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More About the Authors
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Product Description
About the Author
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821, the 2nd of 7 children. From 1849 to 1854 he lived in a convict prison, and in later years his passion for gambling led him deeply into debt. In 1880 he delivered his famous address at theunveiling of Pushkin's memorial in Moscow; he died six months later in 1881.
David McDuff has translated a number of works for the Penguin Classics, including The Idiot, Crime and Punishment and the Brothers Karamazov, and Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories.
Yesterday I was happy-inordinately, impossibly happy! Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
The first two stories, `Poor Folk' and `The Landlady', have essentially the same theme as "White Nights' (not in this bundle).
The differences between the three treatments illustrate perfectly this evolution: from foggy, indirect, tearful prose, over generating intriguing questions marks and confusing psychology, to direct, sharp storytelling with unexpected U-turns and psycho-shocks; in one word, from expressing emotions to arousing them in the heart of the reader.
Poor Folk
Dostoyevsky's first short novel (in letters) is a sentimental, colorless and in no way a subtle text, where literature is `a picture and a mirror, an expression of emotion, a subtle form of criticism, a didactic lesson and a document.'
However, art constitutes an essential part of the story. When the vulgar opinion that `novels were the ruin of young girls, that books were harmful to morality', overwhelms a young girl, the relationship is broken.
The Landlady
This story, where a poor lodger falls in love with the young wife of an old man, is not a typical Dostoyevsky text, because it uses some kind of `supernatural' elements, like the confusing mental nature of the female protagonist. It contains, however, a typical Dostoyevskyan wrap-up.
Mr Prokharchin, Polzunkov
`Mr Prokharchin' is a sharp psychological portrait of `an unconventional capitalist'.
`Polzunkov' is a superb persiflage of a corrupt bureaucracy, where a bribe-taker under blackmail is forced to pay a bribe himself. An April Fool's Day joke gives him an opportunity to take revenge on the blackmailer.
This bundle is not a good introduction to Dostoyevsky's work.
Far better are other short novels/stories like `White Nights', `The Gambler', `The Eternal Husband' or `Uncle's dream'.
But, highly recommended to all Dostoyevsky fans.
this short novel (under 150 pp) a leading Russian literary critic at the time
(Belinsky) prophesied that Dost. would become a famous literary star. He
was certainly correct.
_Poor Folk_ is written in the form of letters between a middle aged man and
a girl/young woman (no ages are ever given). Both are very poor, simple folk.
The high degree of pathos, poverty and suffering make this a heart wrenching
read. Add to that Dost. high literary skill and you have a real classic. There
is a high degree of genuineness and hard hitting simplicity so characteristic
of Dost. But it goes beyond a mere tear jerker. The great themes of
forgiveness, human respect and dignity and relation to God are important
components of the novel. The relationship between the man and young
woman is exemplary in its love and devotion and pure chasteness (and a
testimony to the high morality of Dost., a real breath of fresh air in our
oversexed culture). It is truly that of a father and only daughter (though they
were not related at all; though never stated it was probably poverty which
prevented marriage).
Here are a few quotes to whet your appetite:
"How we wept together, he and I. We thought about you. He's a very nice
man, a good, kind man with deep feelings. I am sensitive to it all myself,
dearest, that's why all this happens to me - because I am so sensitive to it
all. I know my debt to you, my pet. Once I had got to know you, I began, first
of all, to know myself better and to love you. Before I knew you, my angel, I
was lonely and spent my life asleep, as it were. These villians of mine said
that even my very person was repulsive, and held me in disdain and I began
to hold myself in disdain, they said I was stupid and I really thought I was
stupid, but when you appeared you lit up my whole dark life and my heart
and soul were lit up, and peace of mind was mine and I realized that I was no
worse than others, it was just that I didn't shine in any way, there was
nothing outstanding about me, no style, but I was still a man, my heart and
thoughts were a man's. Now that I feel persecuted and humiliated by fate, I
have given myself over to the denial of my own dignity, and weighed down by
my misfortunes I have lost heart. Now that you know everything, dearest, I
humbly beg you to take no further interest in these affairs, because my heart
is breaking, and I feel sorrowful and burdened."
"You and your sad thoughts make me so despondent, my dearest. I pray to
God for you, dearest, how I pray to him!"
"Yesterday I repented before the Lord God with tears in my eyes, begging
his forgiveness for all my sins during this unhappy time"
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