The Crocodile

Wonderful Century Press Limited Edition.

As for the work, meh. Absurd satire of 19th Century Russia that is lost on me. Man, eaten whole by a crocodile, has some thoughts. His friend is horrified, and all eyes turn towards the wife...

O Crocodilo:
Para os que pensam que foram os comunistas a inventar a burocracia russa, Dostoievski já a satirizava muitos anos antes. O Crocodilo me parece mais próximo de Kafka do que do próprio Dostoievski, toda essa gama de elementos burocráticos oriundos de um elemento insólito: fazer-se engolir por um crocodilo permanecendo vivo e enredado pelas situações de fora, o próprio homem era funcionário público e burocratizava a si mesmo dentro do crocodilo.
É quase uma versão menos bem acabada de A Metamorfose de Kafka.

Notas de Inverno sobre Impressões de Verão:
Um diário de viagem para quem estuda a fundo Dostoievski, as notas sobre a burguesia parisiense dariam orgulho a Proust.

A humorous read bordering on (and into) the absurd. A man is eaten by a crocodile and lives in his stomach. He communicates with the outside world freely (via voice only). His life continues on, but one wonders how long he can maintain such an existence. It reminded me of something that Kafka would have written, but only more humorous. As I read, I wondered if The Crocodile influenced the writing of Metamorphosis by Kafka. A good book (very short, only 78 pages with notes and appendix), not life changing, but worth the read.

قصة جميلة من الكوميديا السوداء فيها اسقاطات واضحة جدا لكن مع الاسف ما اكتملتش الصورة لان دوستو العزيز ما اكملش كتابتها ودا افقدها العمق اللي كنا هنشوفه واضح جدا في القصة لو كملت للآخر
مواطن بائس في زيارة يتفرج فيها على تمساح حي ويبتلعه التمساح ومن هنا تبدأ الحكاية من التعايش مع الموقف دا من الجميع وردود الافعال من اقرب الناس اليه لحد المسؤولين في البلد والمشاهير
خسارة كبيرة انها لم تكتمل واسلوب دوستو الساخر show more غني عن التعريف خصوصا فيما يخص اسقاطاته على وضع البلد السياسي والاقتصادي والاجتماعي كمان

شكرا صديقة القراءة الدوستويفسكية كالعادة داليا نور الدين على المشاركة في القراءة الغير مكتملة show less

It’s not that I didn’t like this short story from Dostoevsky, it’s just that it’s incomplete, and comes across as a fragment of an idea. The period in which Dostoevsky wrote this was one of great personal and economic strife, and he was finding an outlet for his increasing dislike of progressive European ideals. Clearly, the crocodile that swallows a man only to have him continue philosophizing within its belly is meant to be an absurd satire on these ideals, but it isn’t all that well developed. Dostoevsky himself said that it was the first part to a comic story that he never finished, and it shows. Frankly, it was more interesting to me to read his rebuttal to the claim that the man represented Nikolai Chernyshevsky, which show more he did years later in ‘Diary of a Writer’ and which was excerpted in the afterward. That would have been rather heartless indeed, despite their ideological differences, since Dostoevsky knew first-hand just how cruel and unfair imprisonment for political reasons was, but his account, which includes personal anecdotes with Chernyshevsky, seems believable. Regardless, this work is for Dostoevsky diehards only. show less

Not typical of Dostoevsky. The story was a bit silly and ridiculous. Made me think there must be some sort of social commentary to be read between the lines. If so, it was lost on me.

Depois do irônico conto O Crocodilo, Dostoiévski expõe suas Notas de Inverno sobre Impressões de Verão, relatos de sua viagem a vários países da Europa no verão de 1862. Mordaz e interessante, esse livro mostra a origem de vários temas do autor, como o célebre Palácio de Cristal das Memórias do Subsolo.