Lately, I’ve been reading a collection of stories from the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Since some of these stories aren’t as long and because I have/will not read all of them in one go, I will just review some of the stories I’ve read so far from him. These reviews will be brief but at least they will be here to see. As mentioned before, these stories were written by a russian author who only wrote in Russian as far as I am aware. I will be reading the translations found in the Wordsworth Classics “Notes from Underground & Other Stories” book where the translation has been done by Constance Garnett.

The order of these reviews is not of importance. These reviews might contain spoilers. Reader beware.

Mr. Prohartchin#

Mr. Prohartchin also known as Semyon Ivanovitch Prohartchin is an elderly man who seems to be quite struggling to get by while lodging and also supposedly sending money to his sister-in-law. Throughout the story we learn a bit about his surroundings including his landlady and other lodgers. In the story we learn that mr. Prohartchin is a little different from the rest of the crowd who stays there.

Besides his penny pinching antics, mr. Prohartchin seemed to be very keen on his own lifestyle habits. Always eating the same foods and even joining in on tea time every single time even if his health was making it difficult for him. The gentleman also wasn’t very keen on receiving any kind of advice and comments about himself. Immediately stricking back if anyone dared doing so. In this story we witness the final days of mr. Prohartchin which, in my opinion, are quite confusing.

My take on the story#

This was not the first story I read from Dostoevsky (which was Notes from Underground) so I anticipated it to be on somewhat equal or even relatively equal fotting to that but it did not even come close for me. Throughout the story I could not find a general theme of what the story was trying to convey. The more words I read the more I got the sense that this was more of a character study than a story exploring a deeper theme. After finishing the story, I could think of only one sentence to really describes the theme of mr. Prohartchin’s final days and that being:

“Everybody’s life sucks at least a little and acting as if your life sucks the most only makes it worse for everyone.”

Unfiltered opinion#

It was confusing. I didn’t really get it if there was anything to “get” and honestly I thought it was quite boring. I wouldn’t read this again. Semyon seemed kinda depressing but I guess that’s that Russian Depression.

The Crocodile#

Ever wanted to go see an animal that is not native to your continent and that you have only read about in books. That’s exactly what Elena, Ivan, and Semyon decided to go do when a german brought a crocodile towards their litle part in Russia. Throughout the story we see what happens after they go and see the animal. The subtitle properly calls this “An Extraordinary Incident” and I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

When they go and see the animal Elena seems to be getting quite spooked by it so she and Semyon (the mc) decided to go to the monkeys so Elena doesn’t have to see it anymore. While they are at the monkeys and enjoying their whimsical nature they suddenly hear a noise from the other room where Ivan and the crocodile remained in. Upon re-entering they see something some people can only imagine as being their worst nightmare. Ivan is being swallowed whole by the crocodile and Elena cannot believe her eyes as she sees her partner being gobbled up by this monster. It gets even weirder now. The crocodile isn’t chewing up Ivan piece by piece but literally swallowing Ivan in one go, clothing and all.

When Ivan is eventually swallowed up we quickly learn that the inside of the crocodile is actually quite liveable. Ivan is even still able to communicate with the outside world. After this exceedinlingly strange happening Ivan remains in the crocodile at the german and quickly starts to imagine how his life will now be changing for the better. Envisioning interviews with major news and how his wife will also be able to profit from his change of circumstance.

My take on the story#

It felt very much that it was talking about capitalism and that the corcodile was a business setup in the capitalistic way as we know it now.

“And so the peasant will work three times as much for his daily bread and he can be turned out at pleasure. So that he will feel it, will be submissive and industrious, and will work three times as much for the same wages.”Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Crocodile

The crocodile being the capitalistic “monster” being made to look intimidating but being perfectly hollow between its menacing jaw and long tail. The rest of the supposed insides is just “the idle fancy of frivolous travelers”. Like how it might be intimidating to get a job at a company but once you get past the jaw you might be passively consumed by its internal workings or shit out. Whichever result is desired various person by person

Unfiltered opinion#

Loved it. It was weird, funny, and felt like I could relate to it. As I am currently looking for a job and that’s also why I put that link there how companies look like crocodiles for me currently. I am scared to be swallowed up by one but it does give me a way of living. I need to realize that the hiring process might look very intimidating but seeing more than just the jaws and tails should help set me over this fear.