Prince Myshkin returns to Russia from a Swiss sanatorium, a pure soul entering a world of corruption, and his goodness destroys everyone it touches. Dostoevsky wanted to depict a 'positively beautiful' human being; what he achieved is more troubling and more interesting. The novel was written in desperate haste, serialized as Dostoevsky gambled away his advances, and it shows its seams. But the flaws are part of its power. Myshkin is the holy fool, the Christ figure who cannot survive translation into modern society. The ending is devastating.