Dostoevsky - A Writer in His Time (Joseph Frank, 2010)

At this point I'm pretty sure I find Dostoevsky more compelling than Tolstoy - which is saying a lot.

The author spent the better part of three decades putting together a 2500 page biography of Dostoevsky; his work later was condensed to the 900-page version described here.  I thought it was quite wonderful, quite compelling throughout.

Dostoevsky could hardly be a more interesting character.  His temperament or personality was of the type that deeply soaked up his life experiences - so deeply that I would think this contributed to some of his ongoing health issues.  And this temperament was fed with a succession of life experiences that provided endless fuel for his novels.

There's also the time-and-place in which he lived - Russia in the throes of continuing social and political ferment during second half of 19th century - Dostoevsky deeply interested, and playing a meaningful role for several decades.

The life experiences are just amazing:  adored mother dies while he is very young; domineering if well meaning father continually imposing will, though dies when Dostoevsky is only in late teens; unhappy experiences in military engineering school attended per father's diktat; continual shortage of funds; some early success among highest literary circles in Russia but it doesn't stick; gets caught up in the political turmoil of the day, including materials not appreciated by a repressive state; arrested, questioned, spent some time in prison; sentenced to death and taken to prison courtyard to be executed, only to have sentence commuted to exile in Siberia (authorities planned commutation all along but Dostoevsky didn't have an inkling - the near-death experience was entirely real to him); shipped to Siberia; in jail in exile with population consisting primarily of serfs (his first exposure of this nature, and he drew some dubious conclusions about the depth of character of these folks); unhappily married to a woman met in Siberia (she dies); eventually had his civil rights restored and resumes writing; constant money problems; severe gambling problem; had the good fortune to meet a second wife who probably can be said to have saved him; loss of infant child; dealing with severe epilepsy throughout his adult life; deadline pressure when writing for monthly publications; financial pressure never really solved; Crime and Punishment a break-through event; develops and sticks to a deep belief, from Siberian days, in Christ - but a Russian version; staunch supporter of the tsar (notwithstanding earlier views - this is linked to the serf-Russo-Christian belief set however that's described); embarrassingly anti-Semitic; monthly publication Diary of a Writer dominates Russian political discussion for a couple years; young people somehow relate to an aging and now-conservative voice; famous and revered in later days; unthinkable evolution from convicted exile to tutor to members of tsar's family; the public reading at the Pushkin memorial that moves those in attendance so deeply.

The life story is just too amazing if not surreal.

This book also goes into a lot of detail about Dostoevsky's novels, and links them to events in his life and in Russian society, culture and politics.  The right sequence here is to read the biography after reading the novels - this made for a fascinating re-visitation of the books.  And pretty much demands a complete re-read.  Applies to all of the major novels, but especially to The Brothers Karamazov - the background provided here makes the book far more astonishing than I could have imagined.  I liked the book but definitely didn't "get it" in terms of most of what Dostoevsky was doing.

Do any modern authors attempt anything remotely like what Dostoevsky sought to do in The Brothers Karamazov?  (Even just the portion involving the legend of the Grand Inquisitor?)

Those who follow today's political debates - including the blandishments of the progressive wing - would benefit a great deal from reading the 19th century version of the discussions.  There's so little that's new.

There is an incredible amount of useful, interesting material here.  Not sure how to process all of it.  Highly valuable book.