The Gambler (1866) Whenever I read, I hunger for goodness. If I start to suspect that the book doesn’t have any, I lose interest. But here’s the thing—goodness is difficult to write about. Why? It might be in the nature of how I taste goodness. Take the goodness of pizza. My experience of this goodnessContinue reading
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“Mr. Schedrin” & “The Crocodile” (1865) In Dostoevsky’s story, “The Crocodile,” Ivan is swallowed alive by a crocodile, but everyone is having a hard time caring about getting him out. The narrator is running around trying to get people to care, but as he continues, it becomes clear that even he may not care allContinue reading
Notes from Underground (1864) Part 2 When I first ingest the words of Notes from Underground’s narrator, the Underground Man, I think, “Wow, this guy is really eccentric.” Then I keep reading, and I think, “Dostoevsky seems to be deliberately trying to make a personality that is as contradictory as possible—how can such a disjointedContinue reading
Notes from Underground (1864) Part 1 The Underground Man claims that his reason for writing down episodes from his life twenty years earlier is because “I am particularly oppressed by a certain memory from the distant past. It came back to my mind vividly a few days ago, and since then, has remained with meContinue reading
Winter Notes on Summer Impressions (1862) Winter Notes on Summer Impressions is a collection of essays about Dostoevsky’s tour of Western Europe. In it, he outlines the themes that usher in his masterpiece period. With this work, Dostoevsky’s scope widens dramatically. Much of his earlier writing focuses on individual psychology or isolated cultural issues. TheseContinue reading
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