In the novel “The Possessed,” F. M. Dostoevsky’s genius unfolded with all its power and depth as a writer-provisioner. The title is symbolic. In Russia’s political, social, and moral life, storms and tragedies of unprecedented force were ripening. As never before, there is a great temptation to build a paradise without God, a universal happiness without outdated moral imperatives. The human soul in front of us becomes the arena where Good and Evil—two world orders—battle. But can it withstand this titanic struggle?
Selected chapters of the novel performed by People’s Artist of the USSR Oleg Ivanovich Borisov (1929–1994).