All but one of these stories were written in the last ten years of Dostoevsky's life. There's a lot of the usual psychological interplay, and the chracters are all to real. My favorite was The Meek One, where a man deals with the suicide of his wife.

I liked all these pieces. Notably, however, read this for Bobok (a funny short piece about death) and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. As a note, I wouldn't recommend reading The Dream of a Ridiculous Man until reading most, if not all, of the major pieces by Dostoevsky: this little piece tells everything.

tbh i didn’t understand a lot of this book.

I enjoyed this collection of stories.

A great book.

If you've never read Dostoevsky's shorter works, you should really get on that. There's some fantastic satire in here, some of his best humor, and some really heart-wrenching stuff. If you're into undiscovered gems of great authors, this is a great collection with which to start.

The first time I've read Dostoyevsky for many years. The first story in this collection, 'A Nasty Anecdote', is the best. Humiliation was a recurring theme for the author, and is very much the subject of this story, so it's quintessential Dostoyevsky. It's also a mini-masterpiece which will have you cringing in sympathetic embarrassment as the well-meaning protagonist makes a complete fool of himself in public in the worst way.
'The Eternal Husband' is a short novel with a strange and compelling story. I felt that parts of it were not really convincing, but it certainly kept me reading.
'Bobok' I hated. I could not understand what Dostoyevsky was trying to achieve with this and it didn't engage me at all, so I didn't finish it even though it's short.
'The Meek One' and 'The Dream of a Ridiculous Man' were both very interesting, especially the former, as the main character tries to come to terms with his own ill-judged behaviour in the wake of his wife's suicide.
The translations here read very well and, in fact, on this evidence, Dostoyevsky proves to be a surprisingly easy read. His themes are eternal so, with the exception of 'Bobok', I would say these are as relevant today as ever and, while this collection is a bit of a mixed bag, it did make me want to start reading Dostoyevsky again.

4.5*

Oh, Dostoyevsky. If ever I ascent to power, I’ll make him mandatory reading. No worries, just joking.

This collection, wonderfully translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, features two novellas, The Eternal Husband and The Meek One , as well as three short stories, A Nasty Anecdote , Bobok: Notes of a certain person , and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man: a fantastic story. The novellas are very strong, especially The Eternal Husband which tells the story of a man who encounters the husband of a deceased former lover. It’s a very good introduction to some of the themes that dominate Dostoesvky’s work: the problem of guilt, the consequences of one’s mistakes, and how to atone for them. The dynamic between the ex-lover and the husband is so compellingly written. It’s a love-hate relationship with erotic undertones and a hint of psychological thrill. It’s everything you d’want in a relationship between two characters.

The Meek One concerns yet another unhappy marriage which culminates in the suicide of the young wife. Told from the point of view of the husband, it’s a story that makes the reader ache for the characters. Dostoevsky is an expert at this kind of manipulation. One just wants to fold the characters in a blanket and assure them that everything is going to be alright. The tragedy of this story is that it perverts the trope of lack-of-communication-creating-misunderstandings. There’s a point where the husband does try – and even succeeds – to communicate with his wife, to explain his feelings, his reasons for his sternness towards her, but it is too late by then.

The short stories are a little less successful with the exception of Bobok: Notes of a Certain Person in which a living man visits a cemetery only to get a glimpse of how people live after death. It was funny, satirical and just slightly creepy. Although my least favourite, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is a premature attempt at stream of consciousness which together with Bobok feels very modern. One can really understand the immense influence of Dostoevsky’s work as many of the techniques he employs were used and overused by subsequent writers. If you haven’t read Dostoesvky you really should, for crying out loud, this doesn’t even need saying.

Found it hard going at times.

The short stories in this book range from very dark to quite hilarious. "A Nasty Anecdote" describes a high-status man who tries to socialize with the "little people" to show them just how humane he is, but he fails and what Dostoevsky presents is an extremely awkward situation that almost hurts to read, yet is still very funny (kind of like the UK The Office, which is painfully and hilariously awkward).

"The Eternal Husband" is an amazing story. I was blown away. It is very intense; there are so many dark themes in this story. I didn't know what to think most of the time because I was so stunned and enthralled by the events. I highly recommend it. (But if you're happy and don't want to ruin your mood, don't read it.)

"Bobok" is a short story about a man who falls asleep in a cemetery and listens to dead people talking with each other. It's pretty amusing, which is a relief after the grim but gripping "Eternal Husband." "The Meek One" is also an excellent story that begins with the announcement of a woman's suicide, followed by her husband's emotional account of the events leading up to her death (this story is my second favorite in this book, with The Eternal Husband being the first).

Finally, the book ends with "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," describing how a man who was about to commit suicide was changed by a dream he had. The story lost me about halfway through, but I think it's because I read it immediately after reading "The Meek One" and was worn out by the intensity of the previous story (but that's because I get way too involved in these tales). I recommend breaks between each of these stories so you can appreciate them fully without your mood and thoughts following one (they are all pretty gripping!) interfering your enjoyment of the next.

I love anything Dostoevsky. In spite of the writing conditions he placed himself under always gambling, drinking, owing everyone money, and his distinctive experience with his hairbreadth escape from being on the receiving end of a shooting squad he maintained an amazing incite into the human condition. He spent 5 years in Siberia for his involvement with anti-government elements but rose to greatness after his death as one of the forerunners into the mind of a man tortured by his existence;he showed many men all tortured anywhere from his innocence and the vulnerability that accompanied that to his carnal desires and the evil that arose from that. He still is a genius.

Dostoevsky unfurls his characters' psyches here with even more intensity and depth than in his novels (see "The Meek One," "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"). An change of pace in the surprisingly funny "Bobok." Excellent notes, also.