These experiences, and especially his last-minute reprieve from execution, led him back to the church. But his radicalism remained, resulting in a tension that inspired some of the world's greatest novels, notably THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV and CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
Troyat's biography proves that truth is stranger than fiction. Dostoevsky seems to have felt that if he didn't do it, it wasn't worth writing about. His life mirrored his novels and became the most powerful story of all.