Reviews

Uma História Desagradável by Fyodor Dostoevsky

taylorannwright's review against another edition

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4.0

Just finished reading White Nights out of this collection (the main reason I got it (in the future, I plan to read the others)).
I won’t lie when I say this was out of my element, it took a lot to get in the head space of this writing.

But once we hit the drama… SO. GOOD.
was it worth it? I think so.

reila's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

White Nights and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man were pretty enjoyable, more so the latter for that existential goodness. A Disgraceful Affair was semi-interesting; admittedly fell off in the middle of this story because the protagonist was...a bloated mess (on purpose). The side character in that awful household had more character, and easier to sympathize with one's helplessness in that situation (on purpose, I'm sure). Speaking of messed up households:

Gosh, I enjoyed Barb Johnson's short story St. Luis of Palmyra for brevity; a miserable gut-punch back to reality (hello, early 2000's...maybe).

ryuudira's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

driaslibrary's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

sosonja's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tristanduprey's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

elle_tea's review against another edition

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5.0

عالی بود این داستان

telahe's review against another edition

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5.0

عالی بود این داستان

st0211rm's review against another edition

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mysterious relaxing slow-paced

3.5

danielad's review against another edition

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4.0

Each of the three stories included concerns a solitary man with unusual impulses. Such impulses are exciting to read about but terrifying to experience . . . . Perhaps this explains part of Dostoyevsky's popularity. It's exciting to read about the irrational but . . . . Then again, maybe we read Dostoyevsky because we find someone who writes about what we (those of us who are always stuggling to control our irrational impulses) are so terrified to publicly discuss.

The extra story was alright, though written in a style antithetical to Dostoyevsky's own.