Nasri, A. (2021). Skin for skin

Abstract

The book by the modern Iranian philosopher Amir Nasri, Skin for Skin, is devoted to the study of Dostoevsky’s novels in an interdisciplinary context. Dostoevsky’s oeuvre exercises an enormous influence on the cultural life of Iranian intellectuals. The book opens with the chapter ‘Russia against Westernism,’ which contains a history behind Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment [Prestuplenie i nakazanie]. The second chapter deals with the influence of Balzac’s novels on Dostoevsky and compares Dostoevsky’s and Pushkin’s ideas. The third chapter focuses on the characters of Crime and Punishment. Nasri emphasizes that Dostoevsky’s ‘metaphysical realism’ aligns well with existentialist ideas. The book’s title, Skin for Skin, is a reference to the Book of Job. According to the philosopher, the meaning of the expression ‘skin for skin’ is an appropriate summary of the idea behind Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment