The Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram brings out book to mark 200th birth anniversary of Fyodor Dostoevsky

The book, Malayalikalude Dostoevsky, is a compilation of articles by 11 noted writers, including Perumbadavam Sreedharan, Paul Zachariah and George Onakkoor, on how the author of such novels as Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot influenced the Malayali psyche and Malayalam literature

The Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram, formerly the Russian Cultural Centre, has come out with a collection of articles in Malayalam on Fyodor Dostoevsky to mark the 200th birth anniversary of the acclaimed author.

The book, Malayalikalude Dostoevsky, is a compilation of articles by 11 noted writers, including Perumbadavam Sreedharan, Paul Zachariah and George Onakkoor, on how the author of such novels as Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot influenced the Malayali psyche and Malayalam literature. The volume has been edited by Kavitha Nair, assistant director, Russian House.

With his insightful portrayal of the internal workings of the human mind — the regrets, turmoil and guilt that churn its depths — Dostoevsky remains an eternal source of fascination in world literature, Perumbadavam Sreedharan writes in a short bio of the Russian author.

Writer Paul Zachariah shares his experiences of writing a screenplay for a documentary based on Mr. Sreedharan’s award-winning novel Oru Sankeerthanam Pole, which deals with the life of Dostoevsky.

Women in his works

Others who have contributed to the 160-page work include K. Jayakumar, N. Prabhakaran, K,P. Mohanan, B. Ekbal, John Mundakkayam, Mangad Ratnakaran, Joly Varghese and P. Jayalakshmi. The articles also seek to look closely at Dostoevsky the man and the writer, his literary contemporaries and influences, the women in his works and his place in world literature.

”All major novels of Dostoevsky found early Malayalam translations that helped introduce the writer to Keralites. This includes N. K. Damodaran’s translations of The Brothers Karamazov (Karamazov Sahodaranmar), The Insulted and the Injured (Ninditharum Peeditharum) and Demons (Bhoothavishtar),” said Ratheesh C. Nair, the Honorary Consul of Russia in Thiruvananthapuram.

In the foreword to the book, Nikolay R. Kudashev, Ambassador of Russia to India, noted: ”It is inspiring that the writer’s philosophy of ‘serving all humanity’ is consonant to the concept of inter-civilizational dialogue that both Russia and India promote on the international arena.”

The Russian House has been organising a series of events to mark the 200th birth anniversary of Dostoevsky.

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