Even Better Than the Real Thing: Dostoevsky's Absurd Realism

Abstract:In his lectures on Russian literature, Vladimir Nabokov condemns Fyodor Dostoevsky's novels as unrealistic and excessively sentimental. Few would deny that Dostoevsky's characters behave erratically and with exaggerated intensity, but must these traits count as literary deficiencies? I argue that Dostoevsky deliberately violates the ostensible realism of his universe to illustrate how worldly engagement can disfigure and corrupt. Assailing readers with bewildering plots and personalities, his novels induce emotions paralleling the volatile drama unfolding on the page. It's a tactic that draws readers into self-examination and lends Dostoevsky's work enduring moral vitality.