Siberia was so cold the mercury froze in the thermometer. In prison, Dostoevsky was surrounded by murderers, thieves, parricides, and brigands who drank heavily, quarreled incessantly, and fought with horrible brutality. However, while "prisoners were piled on top of each other in the barracks, and the floor was matted with an inch of filth," Dostoevsky learned a great deal about the human condition that was to impact his writing as nothing had before.
To absorb Dostoevsky's remarkable life in these pages is to encounter a man who not only examined the quest for God, the problem of evil, and the suffering of innocents in his writing but also drew inspiration from his own deep Christian faith in giving voice to the common people of his nation...and ultimately the world.
Admittedly, however, this method does allow a nice fluid outline causing the life of Dostoevsky to come to life for the audience. The characters, scenery, events and even the penetrating passion, convictions and biblical perspective are all the more three-dimensional. Peter Leithart opens the biography with an adult Fyodor Dostoevsky conversing with his compatriot Apollon Maikov. A series of reflections through Fyodor's past are spun from the Russian author as he himself, per se, takes the reader on a journey of enlightening history, faith, Russian patriotism and drama.
Seasoning of typical Russian ardor is ever present throughout the storytelling. The childhood account of Dostoevsky's spooky encounter in the woods is the first rung on the ladder to embrace and keep the audience holding on and eagerly devouring the rest of the pages.
Much smaller in size than I had expected, Fyodor Dostoevsky is a light, quick read. Regarding Peter Leithart's chosen format of presentation it becomes a type of short-cut to quickly grasping the iconic Russian author's past and legendary place in literary appreciation.
Dr. Leithart received an A.B. in English and History from Hillsdale College in 1981, and a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Theology from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1986 and 1987, respectively. In 1998 he received his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England. He has served as editor and writer for American Vision in Atlanta, Georgia (1987-1989), and as a pastor of Reformed Heritage Presbyterian Church (now Trinity Presbyterian Church), Birmingham, Alabama from 1989-1995.
He has authored Deep Comedy (forthcoming), a commentary on 2 Peter (forthcoming), Against Christianity, A Son to Me, A House for My Name, and other books. His articles have appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Birmingham News, Dallas Morning News, First Things, Modern Theology, The International Journal of Systematic Theology, the Tyndale Bulletin, Pro Ecclesia, Journal of Biblical Literature, Westminster Theological Journal, and other publications. He is currently a contributing editor to Touchstone magazine.
He has taught Theology and Literature at New Saint Andrews College since 1998, and since 2003 has served as pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow.
Dr. Leithart and his wife, Noel, have ten children.
Visit the author at his website
This book was provided free for review by BookSneeze (Thomas Nelson Publishers)
