Revealing Dostoevsky's acute artistic sense and penetrating psychological insight, this new translation is meticulously faithful to the original.

Prince Myshkin returns to Russia from an asylum in Switzerland. As he becomes embroiled in the frantic amatory and financial intrigues which centre around a cast of brilliantly realised characters and which ultimately lead to tragedy, he emerges as a unique combination of the Christian ideal of perfection and Dostoevsky's own views, afflictions and manners. His serene selflessness is contrasted with the worldly qualities of every other character in the novel. Dostoevsky supplies a harsh indictment of the Russian ruling class of his day who have created a world which cannot accomodate the goodness of this idiot.

2008-06-27 Possibly the best book I have read (so far)

This is the first 19th century "classic" that I have read, and rather naively I expected it to be long and boring. But I couldn't have been more wrong; I found Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" to be a beautiful book, that I was unable to put down. When I should have been studying I was reading this religiously, enthralled by its wide range of brilliant characters (but then characterization is one of Dostoevsky's strong points). It's beautiful, tragic, and philosophically brilliant. And it has Prince Myshkin, one of the most memorable (and likable) characters in literature. Read it!