The Possessed, or The Devils

Dostoevsky’s most turbulent and brutal novel, The Possessed (also translated as Demons/Devils/The Devils) (1872) is a tragedy in its truest form and a biting critique of nihilism and all other “isms” that plagued late 19th century Russian society.

Similar in form to his other works, the novel is “polyphonic,” relying less on the commentary of the narrator and more on the restless collision of his characters and their ideals. The many branching characters and storylines serve to form a powerful allegory of the potentially devastating results of the public shift towards political and moral nihilism occurring during the author’s lifetime in Russian society. Influenced by real-world events like the murder of Ivan Ivanov by the radical group known as the Nechayvists, Dostoevsky envisions a small Russian town that is brought to the point of collapse after being caught in the epicenter of an attempted revolution. Dostoevsky, in his continuous pursuit of humanity, diverges from his contemporaries by painting nihilists not as inherently evil and amoral but as ordinary people who are driven towards debaucherous behavior by their own faults, slipping into nihilist and fatalist beliefs without the safety net of religion and clear morality to catch them.

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With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.