Poor Folk

Written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Narrated by Jonathan Keeble and Julie Teal

Poor Folk, Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s first novel, is almost forgotten now, living as it does under the long shadow of Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov and much more. Yet when it was published in 1846, it brought him instant fame.

It is an epistolary novel, presenting the relationship between neighbours, who happen to be distant cousins. An older man and a much younger woman, they are both living in straightened circumstances in rented accommodation and, though their letters, reveal their thoughts, their hopes, their anxieties and their daily struggles at the lower end of social and economic life of mid-19th century St Petersburg.

Yet it was exactly this situation that was a revelation to the readers of the time who were more accustomed to encountering tailored emotions in a less challenged class. For the first time, ordinary life, challenging life and the effect on the individual was presented to readers, many of which could identify with the protagonists: Makar Devushkin, an impoverished clerk, and Varvara Dobroselova who hopes to work as a governess, but earns money as a seamstress. Yet this was no ordinary portrait of emotion enmeshed in common hardships, but a writer in full command of his medium.

After he left the manuscript with the publisher Nikolay Nekrasov he told himself, ‘They will poke fun at my Poor Folk.’ In fact, Nekrasov read it at one sitting at burst into Dostoyevsky’s room at 4am to shower him with kisses. ‘A new Gogol has been born,’ he declared. It sold widely, and was dubbed ‘Russia’s first social novel’. Poor Folk is fascinating as the first important step in the career of one of the greatest novelists of all time.

"Both Jonathan Keeble and Julie Teal do a splendid job of narrating this production of Dostoyevsky's first novel. " - AUDIOFILE MAGAZINE

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Apr 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781004125098

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian novelist and philosopher whose works examined the human psyche of the nineteenth century. Dostoyevsky is considered one of the greatest writers in world literature, with titles such as Crime and Punishment; Notes from Underground, one of the first existential novellas ever written; and Poor Folk, Russia’s first “social novel.”

Reviews for Poor Folk

[SergioCalleja · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very poor, repetitive, sensationalistic. Boring. (Translated from Spanish)

[LarepisadeElena · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Poor People"
Dostoevsky is the most appreciated representative of realistic literature in his country and one of the great geniuses of nineteenth-century European narrative.
I had been wanting to read this author for a while, and it has been an absolute delight.
His work "Poor People" is an explosion of sensations, where the vulnerable melds with the strong, making it consistent and maximizing what is favorable to the lacking.
An epistolary novel, filled with love and much optimism despite the complicated reality that overwhelms its characters.
Happiness and misery, joy and sadness, wealth and poverty are taken to the extreme, transporting the reader on an emotional roller coaster where much of the appeal of his narrative style resides.

"Those who have something want to think that the most important thing in the world is love. The poor know that it is money." (Gerald Brenan)
More posts at @larepisadeelena follow me! (Translated from Spanish)

[Lilith16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An epistolary novel that reflects the life of the poor people, those who give everything they have to those they love. I confess that I am fascinated by Dostoevsky, the harshness of his works; time passes, but for some, reality does not change. I recommend it. (Translated from Spanish)

[paula1970 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have read several of Dostoevsky's novels, but this was the first one many years ago. I reread it in 2016 and found that it is still my favorite novel by this Russian author. In an epistolary style, it is a collection of letters between two characters who lack joy, material wealth, and are filled with fatalism, yet from that place they connect through these letters with a wonderful sweetness and simplicity. If you want to start with this writer, this, his first novel, is a very good idea and in times of confinement, it is an ideal read. (Translated from Spanish)