In the past, critics have considered Dostoevsky an artist, thinker or psychologist, according to their own temperament. Now, with the appearance of Dostoevsky: the major fiction, it is at last possible to see him whole - for in this close, critical reading of Dostoevsky's major works the aesthetic, ideological, and psychological factors are as thoroughly interwoven and interdependent as they are in the novels themselves.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The early works -- The Petrashevsky circle and The house of the dead -- Chernyshevsky and The insulted and the injured -- Notes from the underground and Dostoevsky's moral dialectic -- Crime and punishment -- The idiot -- The possessed -- The adolescent and The dream of the ridiculous man -- The Brothers Karamazov -- Notes on the writing and publishing of the main works discussed -- Biographical data.