Dostoevsky: Letters and Reminiscences

by John Middleton Murry

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Genres: Classics

306 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2018

About the author

See also his son, John Middleton Murry Jr.

John Middleton Murry was an English writer. He was a prolific author, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime. A prominent critic, Murry is best remembered for his association with Katherine Mansfield, whom he married in 1918 as her second husband, for his friendship with D. H. Lawrence and T. S. Eliot, and for his friendship (and brief affair) with Frieda Lawrence. Following Mansfield's death, Murry edited her work.

Murry was married four times: first to Katherine Mansfield in 1918; after her death in 1923 he arranged the publishing or republishing of her works. In 1924 he married Violet Le Maistre, in 1932 Ada Elizabeth Cockbaine, and in 1954 Mary Gamble. With his second wife, Violet Le Maistre, he had two children: a daughter, Katherine Middleton Murry who became a writer and published "Beloved Quixote: The Unknown Life of John Middleton Murry" in 1986, and a son, John Middleton Murry, Jr., who became a writer under the names of Colin Murry and Richard Cowper. There were also two children of the third marriage.

Reviews

[Sleepydrummer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dostoevsky's ambition for literary success, a sustained passion for his wife, tenderness for children, "Hug the little ones as tightly and warmly as you can, tell them Daddy told you to." are all discovered within these letters. He is surprisingly entrepreneurial, "There's an idea ! We ought to have thought of it ourselves long ago and published such a little book for children. Such a book would certainly sell and perhaps give us a profit of 2000 roubles".

Dostoevsky isn't above dishing gossip on his peers, "As for Leo Tolstoy, Katkov also declared that people say he has gone quite off his head." When invited to visit the esteemed writer's home Yasnaya Polyana, Dostoevsky declines, although admits that it would be "very interesting."

I found these letters fascinating. The creation of The Possessed, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, novels that this man worked tirelessly to write. Burning with impatience to hear what the readers will say. Not even wishing for success, just hoping to avoid complete failure. Can you imagine that?