“Get Lit” Livestream, 4:30 pm ET: The Comic Climax of Dostoyevsky's "Demons"

A storm of misunderstandings fuels official paranoia, followed by real conspiracy

“And I proclaim,” Stepan Trofimovich shrieked, in the last extremity of passion, “and I proclaim that Shakespeare and Raphael are higher than the emancipation of the serfs, higher than nationality, higher than socialism, higher than the younger generation… ”

With this outburst at a provincial fête, Stepan Verkhovensky — one of the main characters of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Demons — seals his fate as the enemy of political progress, in the eyes of a movement he’s loved all his life. It’s one of a list of comic twists in a critical portion of the novel, which Brad Pearce and I will be back discussing today. Join us at 4:30 PM ET at:

You can also find us on X, @mtaibbi or @waywardrabbler. See you soon!