Poor Folk Paperback by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Empire Books)

Poor Folk, Fyodor Dostoevsky's first novel, is certainly not on par with his later masterworks, but enough of his genius was already present to make it essential for fans, while its many and substantial differences from more representative work may well mean that those who usually dislike him will be pleasantly surprised.

It is most immediately interesting as a rare example of a novel told entirely in letters. This is hard to pull off convincingly, and Dostoevsky does admirably, especially for a debut. He manages to put across a wealth of characterization and sketch a vivid background in the limited format. The former is particularly notable; psychological characterization is of course what he was later known for, and it is already present to a great extent. Alternating first-person narration gives great insight into the two main characters, who are memorable and themselves and also noteworthy as fairly representative examples of impoverished mid-nineteenth century Russians. The latter is also well-done; we get an astonishingly vivid sense of what it was like to live in this unenviable time and place in every aspect from landscape to speech. The only complaint one could make here is applicable only to technical purists; Dostoevsky never really justifies the setup. The two characters live across from each other, and though a few visits are noted in passing, it seems highly implausible that they would have to resort to writing so often, though the great verisimilitude of the letters themselves largely makes amends.

There is almost no plot in the conventional sense, but we learn more and more about the characters' daily lives and relationship to each other. This is a sort of love story, and the end, while ostensibly happy for Barbara, is tragic for Makar. We may even have to rethink the former's character, as she abandons a man who not only truly cared for her but made her the beneficiary of numerous acts of charity and kindness when he could hardly afford it. Though written before Dostoevsky's Christian conversion, such noble acts and consequent self-abnegation form key parts of later works in a more spiritual sense. Here they show humanity's admirable side, especially in contrast to some of the other characters' actions. Above all, though, the book is valuable for giving a stark account of just how atrociously the lower classes lived. That such suffering existed in an ostensibly modern country so recently will be a true eye-opener for many; the wretchedness is truly great. Those who for decades championed - and in fact still champion - Czarist Russia as a beacon of liberty and equality in light of the Soviet Union's admitted horrors should read this; it gives an excellent indication of what was wrong with Czarist Russia and why it cried out for reform.

This unsurprisingly leads to much pathos, and the book is highly emotional in other ways; it indeed often reaches such a fever pitch that many will cry, which shows how little this resembles later Dostoevsky. The philosophical dramatization he was later known for is absent, as is lengthy dialogue. Poor is clearly an early work for this and other reasons, primarily because his originality had yet to arise; it was written under the great influence of Nikolai Gogol, particularly "The Overcoat," and Dostoevsky was indeed first championed as the new Gogol. He became something very different, but this early production is more than worthy - required for fans and worth looking into for many others.