The Idiot, The Constance Garnett Translation Complete and Unabridged

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot is a masterpiece of psychological insight and moral inquiry, exploring the cost of innocence in a world driven by ambition, cruelty, and desire.

When Prince Lev Myshkin returns to Russia after years in a Swiss sanatorium, his openness, compassion, and honesty strike others as odd—if not outright foolish. Quickly entangled in the lives of aristocrats, opportunists, and outcasts, Myshkin becomes the center of a turbulent love triangle involving the captivating and self-destructive Nastasya Filippovna and the proud, intelligent Aglaya Epanchin. As passions rise and jealousies intensify, the prince’s ideals are put to the test in a society unprepared to handle the presence of true goodness.

Drawing inspiration from Christ-like purity, Dostoyevsky crafts a character who embodies the tension between spiritual truth and worldly corruption. The Idiot is both a philosophical study and a tragic love story, rich with insight into mental illness, human weakness, and moral grace.

This edition features the classic public domain translation by Eva M. Martin, carefully formatted with a modern layout for today’s readers.

If you enjoy the psychological depth and moral complexity of Dostoyevsky’s work, you may also appreciate Crime and Punishment or Demons.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1962

About the author

Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский (Russian)

Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.

Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .

Many literary critics rate him among the greatest authors of world literature and consider multiple books written by him to be highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He is also well regarded as a philosopher and theologian.

See also:
Russian → Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский
French → Fédor Dostoïevski
French → Fiodor Dostoïevski
Spanish → Fiódor Dostoyevski
Portuguese → Fiódor Dostoiévski