Review of 'A Faint Heart' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

My first Dostoevsky and I am thrilled.

The first observation that comes to my mind, is the total lack of description of places. He just doesn't care about the location, save a line here or there. He is completely concerned with the people and is happy sketching thoughts, exploring feelings, bring to the front those little impulses we feel as humans but regard as indescribable. That is where his magic lies. He delineates the inside man, his troubles, his humor, his quirks. He shows the hidden man, his repressions and oppressions; his delicacy and tenderness. He shows the foolish man and the chagrined man. He brings forth the complexities in a man's character.

We start off by seeing Vyasa as a very happy man. Happy, that he is engaged. Happy that he has such a wonderful friend. How cleverly Dostoevsky misleads us in the beginning. I did not realize this on the first read. But when you come back to it, after reading the entire story, you realize that Dostoevsky has started painting the picture of Vyasya debilitating self at the onset of the story. Vyasya shows the first signs of his approaching malady right at the start of the story. He is shown to be fidgety, and whimsical and out of the normal. But the author presents these actions as a charade on Vyasya's part to create enough noise to wake his room-mate. 

Dostoevsky talks with his reader through out the narrative. The only other author I have seen doing that is Nathaniel Hawthorne.

I still don't understand why Vyasya went mad? Gratitude doesn't seem to be a strong enough explanation. I am sure there is some other reason, a stronger explanation but I can't find it. I have been toying with the idea that Vyasya probably doesn't find himself worthy enough for Liza and thinks Arkasha deserves her more than him. Anyone out there who has read this?

I have now finished four short stories by Dostoevsky. I love his work, except in some stories where he just goes off the track and is not comprehensible, unless one is sitting in a library with a book and a pen to take notes and draw mind-maps.

I now wonder whether I should read Crime and Punishment. Before I do that, I might be deviating to James Joyce and finish 'The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.' I have already downloaded that in my kindle. I also need to explore Chekov and Tolstoy among the Russian authors.