This is the first of the six stories and it is said to be the first novel that Dostoevsky ever attempted to write. For this he even got praised by the critics and was complimented with exclamations such as "A new Gogol has arisen."
The story is a communication between two people through sometimes long and sometimes short letters. These two people are distantly related to each other, and one lives under the support of the other. They live next to each other. The man chooses a kitchen partition of a lodge as his room for two reasons, his poverty and for the reason, he can see the window of the room his friend lives in from there.
They can even possibly be lovers, but I am not sure of that. It is only my guess. See, If I am sure of what I say, I am afraid, either of them can possibly spring up and say, "Did I ever mention that in my letters?" But from the pure happiness, the man feels when his beneficiary accepts his request to raise the window curtain so that he can get a glimpse of her now and then, I felt a feasibility of love happening. Mind you, I admit, I have no knowledge, where to mark those lines of love on the scale of emotions.
More than love, they talk about how badly one must have to live in poverty. The man often talks about the smell of the poor. Even when the place is tidy, you can smell that smell. It goes strong, the poorer you become. It is not just the place, even the people smell unbearable. He talks of how one has to give up privacy and adjust to the noise of friends and neighbors' shouting and how you are forced to share even the much awaited last piece of bread.
When he talks, he doesn't make you feel pity for his poverty but for the way he tries to stand up proud in those filthy conditions. If you had never been poor, you wouldn't want to read it for he talks so much you don't understand or you would read it out of curiosity to see the world you have never seen. Even if you were poor, you wouldn't want to read it for it reminds the past you want to leave back or you would read it to rejoice the memories and to cry for yourself and your friends who shared those tiniest pleasures of the world with you.
I have read only six letters. There is even a possibility that I have misunderstood everything what Dostoevsky wanted to say. So listen to me but don't expect you would feel the same when you read the story.
The story is a communication between two people through sometimes long and sometimes short letters. These two people are distantly related to each other, and one lives under the support of the other. They live next to each other. The man chooses a kitchen partition of a lodge as his room for two reasons, his poverty and for the reason, he can see the window of the room his friend lives in from there.
They can even possibly be lovers, but I am not sure of that. It is only my guess. See, If I am sure of what I say, I am afraid, either of them can possibly spring up and say, "Did I ever mention that in my letters?" But from the pure happiness, the man feels when his beneficiary accepts his request to raise the window curtain so that he can get a glimpse of her now and then, I felt a feasibility of love happening. Mind you, I admit, I have no knowledge, where to mark those lines of love on the scale of emotions.
More than love, they talk about how badly one must have to live in poverty. The man often talks about the smell of the poor. Even when the place is tidy, you can smell that smell. It goes strong, the poorer you become. It is not just the place, even the people smell unbearable. He talks of how one has to give up privacy and adjust to the noise of friends and neighbors' shouting and how you are forced to share even the much awaited last piece of bread.
When he talks, he doesn't make you feel pity for his poverty but for the way he tries to stand up proud in those filthy conditions. If you had never been poor, you wouldn't want to read it for he talks so much you don't understand or you would read it out of curiosity to see the world you have never seen. Even if you were poor, you wouldn't want to read it for it reminds the past you want to leave back or you would read it to rejoice the memories and to cry for yourself and your friends who shared those tiniest pleasures of the world with you.
I have read only six letters. There is even a possibility that I have misunderstood everything what Dostoevsky wanted to say. So listen to me but don't expect you would feel the same when you read the story.
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