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First post so linking a favorite book I want to read again.

“'What is hell?' I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.“

“And in the very depths of that degradation I begin a hymn of praise. Let me be accursed. Let me be vile and base, only let me kiss the hem of the veil in which my God is shrouded. Though I may be following the devil,“

“Crossing himself [...] he turned resolutely in the direction of his terrible lady.“

“It's impossible, I think, for the devils to forget to drag me down to hell with their hooks when I die.“

The amount of people who don't know anything about classic literature scares me

5 Stars • Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol follows the cunning Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov as he travels through Russia, buying "dead souls"—serfs who are deceased but still listed in government records. His scheme aims to use these souls as collateral for a loan, exposing the corruption and moral decay of Russian society through his interactions with various landowners. Each character represents a satirical critique of societal flaws.

I disliked this short story the first time I read it years ago and I forgot I‘d read it. I still don‘t like it. It‘s quite sad though because it could be quite good—about why an old woman gave up gambling. Then the ending falls so flat. Fortunately it‘s very short so there‘s that. #letterQ #halloweenatoz

#hauntedshelf #hexesandcrows @Catsandbooks @PuddleJumper

My Favorite Book by Dostoyevsky

Short, impactful, and as is customary for him, it manages to unfold particularly complex psychological processes through story and characters. In my work, I have heard stories from gamblers, but reading the book and entering the soul and emotional turmoil of a gambler, even feeling empathy towards him, is certainly beyond my ability to describe the book. It is worth reading not just once.

The premise of this short novel is quirky and disturbing whilst raising some philosophical concerns on humanity, science and politics. There are subtleties here I think I missed because I don‘t know enough about the Russian Revolution and after. For now, I am left with the impression this is a very brave novel to write.

#Fiction #books #readaway2024 #eBook #translation #sciencefiction #scifi