Description

Book Synopsis

'I have always been ridiculous, and I have known it, perhaps from the hour I was born'


A man goes mad because he is happy.

A civil servant behaves like a monster at a wedding-party.

A man is swallowed by a crocodile, but not eaten nor seriously damaged.

Dostoevsky's stories inhabit similarly volcanic atmospheres as his novels, places of curiosity and exception. They resemble jokes and anecdotes, told by volatile, voluble, morbidly sensitive and frustrated characters. These narrators all have a tendency to express themselves in crescendos of conflicting emotions, while the stories themselves steer clear of grand conclusions.

Michael Wood's selection of Dostoevsky's shorter works is drawn from the timeless translations of Constance Garnett whose work, he says in his preface, gives readers the best of several worlds.

The Crocodile and Other Stories (riverrun

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Fri 19 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Michael Wood

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      View other formats and editions of The Crocodile and Other Stories (riverrun by Fyodor Dostoevsky

      Publisher: Quercus Publishing
      Publication Date: 31/10/2019
      ISBN13: 9781787478244, 978-1787478244
      ISBN10: 1787478246
      Also in:
      Anthologies & Short Stories Books by Fyodor Dostoevsky

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      'I have always been ridiculous, and I have known it, perhaps from the hour I was born'


      A man goes mad because he is happy.

      A civil servant behaves like a monster at a wedding-party.

      A man is swallowed by a crocodile, but not eaten nor seriously damaged.

      Dostoevsky's stories inhabit similarly volcanic atmospheres as his novels, places of curiosity and exception. They resemble jokes and anecdotes, told by volatile, voluble, morbidly sensitive and frustrated characters. These narrators all have a tendency to express themselves in crescendos of conflicting emotions, while the stories themselves steer clear of grand conclusions.

      Michael Wood's selection of Dostoevsky's shorter works is drawn from the timeless translations of Constance Garnett whose work, he says in his preface, gives readers the best of several worlds.

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