Fyodor Dostoyevsky was undoubtedly Russia’s greatest 19th century novelist, and indeed one of its all time greatest. He also holds his own when compared to writers from any other country, of any age. His other great work was The Brothers Karamoz, which I actually prefer to Crime and Punishment. But both are magnificent, and are destined to remain literary classics. When I studied Russian at Georgetown University, I sampled some of Dostoyevsky in the original. The next time you're tempted to complain about writer's block, try reading Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamoz in Russian.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky grew up abysmally poor. His father, a physician, raised a family of five children in a two room house. He read to them nightly, instilling a reverence for the printed word. Perhaps this helped Dostoyevsky to pull himself up. But he continued to suffer many vicissitudes during his 60 years: alcoholism, chronic indebtedness, a term of imprisonment for offending the czarist regime. Beyond any doubt, much of his writing was designed to be – or at least turned out to be – cathartic.
In late 1865, Dostoyevsky was desperate to earn a few rubles. He agreed to write a short story, to be published serially in a popular literary magazine, The Russian Messenger (pictured). That was the custom of the time, and a way by which unknown writers managed to establish themselves. The magazine gave him a set of strict writing guidelines, and demanded the first installment within 90 days. Dostoyevsky and his stenographer – whom he later married – worked desperately, almost around the clock, and finished the entire project on time. Today that herculean effort is known as Crime and Punishment. The father of the Russian novel was paid but a few dollars for his labors.
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