamazov|Fyodor Dostoyevsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1427728126s/4934.jpg|3393910] is such a towering response both aesthetically and philosophically to these works (as well as a great achievement on its own), that it is difficult not to consign The Adolescent to the shadows.

So, while (Dostoevsky's biographer) Joseph Frank's critical assessment of The Devils lead me to appreciate it much more than I would have on my own, I've yet to encounter a convincing defense of the abiding merit of this book. ( )
  augustgarage | Sep 26, 2017 |
Not an easy read but a work of genius. Shades of other books by Dostoyevsky, so if your a fan it's a interesting tale. ( )
  charlie68 | Jan 9, 2017 |
Theme: an adolescent experiences/matures; ideas of the day in Russia illustrated
Type: social/philosophical insight, novel
Objectionable: profanity 49, 162; Jewish bias 293
Great Introduction, I listed characters inside cover
  keithhamblen | Jun 13, 2016 |
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» Add other authors (44 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Dostoevsky, Fyodorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Freeborn, RichardTranslatormain authorsome editionsconfirmed
Amendola Kühn, EvaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Backhoff-Malmquist, HelgaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Barbetti, Alexandra IljinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Beniuc, EmmaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bennewitz, Fr.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bezerra, PauloTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Eichenberg, FritzIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Eradano, BazzarelliIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Franco, MariaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Freeborn, RichardTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Garnett, ConstanceTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Güell, Josep M.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Geier, SwetlanaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gras-Racic, MarionTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hansen-Löve, Aage A.Nachwortsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ianosi, IonForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ivkovic, MilosTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Μακρή ΚοραλλίαTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kazin, AlfredIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kufferle, RinaldoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Leto, Maria LetoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Luneau, SylvieTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
MacAndrew, Andrew R.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Malcovati, FaustoEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Malmquist, Helga BackhoffTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mardersteig, MartinoDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mochulsky, KonstantinIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Moder, JankoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nadai, Luigi VittorioTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Neuhäuser, RudolfAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nivat, GeorgesPrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
O'Brien, DoraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ocvirk, AntonIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Orta Manzano, MarianoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pacini, GianlorenzoIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pascal, PierreContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pevear, RichardTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Praag, S. vanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Röhl, HermannÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Raffo, Anton MariaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rakowska, M.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Röhl, HermannÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ripellino, Angelo MariaPrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schlœzer, Boris deTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Simmons, Ernest J.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tenconi, Luigi GaleazzoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Totti, ElmoEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Troyat, HenriIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Verdinois, FederigoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Volokhonsky, LarissaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Whishaw, FrederickTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Селезнёв, Юрий ИвановичForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Дианов, А.Illustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
קריקסונוב, פטרTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
הרברג, שלמהמתרגםsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Unable to restrain myself, I have sat down to record this history of my first steps on life's career, though I could have done as well without it.
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Information from the Italian Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
… l'epoca attuale è il tempo della mediocrità aurea e dell'insensibilità, della passione per l'ignoranza, della pigrizia, dell'incapacità al lavoro e dell'aspirazione a trovar tutto già bell'e pronto. Nessuno pensa; di rado si trova qualcuno che concepisca un'idea.
Ma forse è meglio che gli altri ci offendano: almeno ci liberano dalla disgrazia di amarli.
Conosco invece a Pietroburgo alcuni luoghi «felici», cioè luoghi dove una volta, per qualche ragione, sono stato felice: ebbene, ho cari questi luoghi, ed appositamente ci vado meno che posso per poter un giorno, quando mi sentirò solitario e infelice, ritornarvi a rivivere i miei ricordi in un'ora di dolce malinconia.
«E l'avvocato si sa cos'è: l'avvocato è “una coscienza presa in affitto”» …
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Variant Titles: The Adolescent was also published as The Raw Youth and An Accidental Family.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

The narrator and protagonist of Dostoevsky's novel The Adolescent (first published in English as A Raw Youth) is Arkady Dolgoruky, a na*ve 19-year-old boy bursting with ambition and opinions. The illegitimate son of a dissipated landowner, he is torn between his desire to expose his father's wrongdoing and the desire to win his love. He travels to St. Petersburg to confront the father he barely knows, inspired by an inchoate dream of communion and armed with a mysterious document that he believes gives him power over others. This new English version by the most acclaimed of Dostoevsky's translators is a masterpiece of pathos and high comedy.

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Book description
La storia di un adolescente povero e ambizioso, in bilico tra la malvagità e la grazia, in un grande romanzo psicologico di Dostoevskij (1821-81), nel quale confluiscono tutti i temi cari all'autore.
(piopas)
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Legacy Library: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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W.W. Norton

An edition of this book was published by W.W. Norton.

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