The Adolescent

'To love people as they are is impossible. And yet one must. And therefore do good to them, clenching your feelings, holding your nose, and shutting your eyes (this last is necessary).'

First published in 1875, translated under the alternative titles A Raw Youth or An Accidental Family, The Adolescent is one of Dostoyevsky's most underrated masterpieces.

Arkady Dolgoruky is a naïve yet determined nineteen-year-old, hungry to make his own fortune. The illegitimate son of the hedonistic provincial nobelman, Andrei Versilov, Arkady was raised by a former serf of the Versilov estate, with little contact with his estranged father. But once Arkady becomes aware of Versilov's history of wrongdoings – including an alleged affair with an unstable young woman and following questionable religious practices – our young protagonist is torn between exposing his father for good and earning his love. Obsessed with money as his path to freedom, Arkady soon finds himself scheming, spying and lying, flirting with the shadowy worlds he swore he'd never be a part of – worlds his father happily inhabits. Darkly funny, explosive and ruthlessly candid, The Adolescent remains a powerful coming-of-age tale where pride, resentment and longing miserably collide.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821 – 1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist and philosopher. Famed for his masterpieces Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Adolescent, his works are characterised by profound psychological insight and existentialist exploration. Today, he is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time.