The Eternal Husband and Other Stories Mass Market Paperback – September 5, 2000

I fell in love with Dostoyevsky through his short stories, first through the book "Best Short Stories of Dostoyevsky" (put out by Modern Library Publishers), and then through this present collection. That collection and this one have some "overlap" in material--only a story or two, but those in different translations--but I was glad to buy not only that book but this one also, having read them both when I borrowed them from a local library. A special note concerning THIS book, however: I only reluctantly began reading the title story--because I was unclear and uninterested as to what an "eternal husband" was--but once I started reading it I found it was one of those gems that I could hardly put down until I finished it! It's a long short story, more like a novella, and in this translation at least it often amazed and astounded me, how lucid and alive the story-telling was; I felt I was right there in the rooms with the characters and following their tales as if it was a movie playing before my eyes rather than just a story in a book! Great compliments to the translator(s) of this story and this volume, because I've read a lot of great things in my time, but it's been a long time since I was so captivated and impressed by the realism of good writing.

There maybe some better writers in the history of the world than Dostoyevsky, but after reading the stories of the Eternal Husband one wouldn't think so. He is in a league by himself, never to be duplicated, and impossible to be copied. No one should complete their life without reading all of his works.

Somehow I have missed reading any Dostoevsky, so this was a new experience. I've met a few Russians, and Dostoevsky was surely true to his nationality: So self-absorbed, and such a false self-image! Depressing to read, so I don't need any more. If you want to see how a people mislead themselves, read this.Since they are short stories, you can take this in small doses.

I started reading The Eternal Husband, a taut novella by Dostoevsky, after I read the literary critic James Wood praise it. By all accounts it is his masterpiece. It even as a style of its own, a compression and economy that Doestoevsky isn't known for. Premise: A cuckolded widow visits the lover of his recently deceased wife to torment him. He never lets his betrayer know that he knows or doesn't know about the affair. Much of the torment is rooted in the betrayer's uncertainty. For pyschological drama, if you like this kind of discomfiting intensity, where the main character seems an inch away from descending into complete madness, you might also like The Horned Man by James Lasdun and Contempt by Alberto Moravia.

But why?Granted I’m only a few pages into the first sorry of about 60-70 pages. Half way through it and if you like FD you’ll probably like this.But why the cover with the depiction of a man physically restraining a woman on her back!? Certainly not a book I’d want my kid to come across, possibly requiring an explanation of topics that aren’t appropriate at a certain age. Even if it’s integral to the story they could’ve gone with almost anything else, even some simple text and shapes like the other P&V translations which are excellent, and this book with this unfortunate cover is, like the other P&V translations, probably the best. Just my opinion

These stories are wonderfully translated with numerous notes that explain Dostoyevsky's references which, at times, can be quite obscure to most readers as well as translations of French phrases used by Dostoyevsky. Included in this collection are several stories I have not encountered elsewhere. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Dostoyevsky's works and Russian literature in general.

A riveting story brilliantly told, more like Pinter than like Dostoevsky's Victorian contemporaries. If you can find another edition, do, since this Constance Garnett translation is leaden and graceless.

The Eternal Husband is character study of personalities caught up on the rush of their own desires and feckless hopes. Modern in its grasp of human self delusion and ambition.

What started as a mundane, mild "thriller" to me turned out to be a masterful psychological portrait of resentment, and how it can cohabitate with feelings of admiration and love with the same heart (and the difference compassion can possibly make). Only the man himself can write so profound works as this one.

Great condition.

This bundle with tales of blindness, illusion and, on behalf of the author, disillusion is a perfect introduction to the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky. They expose splendidly the author's dreams, obsessions, psychological insights, passionate characterizations and frenzied style.BlindnessIn `The Eternal Husband', a man has no inkling of the unfaithfulness of his wife. He even admires her lover: `Eternal husbands are only husbands in life and nothing else. It is impossible for him not to wear horns.'In `The Meek One', a man doesn't understand his own dumb selfishness.Illusions and disillusionIn `A Nasty Anecdote', State councilor Pralinsky sees `humaneness with subordinates - they, too, are people' as `the cornerstone of the forthcoming reform.' But, his drunken behavior turns into something very nasty indeed.In `The Dream of a Ridiculous Man', still one man believes in the main thing, `love others as yourself ... I will not and cannot believe that evil is the normal condition of people'.But, in `Bobok', human evil goes even on after death, in the grave: `the depravity of flabby and rotting corpses - not even sparing the last moments of consciousness.'ThemesA recurrent theme in Dostoevsky's work is the little girl; here, `Liza' in `The Eternal Husband' and one without a name in `The Dream of a Ridiculous Man.'People are also falling into a sort of frenzy, become bedeviled (the lover in `The Eternal Husband') or can barely survive utter despair (the suicide temptation in `The Dream of a Ridiculous Man').This typical Dostoyevskyan book with its universal themes is a must read for all lovers of world literature.

'The Eternal Husband' is justifiably regarded as Dostoevsky's most perfect work. Gone are all the rambling subplots and diversionary characters - here he focuses on one (albeit bizarre) tale, and tells it in a pure and focused way. The two protagonists are essentially locked in a duel, with neither of them fully comprehending the nature of the duel until the final denouement. We see how people can behave in entirely irrational ways, driven by their subconscious grievances and desires. It's a natural extension of Notes from Underground, FD's other short masterpiece, but transcends even that work in it's ability to subtly disturb the reader, and set him/her thinking deeply about the way in which human being behave and interact with each other.The other stories in this volume are all excellent as well, especially the opener 'A Nasty Anecdote' which is marvellously amusing while at the same time quite horrible as the main character spirals helplessly into a cringingly embarassing situtaion of his own making.The translation (as with all their other Dostoevsky translations) is spot on, and if you are at all interested in Dostoevsky's works then this is a must.

If you're a Dostoevsky novice, this is a good starting point as the short stories give the full macabre range of social commentary, surrealism & Russian life at the time.If you already know & appreciate Dostoevsky you'll love this collection of short stories