Six stories comprise this new collection from Pushkin Press by Russian master Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the novella length title story, a state councillor decides to gatecrash the wedding party of one of his office subordinates. A morally vain man, Ivan Ilyich thinks he can infuse some of his lofty values into the common people's celebration. It turns into a mortifyingly awkward evening as the revelers try to keep their superior happy, with Ivan Ilyich feeling terribly out of place. The petty official ends up drinking too much and making a spectacle of himself. The whimsical “Conversations in a Graveyard” features a group of newly dead corpses who discuss various philosophical points, arriving at the conclusion that they should abandon all shame and enjoy their time before they fully decompose. A miserly pawn shop owner chronicles his failed marriage in “A Meek Creature” and in the hilarious “The Crocodile” an obnoxiously ambitious man sees career advancement and opportunity when he is swallowed whole by a crocodile. Living in the crocodile's belly with relative comfort, he sees himself as being a scientific wonder. The last two stories, “The Heavenly Christmas Tree” and “The Peasant Marey” are short autobiographical pieces that touch on themes of the writer's imagination and human kindness. Dostoevsky exhibits his usual brisk pacing and biting satire in these stories. The title story is a brilliant psychological portrait of the gap between how we see ourselves and how the world does. And “The Crocodile”, the other standout story, is delightfully clever and absurdist, lampooning the overconfident type of personality who refuses to see reality. Sharp, witty and vivid, these entertaining and inventive six stories will surprise and astonish. A Bad Business: Essential Stories, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Published by Pushkin Press. $24.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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