Description
In 1862, Dostoevsky embarked on his first trip abroad. He passed through Germany and arrived in Paris, where he stayed for only ten days. He then traveled to London for two weeks, after which he returned to Paris for another two weeks before departing for Geneva via Basel. In Geneva, he met his friend Nikolai Strakhov, and the two friends visited Italy together. Strakhov later wrote: “Neither nature nor buildings nor works of art interested him; his attention was entirely devoted to people.”
This great explorer of the depths of the soul focused his attention entirely on people in the streets, in theaters, and in cafes. He attempted to understand the psychology of each nation during this brief journey that lasted approximately two months. When Dostoevsky published these “memoirs,” he spoke little of his travels, using them instead to express his views on Russian history and its current state, and to satirize the countries he visited, particularly Germany, England, and France. He begins his discussion of France with a quote from Vonferrin: “The French are deprived of reason, and if they were given reason, they would consider it their greatest misfortune.” He then makes no mention of Italy or Switzerland, either positively or negatively.
“The Sweetheart” is one of Dostoevsky’s most famous works, in which he delves into the human psyche of a man standing before his wife’s corpse. It takes us back to the past of the relationship between a man who treated his wife cruelly, to the point where his unspoken repentance was useless, leading to her suicide.
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