Dostoevsky's Greatest Characters (PDF)

Bernard J. Paris is Emeritus Professor of English and former Director of the Institute for Psychological Study of the Arts at the University of Florida.

"Dostoevsky s fictional characters - qua characters - have not received the attention they deserve from Bakhtinian Slavists and other critics. Bernard Paris aims to correct this situation by looking at the underground man, Raskolnikov, and two of the Karamazov brothers through a post-Freudian psychoanalytic lens. The result is a savvy and very readable study which helps us to appreciate both the profound humanity of individual Dostoevskian characters as well as Dostoevsky s extraordinary talent for mimetic portrayal." - Daniel Rancour-Laferriere, Emeritus Professor of Russian, University of California, Davis

"I know of no other book that comes even close to this one in explaining the intricacies of Dostoevsky's major characters. Having taught Dostoevsky's novels for over twenty years, I count myself lucky to have come upon this outstanding study. . . . To me, this is the best book in English on Dostoevsky's major characters. . . . Paris writes clearly and without jargon. Undergraduates and other non-specialists could follow his paragraphs without difficulty. Psychologists, philosophers, and teachers of literature and creative writing will profit greatly from his work." - Joe E. Barnhart, Emeritus Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas and editor of Dostoevsky s Polyphonic Talent