The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Folio Society Edition

by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Harry Brockway (Illustrator)

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Russia

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

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.

See also:
Russian → Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский
French → Fédor Dostoïevski
French → Fiodor Dostoïevski
Spanish → Fiódor Dostoyevski
Portuguese → Fiódor Dostoiévski

Reviews

[Joseph Sciuto]

I have told this story a million times but it’s still worth repeating. My love of literature happened be accident. In the late 1970’s while attending “John Jay College of Criminal Justice,” I picked up Dostoyevsky’s, “Crime and Punishment.” Attending a Criminal Justice College, I naturally thought it was about law and order, police work, etc.

Wow, was I wrong. The characters, the plot, the writing, and the moral composition of this novel so fascinated me that I read it in a couple of days which for me at the time was a miracle…considering it was a five hundred page novel.

I would eventually go on to read almost all of Dostoyevsky’s works. I’m sure a few have slipped by as new, previously unfounded, pieces of his work have mysteriously showed over the years.

A year after reading the book, I transferred to Stony Brook University and graduated with a degree in English literature.

Over the years, I try to go back to many of the classics that I read many years ago and re-read them. The works by such greats as Dostoyevsky, Conrad, The Bronte Sisters, Hemingway, etc…I have read numerous times and never once have I been disappointed. In fact, it often amazes me how much more I learn each time I re-read them.

The short stories in this collection I had all read before, except for “Notes From the Underground,” (The story that was the inspiration behind the movie, “Taxi Driver,” I had read quite a few times). It is a collection of stories that I would highly recommend to individuals who have never read Dostoyevsky and might be intimidated by the size of all his novels.

Like all his novels, all the stories contain great characters, a fascinating look at Russia during the middle of the 19th century, and questions of morality that we as human beings should be asking ourselves every day.

[Gerrit Gmel]

Dostoyevsky has one flaw: he rambles and his writing lacks clarity to the point it can become exhausting. And that really is a shame, because his thinking, understanding of psychology, and the complex characters he creates are as brilliant as his reputation claims.
On the other hand, his heavy style is also unique and unmistakably Dostoyevskyan (Dostoyevsky-esque…?), it is grave and serious and contributes to creating the emotional landscape as much as the content itself.

The format of short stories is excellent for Dostoyevsky, it keeps his flaw in check and makes him stick to the point a bit more. This collection was fantastic and includes some of his earlier (pre-prison) works, in which he was not yet quite so dark (dare I say he was a bit of a romantic even…?).
Each short story is an esquisse of a character, many of which will be reminiscent of characters in his longer works. But perhaps precisely because they are so limited in scope are they also more approachable.
My top 3:
- I particularly enjoyed The White Nights, which was basically just a cute love story (unreciprocated love of course, this is Dostoyevsky after all). It had almost Tolstoyan (Tolstoy-es que…?) qualities.
- Notes From The Underground is a masterpiece (although it is longer and ramblier than others…) describing a complex and contradictory, yet somehow realistic character full of tragic flaws.
- The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is a surprisingly “modern” (atheistic) and chilling birds-eye view of humanity, a very uncommon scale for Dostoyevsky, but very well done.

[Spencer]

Notes from the Underground, White Nights and The Dream of a Ridiculous man are pick of the bunch here; but in true Dostoyevsky fashion, he does have a way of rambling on so much so that one can easily lose interest/completely forget where they are at certain points - even in his short stories.

[Adam Beckett]

Brilliant. "Notes From The Underground" and "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man", in particular, are literary genius.

[David Cain]

This beautiful Folio Society edition of Dostoevsky's short stories includes seven tales. All are great examples of Dostoevsky's typical style: rambling internal monologues from conflicted men who are living in a state of psychological torment. This style always strikes me as producing works that are several times longer than they would otherwise be if they were more plot-oriented, but that are especially adept at capturing this aspect of humanity that few other authors are able to do convincingly.

Perhaps best known among the selections here is Notes From the Underground, which includes my favorite quote about middle age (this hits close to home for me as a 44-year-old):

I am forty years old now, and you know forty years is a whole lifetime; you know it is extreme old age. To live longer than forty years is bad manners, is vulgar, immoral. Who does live beyond forty? Answer that, sincerely and honestly. I will tell you who do: fools and worthless fellows. I tell all old men that to their face, all these venerable old men, all these silver-haired and reverend seniors! I tell the whole world that to its face! I have a right to say so, for I shall go on living to sixty myself. To seventy! To eighty!

I enjoyed this story, White Nights, A Gentle Creature, and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man the most. All are illustrated with wonderful engravings by Harry Brockway, and the translations are likewise well done.

[Scripturiently Swag The Dragon-Hearted]

For some reason I always enjoyed Dostoyevsky's first-person works much more than his third-person ones. Even if you don't necessarily have the same preference, the first-person stories in this book are also really good. Recommended.

[Braedy]

A fantastic collection of the short stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who is a giant in Russian literature. The Folio Society volume is amazing in and of itself, and the wood engravings perfectly capture the moody bleakness of his Russian settings.

[Kate]

Really disliked this. Just writing a review to remind myself I really disliked this so I don’t rebuy this.

[Steve Horan]

My Dostoevsky project continues with a short story collection from the Folio Society. My favorites include White Nights, The Honest Thief, and A Gentle Creature.