The Short Novels of Dostoyevsky

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky in Moderation--Thomas Mann
The Gambler
Notes from Underground
Uncle's Dream
The Eternal Husband
The Double
The Friend of the Family

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Russia, Literature, International, Short Stories

811 pages, hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

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)

Reviews

[Bryan Szabo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for those already familiar with the mad Russian's full-length novel who want to gain a further understanding of the author's development as a writer. Notes from Underground is, of course, far and away the strongest piece here, but The Double and The Friend of the Family contain a pair of characteristically overblown characters that are not to be missed. Give Uncle's Dream a pass; it amounts to an utterly unreadable failure. The introduction by Mann is sublime, perhaps one of the finest pieces of writing about Dostoevsky I have read.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

These six novels may not be long by Dostoyevsky standards, but they're anything but minor works. Great psychological studies.

[David]

I have read about 80% of Dostoevsky's work including all the "big ones." I am still waiting for the moment of enlightenment that helps me see why many of the finest critical minds, and many favourite authors of mine have pronounced the man a genius. He is, undeniably, a strong storyteller, with definite ideas and an agenda. I find I just don't like his characters. There is almost no one with whom I feel much sympathy/empathy. Many of them are pompous, officious, verging on sociopathic, self-indulgent champions of their own worth. There are moments of superb comedy, granted, and it may be that Dostoevsky's intent is to mock the attitudes and pretensions of most of the people about whom he writes. But I find it hard to care enough about many of these characters even to laugh at their pretensions being pricked. Add to that certain more or less characteristic habits of 19th-century fiction that seem to exist wherever texts were produced in what the English call the Victorian era, and I find myself always just restless for these narratives to be over, and more or less indifferent to what happens to the characters or why. I miss the genius because I am simply not participating in what John Ciardi called "the sympathetic contract" between writer and reader.

[Patrick Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review not including Notes or The Double which I read separately.

The Gambler - Goofy but not haha goofy

Uncle’s Dream - Super haha goofy, favorite execution of character, gravity, comedy, & theme

Eternal Husband - Intriguing, tragicomic but not very haha

Friend of the Family - Almost obnoxious intentionally, bit drawn out but fun, occasionally haha goofy

Great reads although emotional payoff isn’t entirely there for all of them. Definitely worth reading & compel me to seek out the masterpieces I still haven’t read.

[Thom Snoeren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gambler 3.5/5
Notes from the Underground 4/5
Uncle's Dream 4/5
The Eternal Husband 3.5/5
The Double 4/5
The Friend of the Family (better known as The Village of Stepanchikovo) 3/5

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the summer of 1974, "working" as a security guard in Chicago between ending college in Iowa and starting graduate school in New York, I read a great deal of literature, much of it Russian, in an attempt to catch up with my accomplished girlfriend. Her favorite author being Dostoevsky, he was a particular focus and I searched bookstores for books containing works by him that I hadn't already read. This collection typified what I was reduced to in order to obtain some of his short stories and novellas, the kinds of pieces which didn't appear in stand-alone volumes.

Years later I pulled out all of my collected Dostoevsky volumes, looking for overlaps and redundancies, giving away such books as could be discarded without losing material. This one, being a cloth edition, I may have kept.

[Carol]

Hmmm...my copy has the dust jacket!