Dostoevsky's Life and Impact on Literature

Dostoevsky's life and major works are explored in a personal journey, showcasing his impact on the author and Russian literature.

### An In-Depth Exploration of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Life and Works
* 📚 This video provides a basic introduction to Fyodor Dostoevsky, offering a **surface-level timeline of his life** and discussing his **most important personal and literary influences**.
* 🎭 Dostoevsky, born in 1821 in Moscow, came from an upper-class background, with his father being a **head physician** and his mother the **daughter of a merchant family**.
* ⚖ The impact of serfdom, as well as the political and cultural tensions of the time, played a **significant role** in shaping Dostoevsky's worldview and literary works.
* 📖 "In 1849, Dostoevsky was arrested for his involvement in a conspiracy against the Tsarist regime and **narrowly escaped a death sentence**."
* 💬 Dostoevsky's writing style was characterized by a deep exploration of **human psychology, morality, and spirituality**, often challenging **conventional norms and beliefs**.
* ❤ The video creator shares their personal journey of discovering and reading Dostoevsky's works, starting with "**The Idiot**" and later delving into "**The Adolescent**" and "**Notes from Underground**".
* 💡 Each of Dostoevsky's works is noted for its **profound insights** into themes such as love, family, societal norms, morality, and free will.
* 📚 The creator plans to read more of Dostoevsky's works in the future, including **"The House of the Dead," "The Gambler," "Demons," "Crime and Punishment,"** and **"The Brothers Karamazov."**

welcome to my informal introduction to this dooski video. Filmed weeks after the video you're about to see was filmed because I forgot to film an introduction, and it just doesn't make sense to start the video in the middle of a thought. So, I figured I should do a little intro. Now, this video is basically a basic introduction to doovi. I kind of go through a surface-level timeline of his life. I don't really go into depth as much as I would have liked to. I kind of wish that I was a doovi scholar, to be honest, but I'm not. I felt I included information that is most important to know when you go in and start reading his books. If you really fall in love with him as an author and love what you're reading, these are things that are worth knowing about him as a person. And then my own personal journey reading his books, how I got into it, because really he was the first Russian author that I ever read. So, I hope you guys enjoy. Um, I don't know what else I should

say in an intro I feel like I to shut the [ __ ] up as quickly as possible and get into the video. Let me just start with my personal doovi Journey. When I started reading him, I wasn't really reading anything in the realm of 19th-century Russian literature. I hadn't read very many Classics. My first doovi book was the idiot. I bought it because I had a Barnes & Noble gift card, and I had read Elif Batuman. The idiot. I just loved reading about selling's interactions with Russian books, the Russian language. I mean, I think this really planted a seed for me, um, and it just took a little while to bloom. It was really like my first introduction to anything Russian. Before I get into the books that I've read, I want to kind of run through the dooski timeline. Some things may be incorrect, so let me know if they are. I wish I had done more research, but time, you know, life, work just get in the way. Jovi was born in 1821 in Moscow, and his father was a head

physician, and his mother was the daughter of a merchant family. I is part of like the upper echelon of society, maybe not like full-blown nobility, but still it seems like there was a very small, basically non-existent middle class at this time. People were either rich, wealthy, powerful, and nobles, landowners, merchants, or basically just living in poverty, peasants, serfs, you know, typical [ __ ] up [ __ ] right? In 1839, his father is killed, allegedly by his own peasants. And like I mentioned, serfdom was a major part of Russian society at this time. I think landowners and people who owned peasants referred to them as souls, like how many souls they own. And like that's crazy, right? This was just a major system that was part of everyday life and definitely had a major influence on Dostoevsky and even Tolstoy, who was around in this time. You see Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, all these people kind of bringing in this new literary movement of realism and focusing on everyday life. I skipped

over this, but in 1837, Dostoevsky went to college. He was like studying Army engineering or something like that, and he was described as pensive, solitary, and prone to fits of depression. I don't know who the source is on that, so take that with a grain of salt, but I think it's kind of telling for the kinds of things that he writes and explores. But then in 1845, he kind of joins literary Society with the publication of Poor Folk. But an important thing to note around this time, mid-1800s, is that there is a lot of political and cultural tension. In 1845, this Petrevski Circle was founded, and it was essentially a Russian literary Discussion Group containing a lot of progressive-minded individuals, freethinkers, leftist thinkers. They basically discussed and circulated banned books. And there was a zar regime at this time. In 1849, Dostoevsky was arrested along with other people who belong to this group because they were accused of being part of this conspiracy where they were criticizing the Zar regime.

and a couple of other people were basically sentenced to death by firing squad, and he was walked out like tied up. And literally seconds before his execution, sentence is changed like in that last Split Second. And I think he's sentenced to like 8 years of Exile, 8 years of penal servitude, and then later it was changed to four years. This is a defining moment in his life. I have a quote written by dooski about this exact moment. Today, December 22nd, we were all taken to semonski square. There the sentence of death was read out to us. We were all made to kiss the cross, a sword was broken over our heads, and we were told to put on our white execution shirts. Then three of us were tied to the post to be executed. I was the sixth and therefore and the second group of those to be executed. Then the retreat was sounded on the drums, those tied to the post were taken back, and an order from his Imperial Majesty was read to us.

granting our lives. Afterwards, our sentences were read out to us. This is just an important thing to note that happened to him. And then in 1854, Dostoevsky was released from prison. Please ignore my dog barking in every video. And then in 1857, he marries his first wife, Maria Dmitrievna. I just close the door, but you can still hear the barking. So in 1859, Dostoevsky returns to St. Petersburg after 10 years of being exiled and serving his time. And in 1862, he goes abroad for the first time. He goes to a lot of places in Europe. He's horrified by the industrial society that he's observing. Oh my God, I'm so done with the barking. Okay, every time I go to start recording again, she starts barking. But in 1864, Dostoevsky is in debt, his wife dies, and then he works on Notes from Underground. In 1865, he leaves Russia to escape his debts, and he writes Crime and Punishment. So, crime and

punishment is like the first of his four real like notable books that he wrote after coming back from Siberian Exile. 1866 crime and punishment is published and then he begins work on the Gambler. So the Gambler I actually learned quite a bit about that book reading doovi betrayed by his wife. This is translated literally first edition translation. Um this is a book by his second wife and uh she was like 20 or like 19 or 18 taking a class learning how to write in shorthand and doovi knew her teacher and he had asked like whoever your best student is please send them over to me because I need somebody to write in shorthand as I dictate to them. And this in this case it was the book The Gambler. Anna was sent over there. Dooski at this point is like I mean I'm not doing the math but he was like a middle-aged man at this point and she recounts the very first moments that she met him and she was a fan of his work actually. He began.

writing The Gambler basically to pay off all of these debts that he owed. So he wrote a story about gambling. How perfect is that? So in 1867, he marries Anna. And I kind of want to touch on this again later after I do the timeline. But like, oh my God, in 1868, they have a daughter and she dies 5 months later. And then he starts working on The Idiot and they move to Italy for some time. In 1869, they have a second daughter who is born in Dresden. And then they live in poverty. 1870, the Franco-Prussian war is going on and he's working on The Devils and The Eternal Husband, which I have not read. I haven't read The Devils or Demons either. And then in 1871, he returns to Russia and his son Fodor is born in St. Petersburg. 1874, he writes A Raw Youth aka The Adolescent, aka my favorite book. 1878, he works on Brothers Karamazov and his second son dies. And that book is

published in 1879, and then in 1881, Dostoevsky dies with a burst blood vessel in his lungs, aggravated by an attack of epilepsy. So that is the timeline, and now I kind of want to talk about my Dostoevsky journey. I've read three of his books, so I started this in April of 2022, and I finished it in May of 2022. And like with other Dostoevsky books, it takes me a long time to get through because it is just dense. So this is kind of slow-moving, but it is for me exhilarating and exciting. There's a jewel on every single page, so you can tell that it's a loved book. This novel contains details of like his most personal ordeals, the epilepsy attacks, the mock execution. So September of 1867, Dostoevsky was working on this. He was working on this while living in Switzerland with his wife. And I'm just going to read from my notes for this part. This part is specifically from Dostoevsky's notebook from 1867, and he reveals deep uncertainty as

to the direction of the novel and a letter to appon M mov, a Russian poet. He expl exp that his own desperate Circumstances had forced him to seize on an idea he had considered for some time but felt artistically unready for. This was the idea to depict a completely beautiful human being rather than bring a man to goodness. He wanted to start with a man who was already a truly Christian Soul, essentially innocent and deeply compassionate, and test him against the psychological, social, and political complexities of the modern Russian World. So, the difficulty with this approach is that he didn't know what he was going to write in advance. He knew the soul of this character that he wanted to write and kind of just had to let things happen to this character. So he didn't know how people were really going to react to him and how these character relationships were going to pan out until he started writing. The reason that I was so interested in Reading um Anna's diary and I actually like had heard about this story back when I was reading

the idiot. And then I was in a vintage store, and I found this, and I was praying that this excerpt would be in here, but it's not. It's from August of 1867, shortly after they got married when they're in Switzerland, and they go to Basel for a day, and they visited its Museum, and Anor wrote, There are only two really Priceless pictures in the whole museum, one of them being the dead savior, a marvelous work that horrified me and so deeply impressed Fodor that he pronounced H Bane. I hope I'm not butchering that either, the younger a painter and creator of the first rank. The whole form of Christ is emaciated, the ribs and Bones plain to see, hands and feet riddled with wounds, all blue and swollen like a corpse on the point of decomposition. The face too is fearfully agonized, the eyes half open still but with no expression in them and giving no idea of seeing, nose, mouth, and Chin are all blue. The whole thing Bears

such a strong resemblance to a real dead body. Fodor, nonetheless, was completely carried away by it, and in his desire to look at it closer, got onto a chair, so that I was in a terrible state lest he should have to pay a fine like one is always liable to. Here, 2 years later, The Idiot was published, and there's a scene where Prince Mishkin is in, I don't remember whose house, and this person has a copy of the Dead Christ hanging there. He kind of has an experience that reflects Dostoevsky's real-life experience with this painting. He cries out, Why a man's faith might be ruined by looking at that picture. The face was depicted as though still suffering, as though the body only just dead was still almost quivering with agony. The picture was one of pure nature, for the face was not beautified by the artist but was left as it would naturally be, whosoever the sufferer after such anguish. It is strange to look on this dreadful picture of the

mangled corpse of the Savior, and to put this question to oneself. Supposing that the disciples, the future Apostles, the women who had followed him, and stood by the cross, all of whom believed in and worshiped him. Supposing that they saw this tortured body, this face so mangled and bleeding and bruising. How could they have gazed upon the Dreadful sight and yet have believed that he would rise again. Here we see like there are major themes of atheism, Christianity, Catholicism. What would seem like mundane conversations and drama kind of started to make these truths that I knew the shape of but I had never defined with words take shape in my head, and it was like I could finally grasp at things that had just been feelings Within Myself. It's why I basically started to fall in love with Russian literature and ultimately pursued learning Russian and things like that. That was my experience reading the idiot. I absolutely loved it, you know, if you ask me like to tell you what goes on, I don't even remember too clearly, but I just

still remember the feeling that I get then my second doovi was my absolute favorite. The Adolescent like let me just take a moment because I adore this book, and I recently found out that many people, especially in Russia, do not consider this like a great book. They don't really love it, and so for that reason, there aren't that many translations of this compared to the idiot. Or you know I'm going to take what I can get. I read this in February of 2023 until April of 2023. So again it takes me a while. I remember waking up at 3:00 in the morning at my apartment and just like sitting on my closet floor and reading like three chapters because once you get into it, it's like you can't put it down this [ __ ] is covered like I literally have just this circled because the entire chapter is so wonderful this means like this whole page is just so [ __ ] good. I'm so sorry for the Barking um but anyways yeah I also

picked this up because I wanted to read as much Dostoevsky as possible. When I read this, because this was a revelation, like this showed me the kind of books that I wanted to be reading. To follow it up with this was just crazy, and especially reading this in the last weeks of being a college senior and finding all of these beautiful truths that really helped me cope with moving into the unknown and like the uncertainty of no longer having like academic structure in my life. 19-year-old Arkady, Dostoevsky, I'm sorry, like literally anybody that speaks or reads Russian or something, like I'm so embarrassed, illegitimate son of the controversial and womanizing landowner Versilov, recurring conflict between Father and Son, particularly an ideology representing battles between the old way of thinking of the 1840s and the new nihilistic point of view of the Youth of the 1860s. And I just kind of love that this Looking Glass into the Youth of this time and seeing how, you know, even though

people change, and Society changes deep down. Like that youthful Spirit Remains the Same, no matter how much time goes by. We talk about the complexities of love, family, societal Norms, morality, Free Will, and coming of age. So check, check, check, check. Like just amazing, uh. Another main theme is arcade's development of his idea, mainly a form of rebellion against Society through the rejection of attending University and making money and living independently. The question of emancipation or what to do with the newly freed surfs in the face of the corrupting influence of the West looms over the novel. Arcade's mother is a former Surf, and versilov is a landowner, and understanding their relationship is ultimately at the center of arad's quest to find out who versilov is and what he did to his mother. Answering the question of emancipation indio's novel has to do with how to educate the Surfs and address the damage of petrine reforms in order to construct a new Russian identity. What we can gather from that is that like any good author

his work is reflecting the times, and he's exploring these questions and these changes in thinking through his work. And Anna Kinina was actually published at the same time as the Adolescent, so it's kind of cool that one book is really showing the aristocratic family, while the other is showing like this more broken, not so acceptable idea of family. And then my third and final dust ofi so far is Notes from Underground. I selected this book to take to Columbia when I moved there for two months last summer because of its size, and because I felt whatever is in here is going to feed my head, it's going to benefit me. At this point, I was reading Gorbachev's Perestroika, and I had read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book Russia in the Context. My interest in Russia was snowballing, and this summer was also when I learned how to read the Cyrillic script, so I had a little bit more context as to what it meant to live in Russia in the 20th century, the 21st century, 'cause I think up until like the 21st

century or maybe the 20th. Like late 20th century, pre-Russian writing just kind of declined. This book kind of allows you to enter this nightmarish, embarrassing world of Kafka, while also having the humor and the truth of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I think it's like it still spoke to me. I think maybe from one loner to another. We have a character here who is basically dead set on humiliating himself, and he's so full of hatred for others, mainly because he just doesn't fit in, but he's kind of blind to that truth. And then I mentioned that I had read this. Dostoevsky portrayed by his wife. Honestly, I would just like to read a little bit about Anna's visits to Dostoevsky because it's just the best part of this book. This hit for me the same way a romance novel might hit for anybody else. Like it had me giggling, kicking my feet. So here she says, Each time I left him, I was under the impression of ideas new to

me at home. I felt sad and dull, and I lived in the expectation of my coming next meeting with Doovi. I thought with sadness that our work was near in completion, and with it, our daily meetings would end. I realized what a blank my life would be when those interesting and animated conversations would no longer be open to me. And how surprised and delighted I was when Doovi gave expression to the same idea that was worrying me. Five days before the end of our work, he said to me as I was leaving, You see, Anna, we have got to know one another, we have met on friendly terms every day and got quite accustomed to talk together, and now when the work is over, all this will come to an end and we shall not meet one another. Indeed, I shall be sorry, I shall miss you. Where could I see you? And then she says, But Fiodor, two mountains never come together, but two human beings may. Like I could keep going because it's so sickening and cute. Like it's cute.

sweet. So, if you are into romance, consider this: the next um the list of of dooski that I plan on reading next is um House of the Dead. I'm dying to read because it's nearly a biographical account of doki's time in Exile and his death sentence. And also the Gambler, because you know that's the story that they fall in love with each other writing together, and it also helped him get out of his debts before he ended up sinking himself into more debt. Um, but I would really just like to actually read the text, you know, that came from that. And then also demons, because I have it right here, and I think that the political conspiracy and political commentary in here is super interesting, and I want to get into it. And then of course Crime and Punishment, Brothers K is off because they're Classics, and I'm sure that they're going to be wonderful. So that concludes this video. I feel like it went by a lot faster than I had expected. Um, I hope that if you love doovi, you

enjoyed this. If you haven't read dooski, I hope that you do. Read doovi. And again, if anything is wrong that I said historically, just leave a comment down below. And if I mispronounce things in Russian, don't leave a comment down below, because believe me, I know. Again, my apologies for all of the dog barking in this video.

dostoevsky— turn your soul out!

Valentina

A Brief Introduction to Dostoevsky's Life

This video provides a surface-level timeline of Fyodor Dostoevsky's life and his impact on Russian literature.

Dostoevsky's early life was influenced by the social and political tensions of 19th-century Russia, including the impact of serfdom and the rise of realism in literature.

In 1849, Dostoevsky was arrested for his involvement in criticizing the Zar regime as part of a literary discussion group, reflecting the challenging cultural and political environment of the time.

Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death, then had his sentence changed to exile, which was a defining moment in his life.

After returning from exile, he wrote "Crime and Punishment" and "The Gambler" to pay off his debts, marrying Anna in 1867.

In the following years, he experienced the death of his daughter, worked on "The Idiot" and "The Devils," and wrote "The Adolescent" before his son's death in 1878.

Dostoevsky's Impactful Journey with "The Idiot"

Dostoevsky's challenging and slow-paced writing style reflects his deep personal investment in "The Idiot", taking years to complete the novel.

The book's protagonist, a truly compassionate soul, was a reflection of Dostoevsky's artistic uncertainty and his desire to test the character against the complexities of Russian society.

Dostoevsky's real-life experience with a painting of the Dead Christ strongly influenced a scene in "The Idiot", showing the profound impact of his personal experiences on his writing.

Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot" and "The Adolescent" had a profound impact on the reader, leading to a love for Russian literature and a pursuit of learning Russian.

"The Adolescent" was particularly cherished, despite not being popular in Russia, and it provided beautiful truths that helped the reader cope with the uncertainties of life after college.

The novels offered a revelation and a deep connection, portraying the battles between old and new ideologies in Russian youth, which resonated strongly with the reader.

Themes and Development in Dostoevsky's Novels

Dostoevsky's work explores love, family, societal norms, morality, free will, and coming of age, reflecting the complexities of human nature.

The main theme of rebellion against society and the quest for emancipation is central to the development of the character Arcade, highlighting the struggle for independence and identity.

The novels also address the impact of Petrine reforms and the quest to construct a new Russian identity, reflecting the societal changes and questioning of norms during that time.

The Anticipation of Parting Ways with Doovi

The speaker feels sad about the upcoming end of daily meetings with Doovi.

Doovi also expresses sadness about not being able to meet anymore and quotes a saying about human connection.

The speaker plans to read several of Doovi's works next, expressing a love for romance and an interest in the political commentary within the stories.