ABSTRACT
Truth, the immediate reality of their own circumscribed existence, is what Dostoeffsky's characters are in search of: truth, the immediate actuality of the All, is likewise the aim of Dostoeffsky, the artist. The writers of the French realist school provide at the outset of their books an exact depiction of their characters in repose, in a state of spiritual lethargy. Precisely at the point where most artists hesitate, where their senses are dulled by the effulgence of a supra-terrestrial realm, where, dazzled, they close their eyes, Dostoeffsky's realism begins to feel at home. The latter's world is, perhaps, the most perfect hallucination of the world, a deeper and more prophetic dream, far transcending reality, for it is a reality which has soared away into the realm of fantasy. For the artist, truth always has two aspects, one superficial and one profound; and in Dostoeffsky's case the second, the profounder, aspect was psychological.
