Editing Fyodor Dostoevsky (section)

=== Early career (1844–1849) ===
[[File:Trutovsky 004.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Dostoevsky, 1847]]

Dostoevsky completed his first novel, ''[[Poor Folk]]'', in May 1845. His friend [[Dmitry Grigorovich (writer)|Dmitry Grigorovich]], with whom he was sharing an apartment at the time, took the manuscript to the poet [[Nikolay Nekrasov]], who in turn showed it to the influential literary critic [[Vissarion Belinsky]]. Belinsky described it as Russia's first "[[social novel]]".{{sfnp|Sekirin|1997|p=73}} ''Poor Folk'' was released on 15 January 1846 in the ''St Petersburg Collection'' [[almanac]] and became a commercial success.{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=113–57}}{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|pp=42–49}}

Dostoevsky felt that his military career would endanger his now flourishing literary career, so he wrote a letter asking to resign his post. Shortly thereafter, he wrote his second novel, ''[[The Double: A Petersburg Poem|The Double]]'', which appeared in the journal ''[[Notes of the Fatherland]]'' on 30 January 1846, before being published in February. Around the same time, Dostoevsky discovered [[socialism]] through the writings of the French thinkers [[Charles Fourier]], [[Étienne Cabet]], [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] and [[Henri de Saint-Simon]]. Through his relationship with Belinsky he expanded his knowledge of the philosophy of socialism. He was attracted to its logic, its sense of justice and its preoccupation with the destitute and the disadvantaged. However, his Russian Orthodox faith and religious sensibilities could not accord with Belinsky's admixture of [[atheism]], [[utilitarianism]] and [[scientific materialism]], leading to increasing friction between them. Dostoevsky eventually parted with him and his associates.{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=159–82}}{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|pp=53–55}}

After ''The Double'' received negative reviews (including a particularly scathing one from Belinsky) Dostoevsky's health declined and his seizures became more frequent, but he continued writing. From 1846 to 1848 he published several short stories in the magazine ''Notes of the Fatherland'', including "[[Mr. Prokharchin]]", "[[The Landlady (novella)|The Landlady]]", "A Weak Heart", and "[[White Nights (short story)|White Nights]]". The negative reception of these stories, combined with his health problems and Belinsky's attacks, caused him distress and financial difficulty, but this was greatly alleviated when he  joined the [[Utopian Socialism|utopian socialist]] Beketov circle, a tightly knit community which helped him to survive. When the circle dissolved, Dostoevsky befriended [[Apollon Maykov]] and his brother [[Valerian Maykov|Valerian]]. In 1846, on the recommendation of the poet [[Aleksey Pleshcheyev]],{{sfnp|Mochulsky|1967|pp=115–21}} he joined the [[Petrashevsky Circle]], founded by [[Mikhail Petrashevsky]], who had proposed social reforms in Russia. [[Mikhail Bakunin]] once wrote to [[Alexander Herzen]] that the group was "the most innocent and harmless company" and its members were "systematic opponents of all revolutionary goals and means".{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|p=59}} Dostoevsky used the circle's library on Saturdays and Sundays and occasionally participated in their discussions on freedom from censorship and the abolition of [[serfdom]].{{sfnp|Frank|1979|pp=239–46, 259–346}}{{sfnp|Kjetsaa|1989|pp=58–69}} Bakunin's description, however, was not true of the aristocrat [[Nikolay Speshnev]], who joined the circle in 1848 and set about creating a secret revolutionary society from amongst its members. Dostoevsky himself became a member of this society, was aware of its conspiratorial aims, and actively participated, although he harboured significant doubts about their actions and intentions.{{sfnp|Frank||2010|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lp1RpM8o9BQC&pg=PA152 pp. 152–158]}}

In 1849, the first parts of ''[[Netochka Nezvanova (novel)|Netochka Nezvanova]]'', a novel Dostoevsky had been planning since 1846, were published in ''Notes of the Fatherland'', but his banishment ended the project leaving only what was supposed to be the prologue of the novel. Dostoevsky never attempted to complete it leaving only a sketch of the novel behind.{{sfnp|Mochulsky|1967|pp=99–101}}