A Writer's Diary Volume 2: 1877-1881

This concluding volume of Dostoevsky's experimental one-man journal (he was its editor, publisher and sole contributor until his death in 1881) is a melange of political commentary, observations on current events, reportage of sensational murders, philosophical musings and literary criticism on Tolstoy, Turgenev and Pushkin. Dostoevsky's idealized vision of the Russian people as a nascent fellowship of Christ who reject the values of the godless, materialistic West is a recurrent theme. Offering a ringside seat to the growth of German nationalism under Bismarck, the Russo-Turkish War, political instability in France's Third Republic and the cauldron of Eastern European nationalisms, these voluble outpourings are also of interest for their sketches of ideas developed more fully in The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky's vicious, poisonous tirades against Jews reveal the depth of his anti-Semitic prejudice. Also included is the story ``The Dream of a Ridiculous Man,'' which reflects his search for life's meaning and longing for redemption. Lantz is professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Toronto. (June)