Hello everyone!
Today is 9 February - a death anniversary of one of the biggest world's novelists, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Considering that I've been reading a lot about Dostoevsky at my Russian literature lectures, I've decided to share with you some most interesting facts about his life.
- LIFE FULL OF DEATH
During his childhood, his best friend (next to his brother), a nine-year-old girl, died shortly after being raped by a tramp. This episode was later addressed in his novels. This was the first his contact with the death of a close person. Later in life, he was faced with death of parents, brother, first wife...
- GAMBLING ADDICTION
He was addicted to gambling. As a result, he was in debt most of his life. He even wrote some of his works to pay off gambling debts. The most popular case is the one, when he had only 26 days to write a novel. And he did it. In 1867 he wrote ''The Gambler'' - a novel that reflects his own addiction to roulette.
- DEATH SENTENCE
In Saint Petersburg, Dostoevsky began to participate in a radical intellectual discussion group called the Petrashevsky Circle. The group was suspected of subversive activites, which led to Dostoevsky’s arrest in 1849, and his sentencing to death. But luckily, he received a last-minute reprieve and was sent to a Siberian labor camp. He was working there for four years. After that, he worked as a soldier on the Mongolian frontier. Finally he returned to Saint Petersburg ten years later, in 1859. He wasn't writing during that period.
- EPILEPSY
He was epileptic. This illness influeced the creation of Lev Myshkin, the main character od famous novel The Idiot.
- ALEXANDER II OF RUSSIA
This great Russian emperor wanted him to tutor his children. Once he ordered Dostoevsky to give a reading at his palace, insisting afterwards that Dostoevsky tutor the monarch’s sons.
- VLADIMIR NABOKOV ON DOSTOEVSKY
Vladimir Nabokov considered Dostoevsky as one of the worst russian novelists. He moved to America, became a collage proffesor, and during his lectures, he was talking about Dostoevsky's lack of taste. Not only that, but he was also writing against him.
- THE NEW GOGOL
Vissarion Belinsky considered Dostoevsky a genious. His first novel, Poor People before publication was read by legendary critic Belinsky who promptly declared: ''The new Gogol was born!''.
Thank you for reading, I hope you've learned something new :)
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