In 1862, D. took his first trip to Europe.  He had, however, dreamed of this day for many years, apparently since childhood, when he was enthralled with British and French novels, especially the Gothic tales of Anne Radcliffe.  He had apparently planned and planned for this opportunity, probably to such an extent than his actual … Continue reading Winter Notes on Summer Impressions →

My thoughts about D's prison/exile memoir, The House of the Dead, are somewhat vague and disjointed.  This is mostly because while I'm working I just never seem to get around to reading anything.  I started this book more than a month ago, and whenever things are spread over that wide a timeframe, I just lose … Continue reading The House of the Dead →

One of the most memorable episodes from Don Quixote, one which in fact I blogged about in this space a few years ago, involves Quixote’s visit to a farm.  He and Sancho happen upon a peasant being abused by his overseer.  The peasant describes a tale of woe to Quixote; Quixote in exchange offers to … Continue reading A Nasty Anecdote →

This is the first major novel D wrote after returning from exile.  I read a rather strange translation – it’s by Ignat Avsey, and he’s titled it Humiliated and Insulted.  I’ve gone with Frank’s translation to title this blog.  As far as the translation goes, this was the only one I could find in English … Continue reading The Insulted and Injured →

The Village of Stepanchikovo is the last novel Dostoevsky wrote before completing his military service and returning to St. Petersburg.  It's also the first novel that was, to me at least, recognizable Dostoevkyian in the expected sense that the later novels are - it's got a vast array of characters, perhaps even too many, and … Continue reading The Village of Stepanchikovo →

After Dostoevsky was convicted of treason and conspiracy for, among other things, reading an ironic letter about Gogol aloud to his literary circle, he was sentenced to death, but that sentence was then commuted by the emperor into four years of labor in a Siberian prison camp, and then enlistment in the Russian army for … Continue reading “A Little Hero” and the Peter-and-Paul Fortress →

Just before being arrested in 1849 and subsequently shipped off the Siberia, Dostoevsky had begun work on what was to be an enormous novel - Netochka Nezvanova, literally “A Nameless Nobody” (I read a translation by Jane Kentish, from Penguin Classics).  There is a lot of interesting stuff going on here – for one, it … Continue reading Netochka Nezvanova – the Last of the Pre-Exile Writing →

In one of the Feuilletons, Dostoevsky outlines a character-type – “the dreamer.”  The dreamer is heavily influenced by Romantic literature, to the point where he (and it’s definitely a he) expects his life to operate in its categories.  Not necessarily to the extent of madness and insanity – more just the sort of cultivated melancholy … Continue reading “The Landlady” and “White Nights” – Dreamers’ Romances →

Apparently in an attempt to salvage his now-ruined reputation, and also to maintain his spendthrift lifestyle, Dostoevsky wrote several shorter stories in this time period.  I have nothing too exciting to say about them.  They are at times funny, at times moralizing – mostly not boring.  They feel much more like set-pieces designed to elicit … Continue reading Petersburg “Grotesques” →

"With insomnia, nothing is real.  Everything is far away.  Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy" (Fight Club, script here). Frank reports that Dostoevsky’s second novel, The Double, was more or less universally panned.  I find this strange, considering it’s clearly a work of much more sophistication and certainly much more experimental … Continue reading The Double →