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A review by olya_hakob
A Gentle Spirit: A Fantastic Story by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Okay, I can't say I liked the narrator, I can't say I liked the story. But it did make me feel extremely uncomfortable and upset (which I don't mind at all when reading literature). The question is: was it the merit of the writing or just me being easily annoyed by such toxic, pointlessly tragic relationships. The story did have a bitter aftertaste, so maybe it was effective, that's why still three stars.
What was interesting to me when reading was that I felt like reading different layers stacked on top of each other. On one hand, we have this extremely toxic narrator, on the other hand I couldn't help but picture how sad, broken and isolated his life must have been to not figure out elementary things like talking-is-good, nobody-can-read-your-mind type of things. Still, I perceived more annoyance than empathy with the character.
Finally, there was the layer of loss, the mere helplessness against death and not understanding how something that tragic might have happened. To us, it doesn't seem all that mysterious why it all came down to that ending but the story did convey the emotions one might feel when losing somebody dear.
What was interesting to me when reading was that I felt like reading different layers stacked on top of each other. On one hand, we have this extremely toxic narrator, on the other hand I couldn't help but picture how sad, broken and isolated his life must have been to not figure out elementary things like talking-is-good, nobody-can-read-your-mind type of things. Still, I perceived more annoyance than empathy with the character.
Finally, there was the layer of loss, the mere helplessness against death and not understanding how something that tragic might have happened. To us, it doesn't seem all that mysterious why it all came down to that ending but the story did convey the emotions one might feel when losing somebody dear.