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Title: The Permanent Husband
Series:
(The Russians)
Author: Fyodor
Dostoyevsky
Translator: Frederick
Whishaw
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre:
Classic
Pages: 173
Words:
47K
Publish: 1870
This was an extremely frustrating and at the same time, satisfying, read. I was frustrated beyond the pale that both of the main characters were such big ol’ man babies. I was frustrated that the little girl died. I was frustrated that the book ends at almost the same place it began, just slightly in the future.
I was satisfied because it was obvious that Dostoyevsky saw this national trait of Russian man babyness and didn’t approve of it. I was satisfied because somebody defenseless always has to die in a Russian novel and I’d prefer it to be someone innocent so I can feel all the pain unalloyed without any possibility of “Oh, I’m glad that brat died” feelings. I was satisfied because without Divine Intervention, human nature doesn’t change one whit, no matter what it has gone through.
I really went up and down while reading this. I was hating on Dostoyevsky for writing this one moment and then praising him the next for having such an insightful view into the Russian nature. A LOT of hollering went on and I must admit, I didn’t understand why. Velchaninov hollers a lot whenever he’s in the presence of Trusotsky and I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to show how upset he was or what. The thing is, Trusotsky tries to cut Velchaninov’s throat one night and Velchaninov treats it like nothing the next day. But then he’s screaming up a storm because Trusotsky shows up drunk. Like I’ve said before (and I’m sure I’ll continue to say), the cultural mores are as foreign to me as that of a Martian but that is the exact reason I keep on reading these. It forcibly makes me aware of how different humanity can be and keeps me honest so I don’t think everyone around the world is like me, just named differently. A bunch of those woke people would do well to remember that when they start preaching about how everybody loves everybody else. No, some cultures out there just hate Western culture in and of itself and it behooves us to remember that. It is also a good reminder when you’re dealing with someone even as close as another region in your country that they might not be trying to offend you, but just that they just do things differently.
A good example is Velchaninov and how he acts after Trusotsky tries to cut his throat. He just chalks it up to emotionalism and goes on as if nothing of great import had happened. Given how Trusotsky deals with Velchaninov at the end of the book, it is quite apparent he expected Velchaninov to take it that way. Now, me? I’d have taken my gun, or if I didn’t have a gun, a knife or even a heavy object, and killed Trusotsky during his attempt on me. Someone trying to kill me means they are my enemy and they must die to keep me safe. But in Mother Russia, it is just a sign of high spirits or great emotional outpouring. Sigh. But while I shudder at that difference, at the same time being exposed to such a thought and feeling process is wonderful, at least from the comfort of my couch. Some tries to kill me, yeah, they are going to die, because I’m not Russian. But I am now AWARE of that way of thinking. I don’t have to accept it, or think it is good, or right however. In fact, it just shows up the man baby’ness of the Russian nature, at least back then, even more. A whole culture stuck in their teenage years without growing up.
★★★★☆
From Wikipedia.org
Alexei Ivanovich Velchaninov is a land owner who stays in Saint Petersburg for a trial about a piece of land. He receives a visit from Pavel Pavlovich Trusotsky, an old acquaintance who recently became a widower. Velchaninov had an affair with Trusotsky's wife Natalia, and he realizes that he is the biological father of Liza, Trusotsky's eight-year-old daughter. Velchaninov, who doesn't want Liza to be raised by an alcoholic, brings Liza to a foster family. Liza dies there.
Trusotsky now wants to marry Nadia, the fifteen-year-old daughter of civil servant Zakhlyobinin. She's the sixth daughter of eight. Trusotsky takes Velchaninov with him to visit his fiancée, and buys her a bracelet. Trusotsky is ridiculed by Zakhlyobinin's daughters and locked up during a game of hide-and-seek. Nadia gives the bracelet to Velchaninov, asking him to return it to Trusotsky and tell him she doesn't want to marry him. Nadia is secretly engaged to Alexander Lobov, a nineteen-year-old boy.
Trusotsky spends the night in Velchaninov's room and tries to kill him with a razor knife. Velchaninov manages to defend himself, injuring his left hand.
Sometime later, when Velchaninov has won his trial, the two meet again at a railway station. Trusotsky is remarried, but a young army officer is travelling with him and his wife. Trusotsky's new wife invites Velchaninov to visit them, but Trusotsky asks him to ignore this invitation.
