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A Bad Business
A stunning new edition featuring fresh translations of six of this classic Russian writer’s most thrilling short stories in a beautiful Pushkin Collection edition.
This vivid collection of new translations by Nicolas Pasternak Slater and Maya Slater illuminates Dostoevsky’s dazzling versatility as a writer.
His remarkable short fiction swings from wickedly sharp humour to gripping psychological intensity, from cynical social mockery to moments of unexpected tenderness.
The stories in this collection range from impossible fantasy to scorching satire.
A civil servant finds a new passion for his work when he’s swallowed alive by a crocodile.
A struggling writer stumbles on a cemetery where the dead still talk to each other.
An arrogant but well-intentioned gentleman provokes an uproar at an aide’s wedding, and in the marital bed.
A young boy finds unexpected salvation on a cold and desolate Christmas Eve.
This vivid collection of new translations by Nicolas Pasternak Slater and Maya Slater illuminates Dostoevsky’s dazzling versatility as a writer.
His remarkable short fiction swings from wickedly sharp humour to gripping psychological intensity, from cynical social mockery to moments of unexpected tenderness.
The stories in this collection range from impossible fantasy to scorching satire.
A civil servant finds a new passion for his work when he’s swallowed alive by a crocodile.
A struggling writer stumbles on a cemetery where the dead still talk to each other.
An arrogant but well-intentioned gentleman provokes an uproar at an aide’s wedding, and in the marital bed.
A young boy finds unexpected salvation on a cold and desolate Christmas Eve.
284 pages, Paperback
First published March 29, 2022
27 people are currently reading
342 people want to read
About the author
Fyodor Dostoevsky
3,241 books72.1k 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 68 reviews
June 20, 2025
3.1 "worthwhile yet at times a bit tedious" stars !!!
Thank you to Netgalley, the translators, Pushkin Press and of course Mr. Dostoevsky for an ecopy of this book of short stories. These newly translated stories were released March 2022. I am providing an honest review.
Let's get this out of the way...all the translations were excellent (4 star quality).
In my late teens and early twenties I was drawn to read Classics and had my fill of them. As a middle aged gent I am less so....I do not have a clear understanding of why this is...
I am very glad to have read this collection and all the stories ranged from average good to very good. My one complaint was that not one of the stories felt to be a satisfying length...the longer ones felt somewhat tedious and the short ones felt lacking....aaaah well....
I will name the story, the rating and a brief thought or feeling...
1. A Bad Business....3.25 stars....absurdity in social hierarchies through the eyes of an upper middle class Russian prig...both clever and tedious
2. Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok)...2.75 stars...a struggling writer can hear the voices of the newly departed...felt like a precursor to Lincoln on the Bardo...again both clever and tedious but less effective than the first story in collection
3. A Meek Creature...3 stars...a way too long psychological melodrama of a vulnerable narcissist projecting his ugly neurosis on his disenfranchised 16 year old wife...both brilliant and yes again tedious...
4. The Crocodile (favorite in bunch) ....3.75 stars...a very funny satirical piece of an upper class buffoon being swallowed alive by a crocodile with plenty of philosophical and political overtones and undertones
5. The Christmas Tree...3 stars... a very sad tale of a poor little boy at Christmas....felt rather unfinished
6. The Peasant Marey...3 stars...how a childhood memory comforts a prisoner in Siberia
Thank you to Netgalley, the translators, Pushkin Press and of course Mr. Dostoevsky for an ecopy of this book of short stories. These newly translated stories were released March 2022. I am providing an honest review.
Let's get this out of the way...all the translations were excellent (4 star quality).
In my late teens and early twenties I was drawn to read Classics and had my fill of them. As a middle aged gent I am less so....I do not have a clear understanding of why this is...
I am very glad to have read this collection and all the stories ranged from average good to very good. My one complaint was that not one of the stories felt to be a satisfying length...the longer ones felt somewhat tedious and the short ones felt lacking....aaaah well....
I will name the story, the rating and a brief thought or feeling...
1. A Bad Business....3.25 stars....absurdity in social hierarchies through the eyes of an upper middle class Russian prig...both clever and tedious
2. Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok)...2.75 stars...a struggling writer can hear the voices of the newly departed...felt like a precursor to Lincoln on the Bardo...again both clever and tedious but less effective than the first story in collection
3. A Meek Creature...3 stars...a way too long psychological melodrama of a vulnerable narcissist projecting his ugly neurosis on his disenfranchised 16 year old wife...both brilliant and yes again tedious...
4. The Crocodile (favorite in bunch) ....3.75 stars...a very funny satirical piece of an upper class buffoon being swallowed alive by a crocodile with plenty of philosophical and political overtones and undertones
5. The Christmas Tree...3 stars... a very sad tale of a poor little boy at Christmas....felt rather unfinished
6. The Peasant Marey...3 stars...how a childhood memory comforts a prisoner in Siberia
January 25, 2022
This collection of six short stories shows the full range of Dostoyevsky’s themes from the satirical humour of The Crocodile to the sadness of The Heavenly Christmas Tree. A dark comedy about class in A Bad Business (also known as A Nasty Story). Bobok or Conversations in a Graveyard is about an author lingering in a graveyard overhearing the chatter of the recently dead. The Peasant Marey is about a childhood memory helping a prisoner cope. The sixth story is A Meek Creature (or A Gentle Spirit) about the suicide of a young bride. Her pawnbroker husband narrates the story, justifying all his own actions leading up to it. Such a great writer, I loved this book!
April 4, 2022
My thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.
A Bad Business is a set of six short stories by Dostoevsky collected in this ‘Essential Stories’ volume by Pushkin Press. The first four are longer length, and more ‘substantial’ so to speak but all the stories are impactful in their own ways. We touch on different themes and genres—satire to fantasy, humour (the most unexpected for me) to poignancy.
The book opens with the titular tale, ‘A Bad Business’, in which a young and upcoming general Ivan Ilych Pralinsky, just after attending a small party thrown by his former superior and friend, chances upon the wedding of an office (and class) subordinate while walking home. He decides to attend and put to practice his theory of ‘humaneness’ (his word for being on an equal footing with class inferiors) which he had been arguing is just what society needs (although almost immediately after leaving the party, the first thing he has done is to contradict himself). But having already had a fair bit more to drink than he is accustomed to, and having to drink some more out of courtesy at the wedding, things begin to go wrong right from the start, and Pralinsky’s actions, while perhaps only bringing embarrassment to himself, turn the groom, Pseldonimov’s life quite upside down, possibly with lasting consequences. This story explores themes of aspiration/idealism versus practice, class, and also perhaps circumstances since a large part of what happens is because Pralinsky is unused to that much drink. But what really left an impression is how many layers Dostoevsky gives us in this story to explore and to think back over, from the basic story arc of what Pralinsky’s presence at the party does, to the different characters themselves (even guests at the party with smaller ‘roles’ so to speak give us much to think about), and the dynamics between them.
Next was a completely different one, ‘Conversations in a Graveyard’ where an author Ivan Ivanovich, whose original work has met with little success, and who writes advertisements, translates French works, and has written many letters to the editor, ends up spending the night at a graveyard. But no ordinary one, here the dead have conversations with each other, share stories or promise to. We meet a range of curious ‘dead’ people (‘ghosts’?), and equally curious narrator. This is one I think I’ll have to come back to, to get at its significance much more, such as the themes of earthly limitations and so on, no longer being applicable to these dead—be it ‘class’ or shame.
‘A Meek Creature’ gives us a typically complex Dostoevskian narrator. His wife has just committed suicide, which unsettles him (I didn’t want to think ‘obviously’ since this is Dostoevsky’s world, after all), and leads him to think back over all that has happened—from the moment he first came across her, a small, ‘meek’ creature who visits his pawn shop to becoming his wife and what unfolded thereafter. This was probably to me the most characteristically Dostoevskian tale, with plenty of revelations as we go along and a narrator whose motivations and attitudes, in fact his entire psyche, keep one thinking.
Then came the story that in a sense was my favourite in this collection, because of how different it was from his usual writings (or at least what one thinks of as such), satirical though it is. In ‘Crocodile: An Extraordinary Event that Occurred in the Arcade’, Ivan Matveich, a civil servant, is swallowed whole by a crocodile, when visiting an arcade with his wife, Elena Ivanovna, and his friend (the narrator). But that doesn’t mean he’s dead of course. This is for him an excellent opportunity for fame, and he sets about planning how he will make his name in the world—all from inside the crocodile. A satirical tale, which comments on the ‘economic principle’ which alone seems to determine everything in the world (not too different from our current world; and one that is ‘naturally’ beneficial for the haves—who cares what becomes of the have-nots!), this was the funniest one in the whole book. One of my favourite quotes in the book is from this one:
… the crocodilian interior must as be empty, so that abhorring a vacuum, it is forced incessantly to swallow and replenish itself with whatever is at hand … The same is not true of the human organism; the emptier a human head is, for example, the less it feels the urge to fill itself; this is the only exception to the general rule.
The last two, much shorter pieces included ‘The Heavenly Christmas Tree’, the story of a young boy, living in poverty in lodgings with his mother, who is ill. This is a Christmas story as only Dostoevsky can tell it, and one that is at the same time both heartrending and beautiful. The final piece, ‘The Peasant Marey’ is a somewhat autobiographical story, in which the narrator reflects on a kindness, unexpectedly done to him by ‘Marey’ of the title when he was a child, something which stays with him, and reflects in his own attitudes many years later. Another short tale, but with a tender note to it.
While I have read some of Dostoevsky’s novels before, this was my first time reading any of his shorter works. The strength of this collection for me lies in the fact that it showcases a real range of writings in terms of themes and emotions from his pen, many of which I didn’t associate previously with Dostoevsky—be it the humour in ‘Crocodile’ or the poignant and beautiful notes in the ‘Christmas Tree’. An excellent collection.
4.5 stars.
A Bad Business is a set of six short stories by Dostoevsky collected in this ‘Essential Stories’ volume by Pushkin Press. The first four are longer length, and more ‘substantial’ so to speak but all the stories are impactful in their own ways. We touch on different themes and genres—satire to fantasy, humour (the most unexpected for me) to poignancy.
The book opens with the titular tale, ‘A Bad Business’, in which a young and upcoming general Ivan Ilych Pralinsky, just after attending a small party thrown by his former superior and friend, chances upon the wedding of an office (and class) subordinate while walking home. He decides to attend and put to practice his theory of ‘humaneness’ (his word for being on an equal footing with class inferiors) which he had been arguing is just what society needs (although almost immediately after leaving the party, the first thing he has done is to contradict himself). But having already had a fair bit more to drink than he is accustomed to, and having to drink some more out of courtesy at the wedding, things begin to go wrong right from the start, and Pralinsky’s actions, while perhaps only bringing embarrassment to himself, turn the groom, Pseldonimov’s life quite upside down, possibly with lasting consequences. This story explores themes of aspiration/idealism versus practice, class, and also perhaps circumstances since a large part of what happens is because Pralinsky is unused to that much drink. But what really left an impression is how many layers Dostoevsky gives us in this story to explore and to think back over, from the basic story arc of what Pralinsky’s presence at the party does, to the different characters themselves (even guests at the party with smaller ‘roles’ so to speak give us much to think about), and the dynamics between them.
Next was a completely different one, ‘Conversations in a Graveyard’ where an author Ivan Ivanovich, whose original work has met with little success, and who writes advertisements, translates French works, and has written many letters to the editor, ends up spending the night at a graveyard. But no ordinary one, here the dead have conversations with each other, share stories or promise to. We meet a range of curious ‘dead’ people (‘ghosts’?), and equally curious narrator. This is one I think I’ll have to come back to, to get at its significance much more, such as the themes of earthly limitations and so on, no longer being applicable to these dead—be it ‘class’ or shame.
‘A Meek Creature’ gives us a typically complex Dostoevskian narrator. His wife has just committed suicide, which unsettles him (I didn’t want to think ‘obviously’ since this is Dostoevsky’s world, after all), and leads him to think back over all that has happened—from the moment he first came across her, a small, ‘meek’ creature who visits his pawn shop to becoming his wife and what unfolded thereafter. This was probably to me the most characteristically Dostoevskian tale, with plenty of revelations as we go along and a narrator whose motivations and attitudes, in fact his entire psyche, keep one thinking.
Then came the story that in a sense was my favourite in this collection, because of how different it was from his usual writings (or at least what one thinks of as such), satirical though it is. In ‘Crocodile: An Extraordinary Event that Occurred in the Arcade’, Ivan Matveich, a civil servant, is swallowed whole by a crocodile, when visiting an arcade with his wife, Elena Ivanovna, and his friend (the narrator). But that doesn’t mean he’s dead of course. This is for him an excellent opportunity for fame, and he sets about planning how he will make his name in the world—all from inside the crocodile. A satirical tale, which comments on the ‘economic principle’ which alone seems to determine everything in the world (not too different from our current world; and one that is ‘naturally’ beneficial for the haves—who cares what becomes of the have-nots!), this was the funniest one in the whole book. One of my favourite quotes in the book is from this one:
… the crocodilian interior must as be empty, so that abhorring a vacuum, it is forced incessantly to swallow and replenish itself with whatever is at hand … The same is not true of the human organism; the emptier a human head is, for example, the less it feels the urge to fill itself; this is the only exception to the general rule.
The last two, much shorter pieces included ‘The Heavenly Christmas Tree’, the story of a young boy, living in poverty in lodgings with his mother, who is ill. This is a Christmas story as only Dostoevsky can tell it, and one that is at the same time both heartrending and beautiful. The final piece, ‘The Peasant Marey’ is a somewhat autobiographical story, in which the narrator reflects on a kindness, unexpectedly done to him by ‘Marey’ of the title when he was a child, something which stays with him, and reflects in his own attitudes many years later. Another short tale, but with a tender note to it.
While I have read some of Dostoevsky’s novels before, this was my first time reading any of his shorter works. The strength of this collection for me lies in the fact that it showcases a real range of writings in terms of themes and emotions from his pen, many of which I didn’t associate previously with Dostoevsky—be it the humour in ‘Crocodile’ or the poignant and beautiful notes in the ‘Christmas Tree’. An excellent collection.
4.5 stars.
April 15, 2023
Every time I go to my favorite bookstore to study or read, I go to their classic section and check if they still have this book because one day I want to get it (but it's 18 freaking dollars, and im low-key broke rn). It's a new translation and edition from Pushkin Press of little-heard-of short stories by Dostoevsky. I picked it up, read the first few sentences, and was totally hooked. I finished the first story, "A Bad Business," in one sitting, and I enjoyed it so much. I love every absurd character Dostoevsky writes; you feel for each one and meld into their deep struggles; it really makes me think how hard his life must have been to translate such sinking emotions. I'm very excited to go back and read the rest of the stories next time I go jhsjshdsjh
Edit: April 15th.
I finished this book and I could not rank these stories. I enjoyed every second of this and learned so much about Dostoevsky from these stories. It is no wonder he inspired all the great thinkers who came after him. I was laughing so hard at times and crying by the end of the book. Incredible collection and translation
Edit: April 15th.
I finished this book and I could not rank these stories. I enjoyed every second of this and learned so much about Dostoevsky from these stories. It is no wonder he inspired all the great thinkers who came after him. I was laughing so hard at times and crying by the end of the book. Incredible collection and translation
July 16, 2022
This was just so much fun!
February 24, 2022
I don't know how it is, but I've never encountered anyone else quite as capable of rendering inner dialogue as vividly and realistically as Dostoevsky.
His characters have great opinions of themselves, some vague awareness of their defects, occasional embarrassment - they're dreamers exploring possibilities and imagining themselves loved and capable, but falling under self-delusion, correcting themselves again and again, trying to maintain their moral high ground even when they fall piteously.
This volume contains six stories.
"A Bad Business" is the tale of a general who believes himself to be a man of the people, a friend of the little man (he is, in fact, quite full of himself). But his good intentions fall short of realization, and instead of being beloved as a benefactor, he manages to destroy the wedding (and perhaps the life) of a poor man under his command. It's a wonderful story, containing so much tension between the desire to be someone and the actual results of one's actions; the quiet seething of people of lower classes who can't retaliate openly; the entitlement of the upper classes.
"Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok)" is about a man, possibly mad, who falls asleep in a graveyard and hears the dead wake up and start talking about this and that - only superficial things. In fact, the main character remarks to himself that it's quite unexpected, where one can get their information on Russian society. It's fun, and funny.
"A Meek Creature" is a sad story about a forty year-old pawnbroker who marries a sixteen year-old woman and. For reasons he never understands, she kills herself. From the outside, one can speculate, but it's never resolved: she married him when constrained by poverty; he blew hot and cold; she may have perceived him as threatening; she might have felt guilt for a number of reasons. Who knows, who knows...
"The Crocodile" is a satire - a man gets swallowed whole by a crocodile, and this is now a potentially geopolitical event of great import. It might also affect the economy of Russia.
"The Heavenly Christmas Tree" is a story that reminds me of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl": a little boy whose mother dies runs out on Christmas and sees revelers, but is turned away from everywhere, finally dying of the cold.
"The Peasant Marey" is a short story about remembering a kind-hearted peasant from the author's autobiography. Not much happens, but it somehow manages to still be memorable.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
His characters have great opinions of themselves, some vague awareness of their defects, occasional embarrassment - they're dreamers exploring possibilities and imagining themselves loved and capable, but falling under self-delusion, correcting themselves again and again, trying to maintain their moral high ground even when they fall piteously.
This volume contains six stories.
"A Bad Business" is the tale of a general who believes himself to be a man of the people, a friend of the little man (he is, in fact, quite full of himself). But his good intentions fall short of realization, and instead of being beloved as a benefactor, he manages to destroy the wedding (and perhaps the life) of a poor man under his command. It's a wonderful story, containing so much tension between the desire to be someone and the actual results of one's actions; the quiet seething of people of lower classes who can't retaliate openly; the entitlement of the upper classes.
"Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok)" is about a man, possibly mad, who falls asleep in a graveyard and hears the dead wake up and start talking about this and that - only superficial things. In fact, the main character remarks to himself that it's quite unexpected, where one can get their information on Russian society. It's fun, and funny.
"A Meek Creature" is a sad story about a forty year-old pawnbroker who marries a sixteen year-old woman and. For reasons he never understands, she kills herself. From the outside, one can speculate, but it's never resolved: she married him when constrained by poverty; he blew hot and cold; she may have perceived him as threatening; she might have felt guilt for a number of reasons. Who knows, who knows...
"The Crocodile" is a satire - a man gets swallowed whole by a crocodile, and this is now a potentially geopolitical event of great import. It might also affect the economy of Russia.
"The Heavenly Christmas Tree" is a story that reminds me of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl": a little boy whose mother dies runs out on Christmas and sees revelers, but is turned away from everywhere, finally dying of the cold.
"The Peasant Marey" is a short story about remembering a kind-hearted peasant from the author's autobiography. Not much happens, but it somehow manages to still be memorable.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 24, 2024
The Pushkin Essential Stories stories continues to be unerringly amazing. Beautiful volumes without introductions or footnotes--just the stories. Well chosen and diverse. Not too long so you do not find yourself getting tired of them. Well translated (they have covered many of the leading 19th century Russian authors, less from elsewhere).
My enthusiasm for 19th century began with Fyodor Dostoyevsky, starting with Notes from Underground in high school and going through almost all of his novels and novellas by the end of college (although The Adolescent has been on my TBR for thirty years now). But I have not read anything from him since then, until this. And he really is amazing, such vivid characters, humor, psychological perspective, ability to shift multiple perspectives within a story, and a real variety.
A few quick notes about the stories in this collection:
A Bad Business: This was my favorite story in the collection. An official is heading home drunk from a birthday party, passes his subordinates party, and stops in uninvited thinking he is gracing them with his presence but instead ruining it by introducing a status that was not present. Although he realizes this he is trapped and in the course of it you learn that much of it is not what it appears to anyone. The opening and coda work well to bracket the otherwise intense drunken party.
Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok): In the first person by a failed writer who like many of Dostoyevsky's characters is not particularly reliable about his own psyche and failings--even though they are clear to the more sophisticated reader who can follow their stream of consciousness. He wanders into a graveyard, lies down, and hears the deceased conversing with each other--until he interrupts it and comes back to reality. Both fantastical and highly realistic.
A Meek Creature: The Pushkin Press volume has no introductions or notes. But for some reason Dostoyevsky felt the need to include a preface to this story explaining his semi-stream of consciousness methodology in writing the story that begins with a man's wife's suicide but then goes back to the beginning, their meeting, relationship, marriage, and the growing problems. In many ways it is a highly realistic portrait of the difficulties of marriage and connection, very different from the romantic comedies and happy endings being written by so many British authors at the same time.
The Crocodile: Another fantastical-realistic tale, this one a couple and their friend go to an exhibition to see a touring crocodile, the crocodile swallows the husband but he lives on inside conversing in an increasingly thoughtful and erudite way about his ideas to revolutionize political economy and society more broadly, attracting larger and larger crowds. This leads to an evolution of his friendship. Hilarious, moving, brilliant. Writing this I'm not sure I agree with my earlier statement that "A Bad Business" was the best in the group, maybe this was.
The Heavenly Christmas Tree: This is a very short story about a poor boy and his mother freezing to death on Christmas, it bears some resemblance to Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Match Girl. A little overly sentimental, but does provide variety. And that authorial interjections that frame it make it a little more interesting and authentic feeling.
The Peasant Marey: Another very short story, I did not like as much as many of the others, has something in common with the previous with frame discussions, questions on authenticity, this time in a prison camp.
My enthusiasm for 19th century began with Fyodor Dostoyevsky, starting with Notes from Underground in high school and going through almost all of his novels and novellas by the end of college (although The Adolescent has been on my TBR for thirty years now). But I have not read anything from him since then, until this. And he really is amazing, such vivid characters, humor, psychological perspective, ability to shift multiple perspectives within a story, and a real variety.
A few quick notes about the stories in this collection:
A Bad Business: This was my favorite story in the collection. An official is heading home drunk from a birthday party, passes his subordinates party, and stops in uninvited thinking he is gracing them with his presence but instead ruining it by introducing a status that was not present. Although he realizes this he is trapped and in the course of it you learn that much of it is not what it appears to anyone. The opening and coda work well to bracket the otherwise intense drunken party.
Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok): In the first person by a failed writer who like many of Dostoyevsky's characters is not particularly reliable about his own psyche and failings--even though they are clear to the more sophisticated reader who can follow their stream of consciousness. He wanders into a graveyard, lies down, and hears the deceased conversing with each other--until he interrupts it and comes back to reality. Both fantastical and highly realistic.
A Meek Creature: The Pushkin Press volume has no introductions or notes. But for some reason Dostoyevsky felt the need to include a preface to this story explaining his semi-stream of consciousness methodology in writing the story that begins with a man's wife's suicide but then goes back to the beginning, their meeting, relationship, marriage, and the growing problems. In many ways it is a highly realistic portrait of the difficulties of marriage and connection, very different from the romantic comedies and happy endings being written by so many British authors at the same time.
The Crocodile: Another fantastical-realistic tale, this one a couple and their friend go to an exhibition to see a touring crocodile, the crocodile swallows the husband but he lives on inside conversing in an increasingly thoughtful and erudite way about his ideas to revolutionize political economy and society more broadly, attracting larger and larger crowds. This leads to an evolution of his friendship. Hilarious, moving, brilliant. Writing this I'm not sure I agree with my earlier statement that "A Bad Business" was the best in the group, maybe this was.
The Heavenly Christmas Tree: This is a very short story about a poor boy and his mother freezing to death on Christmas, it bears some resemblance to Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Match Girl. A little overly sentimental, but does provide variety. And that authorial interjections that frame it make it a little more interesting and authentic feeling.
The Peasant Marey: Another very short story, I did not like as much as many of the others, has something in common with the previous with frame discussions, questions on authenticity, this time in a prison camp.
March 10, 2022
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, sometimes transliterated as Dostoyevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and journalist.
A Bad Business is a new Pushkin collection of short stories; it is a very accessible and readable translation of his writing. A perfect opportunity to gain insight into Russia in the 19th Century while delighting at this author’s way with words. His wit, satire and love for his country, slowly finding it’s place in Europe.
As a teenager I quickly bought Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov as a sign of my literary credentials, sadly although I have read Solzhenitsyn to my shame I had not read Dostoyevsky until I had this wonderful chance to find the writer’s short stories in this particular collection.
Pushkin should be applauded in their approach to restoring into English so many worthy authors and through NetGalley making this title available as an ARC.
I have finally found this talented storyteller in my own reading experience and pleasure.
I now feel both confident and comfortable to tackle his novels. This will no longer be to flag up my literary status but a journey of love and appreciation.
A Bad Business is a new Pushkin collection of short stories; it is a very accessible and readable translation of his writing. A perfect opportunity to gain insight into Russia in the 19th Century while delighting at this author’s way with words. His wit, satire and love for his country, slowly finding it’s place in Europe.
As a teenager I quickly bought Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov as a sign of my literary credentials, sadly although I have read Solzhenitsyn to my shame I had not read Dostoyevsky until I had this wonderful chance to find the writer’s short stories in this particular collection.
Pushkin should be applauded in their approach to restoring into English so many worthy authors and through NetGalley making this title available as an ARC.
I have finally found this talented storyteller in my own reading experience and pleasure.
I now feel both confident and comfortable to tackle his novels. This will no longer be to flag up my literary status but a journey of love and appreciation.
November 15, 2022
Classic Russian satire stories that reminded me a bit of Gogol with the absurd caricatures of overly self important and ignorant buffoons running amok in 19th century Russia.
March 9, 2023
This is my first exposure to Dostoevsky, and I think it was the right call before jumping into the deep end with his heavier work. He is certainly a titan when it comes to monologues. Although there is a distinct style he commands, each character’s unique perspective and tone is apparent. The textural diversity - namely the variety of topics and emotional colours - conveyed here is wide.
The titular story A Bad Business is a great piece satirizing the privileged class and the 19th Century political climate in Russia. But my favourite is The Crocodile, such a ridiculously hilarious story written with much dark humour, poking fun on human greed, political ideologies, and social anxiety. Contrasting this with The Peasant Marey, where readers get a glimpse of Dostoevsky’s personal history. The story tells his time in prison and his reminiscence of a childhood encounter with a stranger who had shown him much warmth. The story’s sentimentality, accentuated by the brutality of the prison life, lingered even as I closed the book.
What a wonderful little treat for a great weekend reading.
The titular story A Bad Business is a great piece satirizing the privileged class and the 19th Century political climate in Russia. But my favourite is The Crocodile, such a ridiculously hilarious story written with much dark humour, poking fun on human greed, political ideologies, and social anxiety. Contrasting this with The Peasant Marey, where readers get a glimpse of Dostoevsky’s personal history. The story tells his time in prison and his reminiscence of a childhood encounter with a stranger who had shown him much warmth. The story’s sentimentality, accentuated by the brutality of the prison life, lingered even as I closed the book.
What a wonderful little treat for a great weekend reading.
October 4, 2022
An eclectic collection of six of Master Dostoevsky's stories, fresh off the pens of translators Nicolas Pasternak Slater and Maya Slater, and which are as different as can be.
A Bad Business - about the boss you NEVER want to crash your party. Ever. Ever. Yet he will never realize it. . . he, himself is the gift he gives.
Bobok - or Conversations in a Graveyard - may be my favorite. I love cemeteries, and can totally see this happening. . . .The way the story is told, just rolling out of this man, I settle down and with upturned face receive the language gluing me in place as I listen. It's amusing, and he ends it with a flourish. Immediately I wanted to dash out to a cemetery, find a good seat and wait for sunset. . .
A Meek Creature - a self-important narrator that needs to be smacked tells a story which at its most sorrowful point is acknowledged, but tucked away like napkins after the party, without much thought at all. Part of me was sorrowing, and the rest was very irritated with this man who deserved his alone time!
The Crocodile - straight up fantasy - but hilarious.
The Heavenly Christmas Tree - very Matchstick Girl, I thought, but sweet in a wistful, melancholy way.
The Peasant Marey - a contender for my favorite - recognizing those moments we all have with strangers that are dear and nurturing, made even more so by their anonymity, rarity and out-of-time-ness. I felt he was trying to say something about Poland with this one, and will be researching that to see if I was grabbing on to something author-intended or just making stuff up.
Great introduction to a fantastic writer! So glad that I was able to read this.
A Sincere Thank You to Fyodor Dostoevsky, the translators, Pushkin Press and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review. #ABadBusiness #NetGalley
A Bad Business - about the boss you NEVER want to crash your party. Ever. Ever. Yet he will never realize it. . . he, himself is the gift he gives.
Bobok - or Conversations in a Graveyard - may be my favorite. I love cemeteries, and can totally see this happening. . . .The way the story is told, just rolling out of this man, I settle down and with upturned face receive the language gluing me in place as I listen. It's amusing, and he ends it with a flourish. Immediately I wanted to dash out to a cemetery, find a good seat and wait for sunset. . .
A Meek Creature - a self-important narrator that needs to be smacked tells a story which at its most sorrowful point is acknowledged, but tucked away like napkins after the party, without much thought at all. Part of me was sorrowing, and the rest was very irritated with this man who deserved his alone time!
The Crocodile - straight up fantasy - but hilarious.
The Heavenly Christmas Tree - very Matchstick Girl, I thought, but sweet in a wistful, melancholy way.
The Peasant Marey - a contender for my favorite - recognizing those moments we all have with strangers that are dear and nurturing, made even more so by their anonymity, rarity and out-of-time-ness. I felt he was trying to say something about Poland with this one, and will be researching that to see if I was grabbing on to something author-intended or just making stuff up.
Great introduction to a fantastic writer! So glad that I was able to read this.
A Sincere Thank You to Fyodor Dostoevsky, the translators, Pushkin Press and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review. #ABadBusiness #NetGalley
July 16, 2022
Easily a 5 star book! While I’ve read several of Dostoevsky’s novels, this is my first introduction to his short stories. I absolutely loved this collection! Three of the six stories are laugh out loud funny, two were quite sad and one was reflective. I enjoyed them all in their own way, but I think the humorous ones were my favorites. If you haven’t read any Dostoevsky before, I think this is a great (and less intimidating!) starting point to get a feel for his writing.
January 11, 2022
A Bad business is a collection of short stories by one of the finest Russian writers, Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated into English.
The first story, A Bad Company, starts with the protagonist enforcing the idea of “Love thy neighbour” egomaniacally to influence his company. He wanted his subordinates to feel loved with an ulterior motive to gain respect and trust.
The story revolves around a few “inferior” characters, troubled by their existential crises, “rescued” by our protagonist upon an uninvited appearance at their reception. Blinded by his feyness, he ends by making the lives of everyone excruciatingly painful.
Overall, a quick read for someone who fancies an imbecilic privileged character dictating the social norms. The wittiness of the author is visible by the grand descriptions of the protagonist’s internal conflicts put into words.
For the full review, visit https://myreadingnook.xyz/home/a-bad-...
The first story, A Bad Company, starts with the protagonist enforcing the idea of “Love thy neighbour” egomaniacally to influence his company. He wanted his subordinates to feel loved with an ulterior motive to gain respect and trust.
The story revolves around a few “inferior” characters, troubled by their existential crises, “rescued” by our protagonist upon an uninvited appearance at their reception. Blinded by his feyness, he ends by making the lives of everyone excruciatingly painful.
Overall, a quick read for someone who fancies an imbecilic privileged character dictating the social norms. The wittiness of the author is visible by the grand descriptions of the protagonist’s internal conflicts put into words.
For the full review, visit https://myreadingnook.xyz/home/a-bad-...
January 11, 2022
A Bad Business was a delightful and fascinating short story collection, not least because it showcased a different side to Dostoevsky than we see in his novels. There is still some psychological introspection here, but there is also humour and wit. 'The Crocodile' in particular kept me smiling from start to finish, and that was one of my favourite tales, along with 'The Meek One' and 'A Bad Business'. If you are already a fan of Dostoevsky, you will want to check out this collection. If you've wanted to read Dostoevsky but have worried the novels will be too heavy going, these short stories may offer a good place to start. The book gets five stars from me.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 23, 2022
To be remembered for ages
A Bad Business by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a wonderful narration of human minds and relationships. Filled with humor and satire, the book is going to give you a deep insight into what people think about each other. Although, the book is translated but it did not lose its originality. Each and every makes a different imprint on your mind. An unforgettable book with some beautiful stories. I, not only enjoyed the book but loved it.
I would, definitely, give the book 5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.
Read more on bibliophileverse.blogspot.com
A Bad Business by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a wonderful narration of human minds and relationships. Filled with humor and satire, the book is going to give you a deep insight into what people think about each other. Although, the book is translated but it did not lose its originality. Each and every makes a different imprint on your mind. An unforgettable book with some beautiful stories. I, not only enjoyed the book but loved it.
I would, definitely, give the book 5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.
Read more on bibliophileverse.blogspot.com
January 14, 2024
I already read A Bad Business, under the title A Disgraceful Affair. I had also read A Meek Creature but under the title A Gentle Creature. I would love to learn Russian just to have a deeper understanding of Dostoevsky, although I think I’ll have to settle with hoping his version of the afterlife is what I’ll find. Bobok was interesting and expanded from The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, in the time he spent buried. The Crocodile is probably the least deep story I have read of Dostoevsky’s unless (very possibly) I am not understanding it fully. An egotistical man gets eaten my a crocodile after teasing it but remains alive and chooses to stay there for the economic gain of Russia and to think. Although, I often find myself refusing to think unless I’m in the belly of a beast. The Heavenly Christmas Tree reminded me of The Little Match Box Girl and was thoroughly depressing yet better than a church service. I think it might be in his Diaries (which I think will be next to read) as well as The Peasant Marey, which also fills my heart with God more than all of Sunday school combined.
July 30, 2022
Short stories by Dostoevksy newly translated by Nicolas Pasternak Slater and Maya Slater. I
participated in a great readalong of this with several other ladies and we did a live show on Evie’s channel: https://youtu.be/2RGKrs6OL2U
The readalong was a complete success! I think everybody, including readers who were new to Russian lit, absolutely loved this. I highly recommend it as a great way to start reading Dostoevksy if you haven’t, and definitely something to try if you love his longer works. His short works are punchy in every way possible–funny, smart, sometimes brutal. I was surprised at the inclusion of the final two shortest stories, as they didn’t seem to add much to the collection; but they’re both extremely short, probably not more than 10 pages each.
I also talk about books on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristyLuis...
participated in a great readalong of this with several other ladies and we did a live show on Evie’s channel: https://youtu.be/2RGKrs6OL2U
The readalong was a complete success! I think everybody, including readers who were new to Russian lit, absolutely loved this. I highly recommend it as a great way to start reading Dostoevksy if you haven’t, and definitely something to try if you love his longer works. His short works are punchy in every way possible–funny, smart, sometimes brutal. I was surprised at the inclusion of the final two shortest stories, as they didn’t seem to add much to the collection; but they’re both extremely short, probably not more than 10 pages each.
I also talk about books on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristyLuis...
November 17, 2023
This collection of short stories is more absurd, fantastical, and unreal than many of Dostoevsky's other works. Reading this after reading Crime and Punishment allowed me better appreciate the range of Dostoevsky's craft. This collection made me laugh, cringe, and challenge what I previously thought about seemingly normal things - like exhibitions, alcohol, parties, and romance. Dostoevsky puts a unique spin on these everyday facets of life, allowing me to share a new perspective.
February 23, 2025
I love Dostoevsky but there’s something about 19th century books that puts me into a small reading slump. I was hoping that this being a book of short stories would be a different case but wasn’t to be!
September 25, 2023
i liked the part where a guy was cuckolded while inside of a crocodile 🐊
June 19, 2024
I really enjoyed a couple of these stories. A bad business in particular is a great snapshot of what to expect from Dostoyevsky's novels. The crocodile was unexpectedly but pleasantly absurd.
August 2, 2025
Strongly recommend.
August 8, 2025
Did not know Mr. Dostoevsky was so funny?? Some real gems in here.
June 26, 2023
Dostoevsky has convinced me everyone in Russia is named Ivan
Favorite stories: meek creature and graveyard conversations
Favorite stories: meek creature and graveyard conversations
February 8, 2022
This is the second collection of classic short stories I’ve read from the Pushkin Press Essential Stories series. The first was I Would Prefer Not To by Herman Melville, an author I had never tried before, and I found it a good introduction to his work. In the case of Dostoevsky, I have previously read two of his novels (Crime and Punishment and The Idiot) but was curious to see what his shorter fiction would be like. This collection contains six stories, all in new translations by Nicolas Pasternak Slater and Maya Slater. They are all quite different in subject and style and I think they would give new readers a good idea of what his writing is like, while also being of interest to readers like myself who are only familiar with his full-length novels.
I think my favourite of the six stories was The Crocodile (1865), in which a civil servant, Ivan Matveich, is swallowed alive by a crocodile being exhibited in St Petersburg. There’s not much more to the plot than that, as the rest of the story revolves around the conversations Matveich has with various people from inside the crocodile, but I found it entertaining and surprisingly funny, not something I’ve really associated with Dostoevsky’s work before. It also takes a satirical look at the economic situation in Russia at that time – the German owners of the crocodile refuse to have its stomach slit open to free Matveich because they would be losing their investment, particularly as the crocodile has now increased in value due to becoming so famous!
Conversations in a Graveyard (1873), also published as Bobok, is another satire in which the narrator is sitting in a cemetery after attending a funeral and hears the disembodied voices of the recently buried telling each other their stories. The literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin describes this story as “almost a microcosm of Dostoevsky’s entire creative output,” because it involves many of the themes, ideas and character types that appear in his other work. I probably haven’t read enough of Dostoevsky to be able to fully appreciate this, but I did still find the story interesting – and it reminded me very much of Lincoln in the Bardo!
The title story, A Bad Business (1862), follows a general in the civil service who, after discussing his political ideals with friends, decides to test one of his theories by being nice to people from lower social classes. Unfortunately, when he arrives, uninvited and unwelcome, at the wedding feast of one of his subordinates, things quickly begin to go wrong. A very different type of story is A Meek Creature (1876), about the relationship between a pawnbroker and one of his customers, a girl who pawns items to earn money so that she can advertise in the newspaper for work as a governess. This is a darker story than most of the others in the book and not one of my favourites.
The four stories mentioned so far take up more than 90% of the book, which means that the final two are much shorter. One is The Heavenly Christmas Tree (1876), a sentimental and poignant little story with a fairy tale feel, and the other is The Peasant Marey (also 1876), in which the narrator recalls a childhood memory of being comforted by a peasant after convincing himself there was a wolf in the woods. I liked both of these stories but felt that they suffered from being placed at the end of the collection; I would have preferred the shorter stories to alternate with the novella-length ones to provide more variety.
Although I don’t think any of these are stories I would want to read again, apart from maybe The Crocodile, it was good to have the opportunity to explore Dostoevsky further. I’m hoping to read my copy of The Brothers Karamazov soon.
I think my favourite of the six stories was The Crocodile (1865), in which a civil servant, Ivan Matveich, is swallowed alive by a crocodile being exhibited in St Petersburg. There’s not much more to the plot than that, as the rest of the story revolves around the conversations Matveich has with various people from inside the crocodile, but I found it entertaining and surprisingly funny, not something I’ve really associated with Dostoevsky’s work before. It also takes a satirical look at the economic situation in Russia at that time – the German owners of the crocodile refuse to have its stomach slit open to free Matveich because they would be losing their investment, particularly as the crocodile has now increased in value due to becoming so famous!
Conversations in a Graveyard (1873), also published as Bobok, is another satire in which the narrator is sitting in a cemetery after attending a funeral and hears the disembodied voices of the recently buried telling each other their stories. The literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin describes this story as “almost a microcosm of Dostoevsky’s entire creative output,” because it involves many of the themes, ideas and character types that appear in his other work. I probably haven’t read enough of Dostoevsky to be able to fully appreciate this, but I did still find the story interesting – and it reminded me very much of Lincoln in the Bardo!
The title story, A Bad Business (1862), follows a general in the civil service who, after discussing his political ideals with friends, decides to test one of his theories by being nice to people from lower social classes. Unfortunately, when he arrives, uninvited and unwelcome, at the wedding feast of one of his subordinates, things quickly begin to go wrong. A very different type of story is A Meek Creature (1876), about the relationship between a pawnbroker and one of his customers, a girl who pawns items to earn money so that she can advertise in the newspaper for work as a governess. This is a darker story than most of the others in the book and not one of my favourites.
The four stories mentioned so far take up more than 90% of the book, which means that the final two are much shorter. One is The Heavenly Christmas Tree (1876), a sentimental and poignant little story with a fairy tale feel, and the other is The Peasant Marey (also 1876), in which the narrator recalls a childhood memory of being comforted by a peasant after convincing himself there was a wolf in the woods. I liked both of these stories but felt that they suffered from being placed at the end of the collection; I would have preferred the shorter stories to alternate with the novella-length ones to provide more variety.
Although I don’t think any of these are stories I would want to read again, apart from maybe The Crocodile, it was good to have the opportunity to explore Dostoevsky further. I’m hoping to read my copy of The Brothers Karamazov soon.
January 24, 2022
Honestly, i didn't expect to find a book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky here on NetGalley. However, i am glad that i did for i have never read his collection of short stories before,so this book is the first for me.
There are 6 stories featured in this book. Out of all these stories, my favourites are the first story, A Bad Business which also makes up the book's title. The story is about a high level officer who crashes into the wedding of one of his subordinates,uninvited. He was craving for the recognitions,admirations and respects from his subordinates,only to find his plan/intentions backfired and ended up humiliating himself.
The Meek One is another one of my favourite,as it is quite an unusual and very emotional kind of love story of a pawnbroker who tried so hard to win the affection and respect from his very young and meek wife but the ways he is projecting his love is too absurd ended up driving his wife further away from him and misunderstood him more.
Surprisingly, i didn't expect to have also liked this other story about a man who is swallowed alive by a crocodile at an exhibition!. It was a very odd and weird story (and somehow grotesque; i find the part where the crocodile was ingesting and spitting out the man to be repulsive, so i even skipped reading those detailed and descriptive parts actually huhu). Suddenly, when the eaten man started talking from inside the crocodile's belly, my repulsiveness turned into curiousity and i couldn't believe i even find myself laughing at times. Quite an interesting story,as the story also talks about some economic principles and plans for economic reforms by a vain and very ambitious man from underneath a crocodile's stomach!.
Overall, the stories are not bad but they aren't that great either. A story left me feeling disappointed with the abrupt and cliffhanger ending while the other left me extremely bored,confused and uninterested for being utterly nonsensical and bringing me nowhere. So you might want to skip that story.
However, if you are a fan of Dostoyevsky's like i did, and wanted to try reading his short stories,you might want to give this book a try as i still enjoyed reading this book despite some of the minor hiccups, but still some of the stories left me crying and laughing (like seriously, that Christmas story made me cry really hard for it is very sad!).
There are 6 stories featured in this book. Out of all these stories, my favourites are the first story, A Bad Business which also makes up the book's title. The story is about a high level officer who crashes into the wedding of one of his subordinates,uninvited. He was craving for the recognitions,admirations and respects from his subordinates,only to find his plan/intentions backfired and ended up humiliating himself.
The Meek One is another one of my favourite,as it is quite an unusual and very emotional kind of love story of a pawnbroker who tried so hard to win the affection and respect from his very young and meek wife but the ways he is projecting his love is too absurd ended up driving his wife further away from him and misunderstood him more.
Surprisingly, i didn't expect to have also liked this other story about a man who is swallowed alive by a crocodile at an exhibition!. It was a very odd and weird story (and somehow grotesque; i find the part where the crocodile was ingesting and spitting out the man to be repulsive, so i even skipped reading those detailed and descriptive parts actually huhu). Suddenly, when the eaten man started talking from inside the crocodile's belly, my repulsiveness turned into curiousity and i couldn't believe i even find myself laughing at times. Quite an interesting story,as the story also talks about some economic principles and plans for economic reforms by a vain and very ambitious man from underneath a crocodile's stomach!.
Overall, the stories are not bad but they aren't that great either. A story left me feeling disappointed with the abrupt and cliffhanger ending while the other left me extremely bored,confused and uninterested for being utterly nonsensical and bringing me nowhere. So you might want to skip that story.
However, if you are a fan of Dostoyevsky's like i did, and wanted to try reading his short stories,you might want to give this book a try as i still enjoyed reading this book despite some of the minor hiccups, but still some of the stories left me crying and laughing (like seriously, that Christmas story made me cry really hard for it is very sad!).
December 29, 2021
On previous form I'd have been approaching this book to just tick one more classic author off my non-existent wish-list. Not so here, having been to Stepanchikovo donkeys years ago. But this was certainly a look at some uncustomary fiction. And with Dostoevsky's short works output not the world's greatest, this was a fair slice of what you'd expect from any such compilation.
We start with something not normally translated with the title "Bad Business", but the opening novella doesn't feel to have aged well; hard work, it concerns a conceited high-up in the civil service descending uninvited on the wedding of someone who serves one of his servers, has to have the cream of the catering gifted to him and generally proves his inability to cross the social divide. Next, "Conversations in a Graveyard", aka "Bobok", is not unique here – this and a Dickensian short piece later on both imply that the afterlife is a more jolly place than we'd have assumed. "A Meek Creature" – again, something the author's fans may well know under other names – is a dark look at a relationship between a poor young lass and her older pawnbroker-turned-husband. Jolly it is not, but as it starts by us knowing she's dead that's the least of it.
"The Crocodile" is definitely the most memorable effort here – only because it starts with a man being eaten by a living crocodile at an exhibit, and then carries on by discussing the "economic principle" of it all – and the first to mention that is the chap now living inside the reptile, having survived the swallowing fully intact. A final vignette from a childhood where the narrator as a boy has reason to panic in the woods, "The Peasant Marey", rounds things off.
Coming as I always do as a general reader, much of this is a touch too awkward - "The Crocodile"'s lack of strong ending is certainly not the greatest sin here. I think the purchaser of serious literary works will definitely prioritise the noted novels from the man, too, meaning this is left with the curious and completist as an audience. This is a vanilla production, as well, with just the bare bones of the stories and not a word extra. But if it is your first Dostoevsky, there's nothing too utterly off-putting here.
We start with something not normally translated with the title "Bad Business", but the opening novella doesn't feel to have aged well; hard work, it concerns a conceited high-up in the civil service descending uninvited on the wedding of someone who serves one of his servers, has to have the cream of the catering gifted to him and generally proves his inability to cross the social divide. Next, "Conversations in a Graveyard", aka "Bobok", is not unique here – this and a Dickensian short piece later on both imply that the afterlife is a more jolly place than we'd have assumed. "A Meek Creature" – again, something the author's fans may well know under other names – is a dark look at a relationship between a poor young lass and her older pawnbroker-turned-husband. Jolly it is not, but as it starts by us knowing she's dead that's the least of it.
"The Crocodile" is definitely the most memorable effort here – only because it starts with a man being eaten by a living crocodile at an exhibit, and then carries on by discussing the "economic principle" of it all – and the first to mention that is the chap now living inside the reptile, having survived the swallowing fully intact. A final vignette from a childhood where the narrator as a boy has reason to panic in the woods, "The Peasant Marey", rounds things off.
Coming as I always do as a general reader, much of this is a touch too awkward - "The Crocodile"'s lack of strong ending is certainly not the greatest sin here. I think the purchaser of serious literary works will definitely prioritise the noted novels from the man, too, meaning this is left with the curious and completist as an audience. This is a vanilla production, as well, with just the bare bones of the stories and not a word extra. But if it is your first Dostoevsky, there's nothing too utterly off-putting here.
March 9, 2022
This collection gathers six pieces of Dostoevsky’s short fiction, each brilliant in its own way. The stories vary in length and genre, but share an interesting insight into humanity.
“A Bad Business” is about a high-ranking official who decides to wedding crash one of his underlings. Like the third story in this collection, it’s the psychology that makes this tale compelling. The lead character vacillates between feeling empowered by his host’s deferential behavior and feelings of embarrassment and regret over violating norms. While it might sound like an unrelatable story, the psychological foibles shine through recognizably.
“Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok)” is largely as the title describes, and is one of the speculative fiction pieces.
Much like the first story, “A Meek Creature” deals in subject matter that may seem unrelatable to today’s reader, but one will recognize the state of mind that drives the story. It’s about a middle-aged man who marries a teenaged girl. The story revolves around the young wife’s death, and attempts to reconcile her demise, which leads him into a dismal territory of self-discovery.
“The Crocodile” is the one piece that doesn’t at all suffer from being dated. While the details may feel retro, this absurdist dark comedy story remains both hilarious and meaningful. The underlying theme is disappointment that economic considerations have come to rule the world, but the story doesn’t beat one over the head with the politics, but rather lets the absurd situation of a man being swallowed whole by a crocodile do the work.
“The Heavenly Christmas Tree” reminded me of the fairytale “The Little Match Girl,” and is a heartfelt Christmas tale.
“The Peasant Marey” is the story of a prisoner having a flashback of the kindness of a neighborhood peasant in his childhood. It’s written in an autobiographical style. I don’t know how much license was taken, but I do know that Dostoevsky did spend time in prison as does the story’s lead.
This collection is well worth reading by any lover of short fiction.
“A Bad Business” is about a high-ranking official who decides to wedding crash one of his underlings. Like the third story in this collection, it’s the psychology that makes this tale compelling. The lead character vacillates between feeling empowered by his host’s deferential behavior and feelings of embarrassment and regret over violating norms. While it might sound like an unrelatable story, the psychological foibles shine through recognizably.
“Conversations in a Graveyard (Bobok)” is largely as the title describes, and is one of the speculative fiction pieces.
Much like the first story, “A Meek Creature” deals in subject matter that may seem unrelatable to today’s reader, but one will recognize the state of mind that drives the story. It’s about a middle-aged man who marries a teenaged girl. The story revolves around the young wife’s death, and attempts to reconcile her demise, which leads him into a dismal territory of self-discovery.
“The Crocodile” is the one piece that doesn’t at all suffer from being dated. While the details may feel retro, this absurdist dark comedy story remains both hilarious and meaningful. The underlying theme is disappointment that economic considerations have come to rule the world, but the story doesn’t beat one over the head with the politics, but rather lets the absurd situation of a man being swallowed whole by a crocodile do the work.
“The Heavenly Christmas Tree” reminded me of the fairytale “The Little Match Girl,” and is a heartfelt Christmas tale.
“The Peasant Marey” is the story of a prisoner having a flashback of the kindness of a neighborhood peasant in his childhood. It’s written in an autobiographical style. I don’t know how much license was taken, but I do know that Dostoevsky did spend time in prison as does the story’s lead.
This collection is well worth reading by any lover of short fiction.
July 16, 2023
Several of these stories are in another book I reviewed, "The Eternal Husband and other stories." I'll repeat what I wrote for those repeated stories:
As a longtime government worker, I have a warm spot for "A Nasty Anecdote," in which a high-ranking government executive makes a drunken ass out of himself at the wedding of an underling. "Bobok," is a humorous look at the conversations of the mostly dead buried in a cemetery. "A Meek Creature" (also known in other translations as "The Meek One") is a fascinating case study of a psychologically abusive marriage. "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" is a thought-experiment in the form of a "dream" that describes an alternate Earth that starts as a paradise but is ultimately ruined by lies.
"The Crocodile" is an absurdist, magical realism story where a man is swallowed whole by a crocodile, but doesn't die. Indeed, he makes many outlandish plans of how it will make him rich and famous. I found myself laughing out loud at several passages. "The Heavenly Christmas Tree," imagines a dying beggar boy transcended up to heaven. It's quite moving.
"The Peasant Marey" is probably Dostoevsky's best short story. I would it include in an anthology of "Best Short Stories Ever." The plot isn't much. The narrator is in a prison, and a fellow prisoner reminds him of a childhood incident. While playing outside he thinks there's a wolf and freaks out. Marey, a peasant working a field owned by the child's parent, calms him down, and the boy resumes playing. I'm not quite sure why the story works so well. Despite class differences, there is the basic humanity shared between a man and boy. It's done with a light touch that is very un-Dostoevsky-like.
As a longtime government worker, I have a warm spot for "A Nasty Anecdote," in which a high-ranking government executive makes a drunken ass out of himself at the wedding of an underling. "Bobok," is a humorous look at the conversations of the mostly dead buried in a cemetery. "A Meek Creature" (also known in other translations as "The Meek One") is a fascinating case study of a psychologically abusive marriage. "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" is a thought-experiment in the form of a "dream" that describes an alternate Earth that starts as a paradise but is ultimately ruined by lies.
"The Crocodile" is an absurdist, magical realism story where a man is swallowed whole by a crocodile, but doesn't die. Indeed, he makes many outlandish plans of how it will make him rich and famous. I found myself laughing out loud at several passages. "The Heavenly Christmas Tree," imagines a dying beggar boy transcended up to heaven. It's quite moving.
"The Peasant Marey" is probably Dostoevsky's best short story. I would it include in an anthology of "Best Short Stories Ever." The plot isn't much. The narrator is in a prison, and a fellow prisoner reminds him of a childhood incident. While playing outside he thinks there's a wolf and freaks out. Marey, a peasant working a field owned by the child's parent, calms him down, and the boy resumes playing. I'm not quite sure why the story works so well. Despite class differences, there is the basic humanity shared between a man and boy. It's done with a light touch that is very un-Dostoevsky-like.
September 21, 2022
I’d been putting off embarking on this collection of short stories by Dostoevsky, one of the Russian “greats”. I’m a Russophile, have studied Russian language, history and culture, and read, studied, struggled with and largely not enjoyed Dostoevsky's novels. But then I plucked up the courage and intellectual heft I was expecting to need and set off. And what was immediately apparent was that I had nothing to fear. Much to my surprise these tales are so much more readable and accessible than the novels. I wasn’t prepared for the satire, the sheer humour, the absurdity. Far less intense but equally insightful and perceptive, I was impressed by Dostoevsky’s versatility as demonstrated here. One of the stories, about a man who is swallowed by a crocodile, reminded me of Gogol’s propensity for the absurd, and in fact in another story Dostoevsky actually references Gogol. This collection is a delight, not least for a charming story based on a childhood experience. With far less psychological and philosophical angst, although the darkness and tragedy of life is never completely absent, the book is an ideal introduction to the author - although nothing here really prepares you for the complexity and moral conundrums of the great novels.
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