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67th out of 283 books
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1,015 voters
Poor Folk
Poor Folk is an epistolary novel -- that is, a tale told as a series of letters between the characters. And oh, what characters these are Makar Dievushkin Alexievitch is a copy writer, barely squeaking by; Barbara Dobroselova Alexievna works as a seamstress, and both face the sort of everyday humiliation society puts upon the poor. These are people respected by no one, not...more
Paperback, 172 pages
Published
September 1st 2003
by Wildside Press
(first published 1845)
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Nenhuma palavra é supérflua, porque Dostoiévski não se mostra em nenhum segundo. Algumas pessoas gostam de analisar livros ignorando o autor, o que é muito ingênuo. O Quixote de Pierre Ménard não é o do Cervantes. E o Pobre Gente de Dostoiévski já tem algumas características do autor, já prenuncia a polifonia que é, em seus livros, uma questão ética, de deixar que cada personagem se expresse mesmo quando o autor não concorda com seus pensamentos, seus personagens já são humilhados e ofendidos nã...more
Never have I been confronted with such an intimate portrayal of a love so chaste and pure doomed by the harsh realities of poverty. While a handful of Dostoevsky's books like Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from Underground did the job of delving into the inner depths of man's dehumanization and redemption, Poor Folk painted a more powerful testimony of Russia's sad history. I found myself sweltering in profound sorrow after reading the exchange of love letters between the...more
Mar 17, 2008
Erik Graff
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in Dostoevsky
Recommended to Erik by:
Janny Marie Willis
I read Poor Folk (aka Poor People) in the Constance Garnett translation while studying Russian history in college. In it Dostoevsky tries to do fictionally what Friedrich Engels did journalistically in The Condition of the Working Class in England. I liked it because it gave a concrete picture of how the poor lived in pre-revolutionary Russia, if only from the perspective of an aspiring writer of the intelligentsia. I liked it also because it was so very different than the rest of his writing: m...more
1 like · like · see review
There is a crack in my soul, and I can hear it trembling, quivering, stirring deep inside me.
Makar to Varvara
This is Dostoevsky’s first novel, written when he was 25. It’s a short epistolary novel and I think a good introduction to this russian literary giant. It’s essential Dostoyevskian in style and theme - the random thoughts and extreme emotions - the exploration of the destitute people - the solitary underground man who seems on the brink of insanity.
We follow the correspondence between tw...more
Makar to Varvara
This is Dostoevsky’s first novel, written when he was 25. It’s a short epistolary novel and I think a good introduction to this russian literary giant. It’s essential Dostoyevskian in style and theme - the random thoughts and extreme emotions - the exploration of the destitute people - the solitary underground man who seems on the brink of insanity.
We follow the correspondence between tw...more
Poor Folk was Dostoyevsky’s first published work (age 22), a novella in letters between a middle-aged clerk and a young woman living across the courtyard from him. It’s a lugubrious story, the man trying to deny his romantic urges toward the young woman, transmute them into an avuncular affection. The young woman the victim of illness and a hard life, responding to his kindness with mixed motives. Within his limited means, he’s a bit of a sugar daddy, and she’s in no position to reject his gifts...more
Written as letters between Makar and Barbara, one an old man, the other a pretty young orphan with terrible health, this is a pretty short book.
And it can be prety well summed up by this:
"My dearest, darling Barbara, I sleep in the room in the kitchen, because it's smaller and taxes less upon my money— so I can have tea and sugar every day! I'm sending you some bonbons through Thedora."
"Dearest Makar, HOW could you send me these bonbons, when you are living in the kitchen! You are sacrificing yo...more
And it can be prety well summed up by this:
"My dearest, darling Barbara, I sleep in the room in the kitchen, because it's smaller and taxes less upon my money— so I can have tea and sugar every day! I'm sending you some bonbons through Thedora."
"Dearest Makar, HOW could you send me these bonbons, when you are living in the kitchen! You are sacrificing yo...more
time for some more dostoyevsky. read here that this was his 1st novel? written as letters? heh! yes. there's a bit of hilarity at the start, makar alexievitch writing to his barbara and they are communicating w/windows.
no, not windows 98, 92, or iTeeth 2012...heh heh! when the curtains are arranged in a certain way it means one thing or another. 1st person...
...and...he writes to barbara alexievna who lives within sight of his window. heh! imagine if he had an iMac?
update at the 44% mark, kindle...more
no, not windows 98, 92, or iTeeth 2012...heh heh! when the curtains are arranged in a certain way it means one thing or another. 1st person...
...and...he writes to barbara alexievna who lives within sight of his window. heh! imagine if he had an iMac?
update at the 44% mark, kindle...more
3 likes · like · see review
This is a ridiculous book. It is the letters exchanged between a poor old man and a poor young woman who live in the same housing complex but who rarely see each other for the sake of propriety. It's basically something like this:
"Oh Makar this week I lost my job and I'm running out of cash and I'm feeling so sick that I just might die! Whatever shall I do!"...more
"Oh Varvara, you poor child. Let me, as a father figure, send you some flowers and linens even though I have no money and will probably get
5 likes · like · see review
This book starts off sad and progresses (slowly) toward tragic. The three-star rating can be misleading, as it is an excellent debut by a ridiculously-acclaimed author, but the book itself doesn't go very far, doesn't really open itself up. There are some excellent quotes ("Poor people are subject to fancies--this is a provision of nature") which make this short (100-ish pages) exchange of letters between loved ones (I hesitate to call them lovers) an impressive work of un-whittled genius. The a...more
The first novel by Dostoyevsky and my first step in the world created by Dostoyevsky. ‘Poor Folk’ is written entirely in the form of letters exchanged between Devushkin, a lowly copyrighter in the government service and Barbara. Devushkin, much older than Barbara, is her benefactor and her devotee. To appease and comfort Barbara, as a token of his unending love, seem to be the only purpose of his existence and thereby he finds himself in piteous conditions. Unlike Devushkin, Barbara had lived a...more
I wanted to ease myself into Dostoevsky, as I have begun a few others of his and become discouraged. While I was able to finish this one, I had to force myself. I understood that he was trying to show us the plight of the poor during this time frame, but the characters he used to do this were maddening!
First, it's back and forth, I love you, but not THAT way, no you mustn't, I can't help it, I'm IN love with you, I'm too old for you, on and on until I felt like smacking them. When they finally s...more
First, it's back and forth, I love you, but not THAT way, no you mustn't, I can't help it, I'm IN love with you, I'm too old for you, on and on until I felt like smacking them. When they finally s...more
1 like · like · see review
Çoğunluğun sınıfı olan 'alt sınıfı', tüm gerçekliğiyle ve olağanca sergileyen önemli bir klasiktir.Bu sınıfın kaygılarını, sevinçlerini, haykırışlarını, afacanlıklarını ve hınzırlıklarını bir kar topu yapıp suratlarımıza fırlatır. Böylelikle biraz acıtır.Okur kitabı okudukça, karakterlere bakıp şunu diyebilir; ''bu ben değilim.'' fakat ''bu şahsiyetler bize hiçte uzak değillermiş.'' diyeceklerdir.
Jan 19, 2010
Pedro
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literatura,
tempo-livre
“Gente pobre” é o primeiro romance de Dostoievski. Motivado pelo livro de Bakhtin sobre ele (que não cheguei a completar), decidi comprá-lo e lê-lo.
Curiosamente, é um romance epistolar, mas a troca de cartas é entre dois personagens miseráveis, financeira e existencialmente.
O interessante é que percebe-se já, aqui e acolá, traços do “Homem do subsolo”, e, também, de Sônia.
Mas não é um grande romance, apesar de oferecer uma leitura vertiginosa. Os diálogos são febris. Mas, como disse Fátima Bi...more
Curiosamente, é um romance epistolar, mas a troca de cartas é entre dois personagens miseráveis, financeira e existencialmente.
O interessante é que percebe-se já, aqui e acolá, traços do “Homem do subsolo”, e, também, de Sônia.
Mas não é um grande romance, apesar de oferecer uma leitura vertiginosa. Os diálogos são febris. Mas, como disse Fátima Bi...more
This is a short novel about poverty and the effects it has on a person - emotionally and physically. The two main characters are both poor and write letters to each other describing the hard life they both experience, along with the affection they feel for each other. Basically, the message that I got from this book is: being poor sucks - people will despise you and look down on you, you will be made fun of and disrespected, you will most likely get sick over and over again, and you will look li...more
1 like · like · see review
I read this directly after the amazing House of the Dead, which may not have been the best idea. Poor Folk was good enough, but pretty much pales in comparison to House. I feel like I didn't give it a fair enough chance; it's also really not the kind of book I really get into, though. I liked the epistolary style, but the unceasing declarations of love between the two main characters just had me yawning and rolling my eyes and caused me to overlook a lot of Dostoevsky's intended statements about...more
2 likes · like · see review
Well, this was Dostoevsky's first novel. Not bad! The novel consists of a series of letters between a middle aged man, Makara, and a distant relative who is a young woman living near to him, Vavara. They are both poverty-stricken. As time passes and their circumstances ebb and flow, the reader comes to know them through each other's eyes. Frankly, it is an odd situation. Their lives are so bitter, and at times they come close to destitution. In the end, one remains destitute both financially and...more
This book is a collection of letters between a poor civil servant and a ruined ill young woman with an unfortunate past. The charm of the story lies in what is not said. What happens when the two are together? How do the emotions, just hinted at in the letters, drive the story? The final letter is left unfinished. How does the story end? The possibilities excite the imagination and carry the reader away into Dostoyevsky's world. Even without his characteristic lush descriptions of place and peop...more
the format of the book is letters going back and forth between a girl and an older man. their history and relationship get explained to an extent by the letters, but not entirely. it was definitely a bummer, and the ending felt like it came too abruptly, but it was interesting in the sense that the two people writing had their own styles which also seemed to evolve. instead of it coming off like just a schizo author, it actually did read like if you just found a bunch of old bundled up letters b...more
بدأت القراءة لدويستويفسكي استماعا لنصيحة صديقتي التي وصفته لي بأنه من الاعمال الادبية الراقية ..اخترت هذه الرواية وهي الرواية الاولى له ..وكانت من اجمل الروايات التي قرأت..اعتمد فيها الكاتب اسلوب الرسائل بين شخصيتي الرواية الرئيستين ..
كان يخوض بشخصياته بحذق ومهارة ..وبأسلوب أدبي فذّ..لمس متاعب الفقراء وآلامهم بكلماته ..
كانت صفحات هذه الرواية بمثابة حكاية قبل النوم لديّ ..فوجدت في ذلك متعة كبيرة لم تخلو من الغصّة والبكاء في بعض الاحيان وخصوصاً في نهايذتها
كان دويستويفسكي مبدعاً ومتميزاً بها وملهما...more
كان يخوض بشخصياته بحذق ومهارة ..وبأسلوب أدبي فذّ..لمس متاعب الفقراء وآلامهم بكلماته ..
كانت صفحات هذه الرواية بمثابة حكاية قبل النوم لديّ ..فوجدت في ذلك متعة كبيرة لم تخلو من الغصّة والبكاء في بعض الاحيان وخصوصاً في نهايذتها
كان دويستويفسكي مبدعاً ومتميزاً بها وملهما...more
Il fatto è che io, nonostante legga un buon numero di libri l'anno, sono ancora -e penso che a questo punto rimarrò per sempre- una lettrice sprovveduta. Posso atteggiarmi a cinica quando leggo i dialoghi tra due innamorati che si appellano "passerottino" e tentare di prendere più sul serio un romanzo come Delitto e castigo, più duro, logico, intellettuale forse, ma è una posa la mia. Preferirò sempre la storia di due "mediocri" reietti (empatia!), alle vicissitudini di chi la storia vuol cambia...more
t first glance, there would appear to be just two characters in Dostoevsky's epistolary first novel, Poor Folk, but really there are four. We have the two letter-writing doomed lovers, Barbara (Varvara) Dobroselova and Makar Devushkin, and we have the pair's mental models or emulators of one another. The story told in the letters of this pair of chastely loving neighbors, in which they live out their lives of privation and longing for one another, is thus given an almost unbearable tension as th...more
The first works of Dostoyevsky were translations of French fiction. He was translating Eugénie Grandet, and, on an evening stroll, he has "the vision on the Neva".
Да! я могу это сделать!
In his mind he sees two sad and hopeless people that just break his heart. He sat down and wrote Poor Folk, his first novel. He did it in just nine months. And he never quite got out of Balzac's grip: obviously Puskin and Gogol too - but it was the inspiration from Balzac that got him to pick up a pen and write...more
Да! я могу это сделать!
In his mind he sees two sad and hopeless people that just break his heart. He sat down and wrote Poor Folk, his first novel. He did it in just nine months. And he never quite got out of Balzac's grip: obviously Puskin and Gogol too - but it was the inspiration from Balzac that got him to pick up a pen and write...more
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well, typical gloomy and depressing Dostoevsky. Saccharin almost in the romantic writing. Could have been acceptable considering the intense situations these people are experiencing, except I never got a grasp of how/why they fell in love. The book begins after the fact with little explanation. It was difficult for me to truly believe they had such a bond.
The translation is odd at times. One must get used to certain words being used in uncommon ways. Since they tend to be repetitive though, it i...more
The translation is odd at times. One must get used to certain words being used in uncommon ways. Since they tend to be repetitive though, it i...more
May 09, 2010
Hans
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fyodor-dostoevky,
russian-literature
I visited Moscow and St. Petersburg shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Rather than all the museums and sights it was the Russian people who made an impression on me. I remember being struck by the blatant poverty. Being only 10 at the time I had not yet been exposed to such destitution. My child heart struggled to comprehend how people could survive selling rotten apples or other worthless trinkets. I can still see distinctly in my mind's eye an old Russian man leaning against a pol...more
We had a copy of "3 Short Stories by Dostoevsky" in our attic when I was in high school. It think it was "Poor Folk", "Notes from Underground" and "The Double."
I read "Poor Folk" and thought it was pretty rad/sad. Basically, it's about two poor chumps sending letters back and forth across their crappy tenement about how miserable their lives are. They're prettymuch in love but too broke to afford it. Eventually, the girl marries some asshole and the old dude continues his lonely life. That's abo...more
I read "Poor Folk" and thought it was pretty rad/sad. Basically, it's about two poor chumps sending letters back and forth across their crappy tenement about how miserable their lives are. They're prettymuch in love but too broke to afford it. Eventually, the girl marries some asshole and the old dude continues his lonely life. That's abo...more
Lo scrittore vero, quello di razza, si riconosce da poche pagine.
Anche se il testo in questione è un romanzetto epistolare, scritto a poco più di vent'anni per seguire la moda del tempo, che indirizzava lettori e scrittori verso le tematiche del naturalismo.
Ma siamo proprio certi di essere di fronte a poco più di un romanzetto?
A mio avviso, anche in Povera gente si intravede la statura dell'autore.
Anche se il testo in questione è un romanzetto epistolare, scritto a poco più di vent'anni per seguire la moda del tempo, che indirizzava lettori e scrittori verso le tematiche del naturalismo.
Ma siamo proprio certi di essere di fronte a poco più di un romanzetto?
A mio avviso, anche in Povera gente si intravede la statura dell'autore.
بسیار غم انگیز بود ولی دلیل اینکه بسیار به این کتاب علاقه دارم اینه که مشغولیتهای ذهنی و افکار قشر مستضعف جامعه رو به طرز بسیار قابل لمسی به تصویر میکشه و این کاریه که به نظر من هر نویسندهای نمیتونه به خوبی داستایوسکی انجام بده
A series of letters between two who love each other. They are both so poor they do not believe they can marry. They have no one's respect. They do not even respect themselves. A view of how people in poverty view themselves and how others perceive them. This book made me feel grateful I have family that loves me, food to eat and a warm place to sleep.
Amazing book! The first book Dostoevsky published and it's beautiful. There are two primary characters, and they send letters to each other. The important fact though is how you can actually see how degrading society can be. It's written so long ago, but in the end it's so visionary - it's the world as we live it today. ♥♥
هذه الرواية الأولى التي كتبها دوستوفسكي في حياته .. وهذه الرواية الأولى التي أقرأها له في نية لإنهاء أماله الكاملة إن شاء الله .. خلصتُ إلى أمرٍ واحد أن دوستوفسكي ملهمي ..!
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Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the human soul had a profound influence on the 20th century novel.
Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to S...more
More about Fyodor Dostoyevsky...
Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to S...more
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“And though I suffer for you, yet it eases my heart to suffer for you.”
—
6 people liked it
“Yet as the evening of Sunday came on, a sadness as of death would overtake me, for at nine o'clock I had to return to school, where everything was cold and strange and severe—where the governesses, on Mondays, lost their tempers, and nipped my ears, and made me cry.”
—
2 people liked it
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