Poor people

Written by: Dostoevsky

Translated by: Dr. Hisham Hammadi

Sometimes translated as The Unhappy or the Poor, it was written over a period of nine months between 1844 and 1845. Dostoevsky was in financial difficulty due to a life of extravagance and an addiction to gambling. Although he had translated several foreign novels, it did not achieve much success for him, and he decided to write a novel himself in an attempt to collect money.

The story is inspired by the works of Googol and Buchanan, as well as English and French novels, and is written in the form of letters between the two main characters, Makar Devushkin and Varvara Dobrosylova, who are poor cousins. The novel presents the lives of the poor, their relationship with the rich, and poverty in general, all of which are common themes in literary nature. The friendship between them develops until Dobroselova loses interest in literature, and then continues to communicate with Devushkin after a rich widower named Mr. Bykov proposes to her. Devushkin is the prototype of the writer found in many works of naturalistic literature of the time, and retains its sentimental characteristics. Whereas Dobroselova renounces art, Devushkin cannot live without literature.

About the book:

Cover: plain cardboard

Size: 14.5 * 21.5 cm

Pages: 188 pages

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