El Adolescente by Dostoevsky, Fyodor

Centered on Arkady Dolgoruky, a restless young man determined to make his mark, the novel follows his turbulent search for identity as he confronts the legacy of illegitimacy, a charismatic and morally ambiguous father figure, and a society driven by ambition and hypocrisy. Torn between idealism and cynical practicality, he becomes entangled with manipulative acquaintances, romantic tensions, and disputes over property and reputation, while intense psychological introspection and fierce generational conflicts expose the moral ambiguities and social forces that shape — and threaten to corrupt — his emerging sense of self.

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