The Eternal Husband and Other Stories

The centerpiece of this collection , "The Eternal Husband" (1890) is one of Dostoevsky's most perfect works. Classical in form, it presents his most profound exploration of mimetic rivalry and the duality of human consciousness. Told from the point of view of a rich and idle man who is confronted by a younger rival, the husband of his former, and now deceased, mistress, the story portrays the interchanging hatred and love of the two men.Along with "The Eternal Husband" is "A Nasty Anecdote" (1862), a satire on the "reform period of Russia," which portrays a high-ranking official who is convinced that "humaneness" will unite all people in a regenerated society. The other three stories, "Bobok" (1873), "The Meek One" (1876) and "The Dream of A Ridiculous Man" (1877), are taken from The Diary of a Writer, which Dostoevsky published between the completion of Demons and The Brothers Karamazov. Together they represent the culmination and final synthesis of Dostoevsky's philosophical ideas. Preface......Page 3 A Nasty Anecdote: A Story......Page 12 I: Velchaninov......Page 42 II: The Gentleman with Crape on His Hat......Page 46 III: Pavel Pavlovich Trusotsky......Page 51 IV: Wife, Husband, and Lover......Page 57 V: Liza......Page 60 VI: The New Fantasy of an Idle Man......Page 66 VII: Husband and Lover Kiss......Page 70 VIII: Liza Is Sick......Page 75 IX: A Phantom......Page 78 X: At the Cemetery......Page 83 XI: Pavel Pavlovich Gets Married......Page 87 XII: At the Zakhlebinins'......Page 92 XIII: Whose Side Has More on It......Page 102 XIV: Sashenka and Nadenka......Page 106 XVI: Analysis......Page 115 XVII: The Eternal Husband......Page 119 Bobok: Notes of a Certain Person......Page 125 I: Who I Was and Who She Was......Page 135 II: A Marriage Proposal......Page 138 III: The Noblest of Men, but I Don't Believe It Myself......Page 140 IV: Plans and More Plans......Page 142 V: The Meek One Rebels......Page 143 VI: A Terrible Memory......Page 146 I: The Dream of Pride......Page 148 II: The Veil Suddenly Fell......Page 150 III: I Understand All Too Well......Page 153 IV: I Was Only Five Minutes Late......Page 155 I......Page 158 II......Page 160 III......Page 161 IV......Page 164 V......Page 166 Notes......Page 169 The volume's centerpiece is Dostoevsky's most classically perfect work, The Eternal Husband, which describes the almost surreal meeting of a cuckolded widower and his dead wife's lover. Along with this complete and unabridged short novel, Dostoevsky displays his dark brilliance and satiric vision in four tales that vividly portray his all-too-human subjects. From a government official who shows up uninvited at an underling's wedding to prove his humanity, to a self-deceiving narrator who struggles futilely to understand his wife's suicide; from a hack writer who attends a funeral and ends up talking with the dead, to the protagonist of "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," the very last story Dostoevsky wrote, an ecstatic and deeply ironic vision of a society based on love, The Eternal Husband and Other Stories is sterling Dostoevsky. Five Classic Stories In A New Translation. The Title Story Is On A Relationship Between A Husband And His Wife's Lover, While A Nasty Anecdote Is A Satire On A Tsarist Official Who Considers Himself Humane. A Nasty Anecdote -- The Eternal Husband -- Bobok -- The Meek One -- The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man. By Fyodor Dostoevsky ; Translated And Annotated By Richard Pevear And Larissa Volokhonsky. Includes Bibliographical References.