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Great Short Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky
The short works of Dostoevsky exist in the very large shadow of his astonishing longer novels, but they too are among literature's most revered works. The Gambler chronicles Dostoevsky's own addiction, which he eventually overcame. Many have argued that Notes from the Underground contains several keys to understanding the themes of the longer novels, such as Crime and Punishment and The Idiot.
Great Short Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky includes:
Notes from the Underground
The Gambler
A Disgraceful Affair
The Eternal Husband
The Double
White Nights
A Gentle Creature
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
768 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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About the author
Fyodor Dostoevsky
3,319 books73.8k followers
Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский
(Russian)
Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.
Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .
Many literary critics rate him among the greatest authors of world literature and consider multiple books written by him to be highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He is also well regarded as a philosopher and theologian.
(Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (see also Fiodor Dostoïevski)
Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.
Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .
Many literary critics rate him among the greatest authors of world literature and consider multiple books written by him to be highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He is also well regarded as a philosopher and theologian.
(Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (see also Fiodor Dostoïevski)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
January 6, 2026
This was my intro to the Russian archetypal novelist. BTW, when are we going to decide on the spelling: Dostoevsky or Dostoyevsky?
You get 8 pieces here, ranging from short stories to novellas. At 740 pages, they tend toward longer pieces. My favorite was probably The Eternal Husband, which was also Henry Miller's favorite work by this author, in case you were wondering. It is a poignant tale about the usual subjects of Modernist authors: love, marriage, status, cultural mores, sin, redemption, etc. To read Dostoyevsky is to be immersed in his persuasive voice, to be carried along by his argumentative mind, and to drown in his lengthy paragraphs. He depicts less physical detail than Thomas Mann but possesses a similar grasp of the psychological nuances coursing through human minds. Unpacking his work yields a wealth of applications and interpretations. You can regard him with a Christian lens, a Freudian one, and a revolutionary one, but really you should just read him for enjoyment.
The Gambler is an odd and intense novella. For a summary of it, just watch the Twilight episode called "The Fever." In this one, more than any other story in the collection, I felt that Dostoyevsky's own particular vice of gambling showed through the fascination of his characters. It is a forceful and dense statement with action-packed scenes of upping the stakes. It undoubtedly overshadows any other story about gambling I have ever read.
White Nights is a somewhat quaint story, but beautifully evocative. Notes from the Underground is the one for which he was most well-known. A possible masterpiece, but also a very peculiar combination of psychological digression and philosophical insight. You could write a thesis on this one, and keep returning to it for more commentary on the plight of the human soul, on his role within society at large. This one boils down the themes you will encounter in his long novels rather well.
I found "A Gentle Creature," Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and A Disgraceful Affair to be less memorable. Everything Dostoyevsky wrote attained a certain amount of universal relevance, but many of his works go off into tangential and obscure territories, usually circling back to his stressed characters, straining through their cold, dreary lives. You get a feel for Petersburg at the time, and he never writes about anywhere else, seemingly.
The Double is another winner. Very influential. Of the same caliber as The Gambler. It is less fantastical than say, Kafka's The Metamorphosis, but has a twinge of the uncanny in the appearance of the doppelganger. I felt that this was an obvious riff off Gogol, who was his acknowledged influence, but you are better off reading Gogol's novellas for that off-kilter glance at a satirical situation. Dostoyevsky isn't really funny in the least, despite what his fans might say. Outside of his masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov, most of his novels and stories are sloppily put together and lack humor, lightheartness, and lyricism. He is nothing like Tolstoy, which is kind of a good thing. He is a heavy, brooding author, one you can get obsessed with. But I found after a few thousand pages I was less interested in his minor works, which tended toward melodrama. You are better off, in my opinion, rereading his great works, wrestling with the baggy all-encompassing tour de force he sought to capture.
This is an excellent introduction to his work.
You get 8 pieces here, ranging from short stories to novellas. At 740 pages, they tend toward longer pieces. My favorite was probably The Eternal Husband, which was also Henry Miller's favorite work by this author, in case you were wondering. It is a poignant tale about the usual subjects of Modernist authors: love, marriage, status, cultural mores, sin, redemption, etc. To read Dostoyevsky is to be immersed in his persuasive voice, to be carried along by his argumentative mind, and to drown in his lengthy paragraphs. He depicts less physical detail than Thomas Mann but possesses a similar grasp of the psychological nuances coursing through human minds. Unpacking his work yields a wealth of applications and interpretations. You can regard him with a Christian lens, a Freudian one, and a revolutionary one, but really you should just read him for enjoyment.
The Gambler is an odd and intense novella. For a summary of it, just watch the Twilight episode called "The Fever." In this one, more than any other story in the collection, I felt that Dostoyevsky's own particular vice of gambling showed through the fascination of his characters. It is a forceful and dense statement with action-packed scenes of upping the stakes. It undoubtedly overshadows any other story about gambling I have ever read.
White Nights is a somewhat quaint story, but beautifully evocative. Notes from the Underground is the one for which he was most well-known. A possible masterpiece, but also a very peculiar combination of psychological digression and philosophical insight. You could write a thesis on this one, and keep returning to it for more commentary on the plight of the human soul, on his role within society at large. This one boils down the themes you will encounter in his long novels rather well.
I found "A Gentle Creature," Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and A Disgraceful Affair to be less memorable. Everything Dostoyevsky wrote attained a certain amount of universal relevance, but many of his works go off into tangential and obscure territories, usually circling back to his stressed characters, straining through their cold, dreary lives. You get a feel for Petersburg at the time, and he never writes about anywhere else, seemingly.
The Double is another winner. Very influential. Of the same caliber as The Gambler. It is less fantastical than say, Kafka's The Metamorphosis, but has a twinge of the uncanny in the appearance of the doppelganger. I felt that this was an obvious riff off Gogol, who was his acknowledged influence, but you are better off reading Gogol's novellas for that off-kilter glance at a satirical situation. Dostoyevsky isn't really funny in the least, despite what his fans might say. Outside of his masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov, most of his novels and stories are sloppily put together and lack humor, lightheartness, and lyricism. He is nothing like Tolstoy, which is kind of a good thing. He is a heavy, brooding author, one you can get obsessed with. But I found after a few thousand pages I was less interested in his minor works, which tended toward melodrama. You are better off, in my opinion, rereading his great works, wrestling with the baggy all-encompassing tour de force he sought to capture.
This is an excellent introduction to his work.
May 12, 2020
Notes from the Underground: Not an easy read, but certainly a worthwhile one. Dostoevsky had a way with psychological insights, digging deep into the psyche. You will see parts of yourself, especially the self you struggled with as an adolescent, in this 'underground', even if you'd rather not. 4 stars
(March 13, 2009) [Note: Due to a group read, I read this one out of chronological order.]
The Double: While in the beginning it seems to be funny and farcical, it quickly turns confusing and sad. Another psychological study that makes for compelling reading. Note well what is mentioned in the beginning; it becomes important as you go along. 4 stars
(Sept 16, 2012)
White Nights: Probably due to a 'hangover' caused by the previous story, this one had me thinking at first that the female character might not be real. She is real, but she might as well not have been. An astute portrait of an extreme dreamer, but not as powerful as the other stories so far.
3 stars
(Sept 20, 2012)
A Disgraceful Affair: Similar to "The Double" in that the character is paranoid, though his paranoia is due to excessive drink and not mental illness. The POV changes were clunky early on, though the last one worked seamlessly and was even fun.
A merciless send-up of a political 'idealist.' 3 stars
(Sept 28, 2012)
The Gambler:I'm not an addict--no, reading is not a vice!--but I know a few (don't we all); and this fast-paced novella narrated by an engaging personality rings true in its portrayal, which is not surprising, as Dostoevsky himself suffered a gambling addiction. Also interesting is the interspersed commentary on the different national characters of Russians, Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Germans. 4.5 stars
(April 5, 2016)
(March 13, 2009) [Note: Due to a group read, I read this one out of chronological order.]
The Double: While in the beginning it seems to be funny and farcical, it quickly turns confusing and sad. Another psychological study that makes for compelling reading. Note well what is mentioned in the beginning; it becomes important as you go along. 4 stars
(Sept 16, 2012)
White Nights: Probably due to a 'hangover' caused by the previous story, this one had me thinking at first that the female character might not be real. She is real, but she might as well not have been. An astute portrait of an extreme dreamer, but not as powerful as the other stories so far.
3 stars
(Sept 20, 2012)
A Disgraceful Affair: Similar to "The Double" in that the character is paranoid, though his paranoia is due to excessive drink and not mental illness. The POV changes were clunky early on, though the last one worked seamlessly and was even fun.
A merciless send-up of a political 'idealist.' 3 stars
(Sept 28, 2012)
The Gambler:I'm not an addict--no, reading is not a vice!--but I know a few (don't we all); and this fast-paced novella narrated by an engaging personality rings true in its portrayal, which is not surprising, as Dostoevsky himself suffered a gambling addiction. Also interesting is the interspersed commentary on the different national characters of Russians, Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Germans. 4.5 stars
(April 5, 2016)
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February 14, 2026Wow, it's been multiple decades since I read this complete collection, though I have since reread "White Nights," and Notes from Underground. I still remember very much liking The Double and The Gambler, though the details have faded, and I can't help thinking of Gogol's "The Nose" whenever my mind wants to go back to The Double.
I guess what I would like to do now is, as I go back and reread the works that are typically classified as "short stories," I will make my notes on them within this review, when and as I can. If I reread the works that are more often treated as "novels" or "novellas," I'll review them in a separate space for each of those titles. Hey, that makes sense.
These are the included works:
STORIES
-"White Nights"
-"A Disgraceful Affair" a.k.a. "A Nasty Story"
-"A Gentle Creature" a.k.a. "The Meek One"
-"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"
NOVELS/NOVELLAS
-The Double
-Notes from the Underground
-The Gambler
-The Eternal Husband
-------------------------------------
"A Gentle Creature": I felt some doubt in the first, let's say seventeen pages, as to whether I would really connect with this story. Then it got interesting. The protagonist at first seems a bit off. Then it becomes clear that he's off by far more than a bit. Now, how much is "exaggerated" must remain unclear because we know it's being narrated in retrospect from the point of view of a man whose wife has just committed suicide, and he's quite sure it's due to his failings, not just as a husband but as a human being. This is not a spoiler, by the way, any more than Dostoevsky's prefatory remarks which disclose the premise and semi-apologize for its execution. I'm not sure the preface was necessary, but it is there. You may love this story, you may hate it, or you may be ambivalent, but no matter what, you are sure to say "Oh, my God!" several times along the way.
I guess what I would like to do now is, as I go back and reread the works that are typically classified as "short stories," I will make my notes on them within this review, when and as I can. If I reread the works that are more often treated as "novels" or "novellas," I'll review them in a separate space for each of those titles. Hey, that makes sense.
These are the included works:
STORIES
-"White Nights"
-"A Disgraceful Affair" a.k.a. "A Nasty Story"
-"A Gentle Creature" a.k.a. "The Meek One"
-"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"
NOVELS/NOVELLAS
-The Double
-Notes from the Underground
-The Gambler
-The Eternal Husband
-------------------------------------
"A Gentle Creature": I felt some doubt in the first, let's say seventeen pages, as to whether I would really connect with this story. Then it got interesting. The protagonist at first seems a bit off. Then it becomes clear that he's off by far more than a bit. Now, how much is "exaggerated" must remain unclear because we know it's being narrated in retrospect from the point of view of a man whose wife has just committed suicide, and he's quite sure it's due to his failings, not just as a husband but as a human being. This is not a spoiler, by the way, any more than Dostoevsky's prefatory remarks which disclose the premise and semi-apologize for its execution. I'm not sure the preface was necessary, but it is there. You may love this story, you may hate it, or you may be ambivalent, but no matter what, you are sure to say "Oh, my God!" several times along the way.
They say the sun brings life to the universe. The sun will rise and--look at it. Isn't it dead? Everything is dead.
December 10, 2007
this is the best short story compilation of dostoyevsky's work i've ever found. it features stories i've never seen published in other editions, including one of his little known masterpieces: 'the dream of a ridiculous man.' the latter story could indeed forever change how you view humanity, or affirm it, and possibly change our life.
stories include:
the double
white nights
a disgraceful affair
notes from the underground
the gambler
the eternal husband
a gentle creature
the dream of a ridiculous man
stories include:
the double
white nights
a disgraceful affair
notes from the underground
the gambler
the eternal husband
a gentle creature
the dream of a ridiculous man
July 30, 2009
Loved each and every one of these stories...particularly, "The Gambler", "Notes from Underground" (although I prefer the Michael Katz translation), "A Disgraceful Affair", "A Gentle Creature", and "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man". Volumes could be written about each. I'm sure many have already. I'll just cite a quote to display the piercing quality of Dostoevsky's philosophical exploration:
"Why, we don't even know where this 'real life' lives nowadays, what it really is, and what it's called. Leave us alone without books and we'll get confused and lose our way at once--we won't know what to join, what to hold on to, what to love or what to hate, what to respect or what to despise. We're even oppressed by being men--men with real bodies and blood of OUR VERY OWN. We're ashamed of it; we consider it a disgrace and we strive to become some kind of impossible 'general-human-beings.' We're stillborn; for some time now we haven't been conceived by living fathers; we like it more and more. We're developing a taste for it. Soon we'll conceive of a way to be born from ideas..."
--the underground man in "Notes from Underground"
(we could easily substitute "entertainment" for "books" in our day and age)
"Why, we don't even know where this 'real life' lives nowadays, what it really is, and what it's called. Leave us alone without books and we'll get confused and lose our way at once--we won't know what to join, what to hold on to, what to love or what to hate, what to respect or what to despise. We're even oppressed by being men--men with real bodies and blood of OUR VERY OWN. We're ashamed of it; we consider it a disgrace and we strive to become some kind of impossible 'general-human-beings.' We're stillborn; for some time now we haven't been conceived by living fathers; we like it more and more. We're developing a taste for it. Soon we'll conceive of a way to be born from ideas..."
--the underground man in "Notes from Underground"
(we could easily substitute "entertainment" for "books" in our day and age)
October 8, 2012
Fyodor Dostoyevsky does a rare thing here with these masterful stories, and that is to make the reader both despise and understand the unreliable, spiteful, manipulative protagonists of his world. The Underground Man dishes out everything he's been given, tenfold, to an undeserving prostitute, and still, the reader feels empathy for him. The narrator of A Gentle Creature is a controlling misogynist, but he is also a beautifully constructed, three-dimensional human being. Great Short Works is a wonderful, though disturbing read, and a wonderful introduction to one of the most philosophically complex authors of the nineteenth century.
October 29, 2019
" The chief
thing is to love others like yourself, that's the chief thing, and that's everything; nothing else is wanted--you will
find out at once how to arrange it all. And yet it's an old truth which has been told and retold a billion times--
but it has not formed part of our lives! The consciousness of life is higher than life, the knowledge of the laws
of happiness is higher than happiness--that is what one must contend against. And I shall. If only everyone
wants it, it can be arranged at once."
F. Dostoevsky "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"
thing is to love others like yourself, that's the chief thing, and that's everything; nothing else is wanted--you will
find out at once how to arrange it all. And yet it's an old truth which has been told and retold a billion times--
but it has not formed part of our lives! The consciousness of life is higher than life, the knowledge of the laws
of happiness is higher than happiness--that is what one must contend against. And I shall. If only everyone
wants it, it can be arranged at once."
F. Dostoevsky "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"
January 3, 2009
I dream of ridiculous men
January 5, 2014
Not all of Dostoevsky's short works are created equal. A Gentle Creature earns five stars. Notes from the Underground garners only one.
October 21, 2024
Whew, not sure why I decided to read over 700 pages of Dostoevsky when it was NOT the dead of winter, but I made it through, and it was not bad. As my husband says, there's no loser like a Dostoevsky loser--and, with a little attention, a reader can certainly learn a lot from these losers, particularly that there is more to life than the vain striving for worldly wealth and pleasures.
March 20, 2025
The double: 3/5
white nights : 4/5
a disgraceful affair: 3/5
notes from the underground: 5/5
the gambler: 5/5
the eternal husband: 5/5
dream of a ridiculous man: 3/5
a gentle creature: 4/5
white nights : 4/5
a disgraceful affair: 3/5
notes from the underground: 5/5
the gambler: 5/5
the eternal husband: 5/5
dream of a ridiculous man: 3/5
a gentle creature: 4/5
December 20, 2023
It’s amazing that this man from the 19th century wrote all the emotions that I feel as a 21st century 22 year old teenage girl
February 13, 2011
During the summer of 1974 I endeavored to read everything by Dostoevsky that I could find in order to better understand my girlfriend, a great fan of his. I had the perfect job as a security guard around the corner from Stuart Brent Books on Michigan and Ontario in Chicago. There wasn't much to do but read and write, visiting the bookstore during the lunch break and checking out other, used bookstores during my days off in search of volumes of material yet unread. Naturally, this haphazard approach led to some redundancy. For instance, this collection contains The Gambler, a novella I'd already read elsewhere. But it also had some stories I hadn't otherwise seen, so, enthusiastically, I got it. A more financially prudent reader would have gone to the library and headed for something like The Collected Works, but I've always preferred owning what I read, even when it entailed such redundancy.
February 18, 2011
Not a big fan of the FyDo (a better nickname than K-Stew or ScarJo, ADMIT IT) scene. FyDo writes very bitter romance stories like “A Gentle Creature” or “The Eternal Husband”. In these stories the fat, old, hairy, smelly pawnbroker marries the tragic teenage Russian scrub girl to release her from the sadistic bondage of her cruel aunt and uncle. Of course the teenage girl, lets call her Irina Slombovina, doesn’t love the decrepit old scrivener, lets call him Issur Davidovitch, after he tries and tries again to make her love him.
Usually the ungrateful teen wretch meets with a tragic end – yup, she dies, a sad waste given that 200 years later Irina would be the toast of New York Fashion Week tearing up the catwalk modeling the latest Proenza Schoeler fall collection. Thank you, FyDo, for putting everything into perspective for us.
Usually the ungrateful teen wretch meets with a tragic end – yup, she dies, a sad waste given that 200 years later Irina would be the toast of New York Fashion Week tearing up the catwalk modeling the latest Proenza Schoeler fall collection. Thank you, FyDo, for putting everything into perspective for us.
July 7, 2023
The more I read Dostoevsky's writing, the more I love it. But up until this point, I've only read some of his longer works (Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, etc.), so I was happy to pick up this collection of his shorter works. I think my personal favorite was The Gambler, seconded by Notes from the Underground, but all of them were great. They vary in length between a short story (20 or so pages) to a short novel (The Gambler is a couple hundred pages, I believe). I think the theme that runs through all the works is understanding the evil within human nature. How we can be extremely selfish, horrible creatures who hurt ourselves and others if our desires are not controlled.
March 8, 2008
*The Eternal Husband* abides.
December 31, 2024
The idea of a star rating feels silly here. I can't say I loved it, but I'm certainly glad I read it. 700 pages of this guy that I've been reading over the past six months, and all I have to say looking back on it is that these are great portraits of deeply tragic and unpleasant people. Dostoevsky is a feeler, and these stories were easier to read in many places than I was expecting when he starts going on one of his feely rants (and, of course, difficult when the patronymics and journeys between houses in the snow blur together). I was hoping this would improve my vocabulary, but I just started having dreams of calling out in accusation: "You scoundrel! You blackguard!" Definitely getting the British influence; I wish I read Russian. But no more for me.
Thoughts on standout stories here. It's too easy to get hypnotized by the simplicity of this worldview of someone like the Underground Man. He's peak Redditor, and the meanness at his core perverts the beauty of his intellect and his hopes for human connection. In this story and in the others, Dostoevsky shows what I've come to understand as the ultimately isolating nature of certain readings of "master morality"--one finds no equals, only gods to be worshipped or children to be coerced. One can see this in the viewpoint characters' treatment of the women in their lives. Upon reading White Nights, I was bemused to see reviews calling it a beautiful love story, as the instant and surface-level attachments struck me as nothing but pathological. "You two don't even know each other!" I kept saying to myself. That's what's chilling--that these narrators are so deeply wrongheaded in their approaches to people but are convinced in their rightness. I had to put A Gentle Creature down in the middle because of how terribly the woman was being treated.
I realize I've written this review as though I'm the one who's right, and that's certainly not true. It's complicated. It is good, on occasion, to spend time in minds like these. The collection kept me company on subway rides between the gym and my summer job in New York. I took pictures of the pages, tried to imitate his style. I pushed against it, and that was good. Beautiful and challenging. But for now I have grown tired of the shtick and am on to other books.
Thoughts on standout stories here. It's too easy to get hypnotized by the simplicity of this worldview of someone like the Underground Man. He's peak Redditor, and the meanness at his core perverts the beauty of his intellect and his hopes for human connection. In this story and in the others, Dostoevsky shows what I've come to understand as the ultimately isolating nature of certain readings of "master morality"--one finds no equals, only gods to be worshipped or children to be coerced. One can see this in the viewpoint characters' treatment of the women in their lives. Upon reading White Nights, I was bemused to see reviews calling it a beautiful love story, as the instant and surface-level attachments struck me as nothing but pathological. "You two don't even know each other!" I kept saying to myself. That's what's chilling--that these narrators are so deeply wrongheaded in their approaches to people but are convinced in their rightness. I had to put A Gentle Creature down in the middle because of how terribly the woman was being treated.
I realize I've written this review as though I'm the one who's right, and that's certainly not true. It's complicated. It is good, on occasion, to spend time in minds like these. The collection kept me company on subway rides between the gym and my summer job in New York. I took pictures of the pages, tried to imitate his style. I pushed against it, and that was good. Beautiful and challenging. But for now I have grown tired of the shtick and am on to other books.
December 31, 2020
I’ve learned more about human nature and reality and disreality and heaven and hell from reading Dostoevsky than anything explicitly religious or psychological and you can say that’s blasphemous but can you argue it’s untrue?
August 11, 2022
"But--you can't explain anything by reasoning and consequently it is useless to reason."
April 14, 2025
Did Not Finish - read 4/8 of the short stories
Dostoevsky has good ideas. He likes to deliver it through 40 year old male incel narrators though and I decided I had enough.
Dostoevsky has good ideas. He likes to deliver it through 40 year old male incel narrators though and I decided I had enough.
August 20, 2025
The average rating of this book for all 8 stories was 5.375 because I gave the dream of a ridiculous man 10 stars in my head
June 7, 2010
The Double: A very readable, smooth flowing story of madness in a government official. Many surprises along the way. The introduction says this is an early work that is not on a par with his later works, but I think it worth reading.
Of the stories I read (and I enjoyed them all), I was most taken by The Eternal Husband. The two main characters are an amoral single man who had an affair with a now deceased married woman, that resulted in a little girl, and the cuckolded widower who sought him out. These two meet and engage in a running battle of wits that exposes both of them as selfish and oblivious to their own real motives. The daughter suffers terribly as these two elephants battle above her. The most self-aware characters in the story, other than the tragic little girl, are a group of teens who easily see right through the two of them.
The Gambler is a compelling study of a chronic gambler (which Dostoyevsky was). For me the memorable character is "Granny" who was supposed to be dying in Moscow and about to enrich a corrupt family with her fortune but instead shows up alive and well in a sedan chair, and proceeds to win (and then lose) a fortune at roulette at her first time in a casino, while the Gamber advises and then despairs of helping her. She is very, very entertaining, and she exposes the randomness of anyone's success at roulette, not what the Gambler believes in at all.
Notes From Underground is a very long essay on Dostoyevsky's personal
philosophy concerning our inability to understand our true motives for the actions we take. I got through it but just barely.
A Disgraceful Affair was very enjoyable - it recalled to memory a number of characters I have worked for over the years. It is an entertaining depiction of the havoc that results when a lofty (in current parlance, "liberal") aristocrat favors the common folk (his employee and his family and their wedding guests) with his accidental presence at a wedding, oblivious to the fact that they are frantically turning their lives upsidedown to accommodate his presence.
Of the stories I read (and I enjoyed them all), I was most taken by The Eternal Husband. The two main characters are an amoral single man who had an affair with a now deceased married woman, that resulted in a little girl, and the cuckolded widower who sought him out. These two meet and engage in a running battle of wits that exposes both of them as selfish and oblivious to their own real motives. The daughter suffers terribly as these two elephants battle above her. The most self-aware characters in the story, other than the tragic little girl, are a group of teens who easily see right through the two of them.
The Gambler is a compelling study of a chronic gambler (which Dostoyevsky was). For me the memorable character is "Granny" who was supposed to be dying in Moscow and about to enrich a corrupt family with her fortune but instead shows up alive and well in a sedan chair, and proceeds to win (and then lose) a fortune at roulette at her first time in a casino, while the Gamber advises and then despairs of helping her. She is very, very entertaining, and she exposes the randomness of anyone's success at roulette, not what the Gambler believes in at all.
Notes From Underground is a very long essay on Dostoyevsky's personal
philosophy concerning our inability to understand our true motives for the actions we take. I got through it but just barely.
A Disgraceful Affair was very enjoyable - it recalled to memory a number of characters I have worked for over the years. It is an entertaining depiction of the havoc that results when a lofty (in current parlance, "liberal") aristocrat favors the common folk (his employee and his family and their wedding guests) with his accidental presence at a wedding, oblivious to the fact that they are frantically turning their lives upsidedown to accommodate his presence.
June 18, 2017
Comments in <20 words: Intrigued. Absolutely intrigued. Author surprisingly grew on me despite my general dislike of dense 19th-century writing style.
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Comments in <20 words for each story in book (also publication) order:
1. The Double (1846) translated by George Bird - My first of author; not sure if earlier work or mediocre translation, but hooked once used to style.
2. White Nights (1848) translated by David Magarshack - Pah! Anti-romance self got tricked into reading love story. Short and easy, but least interesting of collection.
3. A Disgraceful Affair (1862)? translated by Nora Gottlieb - Felt like different POV of The Double but theme quickly differed; read like parable.
4. Notes from the Underground (1864) translated by David Magarshack - First part semi-incoherent philosophical existentialist diatribe by anti-social narrator with superiority complex; difficult read, reread, reread, reread… Second part better.
5. The Gambler (1866) translated by Constance Garnett - Story of gambling addiction and associated destruction of (social) life; all too applicable to current times.
6. The Eternal Husband (1870) translated by Constance Garnett - "Relationship between 19th-century frenemies" is how I would summarise. Longest short but very readable; very close second favourite.
7. A Gentle Creature (1876) translated by David Magarshack - Misguided narrator attempts to make sense of wife's suicide. My favourite of eight.
8. The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877) translated by David Magarshack - Hurray for dreams…? Ending was just too preachy for me.
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Order of personal preference:
A Gentle Creature (1876)
The Eternal Husband (1870)
The Double (1846)
A Disgraceful Affair (1862)
The Gambler (1866)
White Nights (1848)
Notes from the Underground (1864)
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877)
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Comments in <20 words for each story in book (also publication) order:
1. The Double (1846) translated by George Bird - My first of author; not sure if earlier work or mediocre translation, but hooked once used to style.
2. White Nights (1848) translated by David Magarshack - Pah! Anti-romance self got tricked into reading love story. Short and easy, but least interesting of collection.
3. A Disgraceful Affair (1862)? translated by Nora Gottlieb - Felt like different POV of The Double but theme quickly differed; read like parable.
4. Notes from the Underground (1864) translated by David Magarshack - First part semi-incoherent philosophical existentialist diatribe by anti-social narrator with superiority complex; difficult read, reread, reread, reread… Second part better.
5. The Gambler (1866) translated by Constance Garnett - Story of gambling addiction and associated destruction of (social) life; all too applicable to current times.
6. The Eternal Husband (1870) translated by Constance Garnett - "Relationship between 19th-century frenemies" is how I would summarise. Longest short but very readable; very close second favourite.
7. A Gentle Creature (1876) translated by David Magarshack - Misguided narrator attempts to make sense of wife's suicide. My favourite of eight.
8. The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877) translated by David Magarshack - Hurray for dreams…? Ending was just too preachy for me.
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Order of personal preference:
A Gentle Creature (1876)
The Eternal Husband (1870)
The Double (1846)
A Disgraceful Affair (1862)
The Gambler (1866)
White Nights (1848)
Notes from the Underground (1864)
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877)
June 26, 2010
Definitely worth the price judging by the number of included stories. I always have a sense of uneasiness when I read translations but it can't be helped. I discovered that 'short fiction' is kind of relative with Dostoevsky – the page count is sufficient warning to anyone expecting a quick or simple read. The two final stories in the collection break that trend and remain very interesting, but at least one of them has already been praised enough in other reviews.
'White Nights' is easily the best love story I've ever read; 'A Disgraceful Affair' is a fantastic, funny deconstruction of socially awkward situations and hypocrisy; 'The Double' is somehow more than just a rehash of Gogol, and made me laugh more than I expected to.
'White Nights' is easily the best love story I've ever read; 'A Disgraceful Affair' is a fantastic, funny deconstruction of socially awkward situations and hypocrisy; 'The Double' is somehow more than just a rehash of Gogol, and made me laugh more than I expected to.
August 27, 2010
The Double was interesting, but more like Kafka than like what I think of as Dostoyevskian. White Nights was kind of melodramatic. The Eternal Husband and A Gentle Creature were good, solid, Dostoyevski psychological stories. A Ridiculous Man seemed like something Tolstoi would write. Notes from Underground, The Gambler, and A Disgraceful Affair I skipped since I'd read them before (respectively: good but depressing, a featherweight comedy, and a very good story).
October 26, 2009
Like all writings by Dostoevsky, I loved these! The book took a long time to get through, but only because I wanted to savor each story. I would have to say that White Nights was probably my favorite story, but I'm looking forward to reading each story again sometime. Thanks, Bob, for loaning me the book and being so patient while I finished it.
October 13, 2009
Odd how certain authors click at one time of life and not another. "The Eternal Husband"! Could have, should have been written today. But of course this is a different world. Pritchett points out that for Dostoevsky psychology *was* the plot and subject, not just motivation or causality for the character's actions, as it is in our post-Freudian world.
January 1, 2010
I didn't feel the desire to finish reading all of his stories. The style felt repetitive. I imagine that at some later point I will read the ones I skipped: The Eternal Husband, A Gentle Creature, and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man.
That being said, my favorite story of his that I read was White Nights. A wonderful character and a beautifully narrated story.
That being said, my favorite story of his that I read was White Nights. A wonderful character and a beautifully narrated story.
August 19, 2016
I'm a bit disappointed. I love Dostoievski's novels, but this collection of short stories was a drag to get through... I wonder if reading it in English had something to do with it, it really lacked all that Russian atmosphere that I love.
January 22, 2008
He's really good at short stuff too.
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