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Bezig met laden... Two Crocodiles (New Directions Pearls)door Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Two Crocodiles highlights two literary masters from opposite ends of the world -- Russia's Fyodor Dostoevsky and Uruguay's Felisberto Hernández. Dostoevsky's crocodile, cruelly displayed in a traveling sideshow, gobbles whole a pretentious high-ranking civil servant. But the functionary survives unscathed and seizes his new unique platform to expound to the fascinated public. Dostoevsky'sCrocodile is a matchless, hilarious satire. Hernández'sCrocodile, on the other hand, while also terribly funny, is a heartbreaker. A pianist struggling to make ends meet as a salesman finds success when he begins to weep before clients and audience alike, but then he can't stop the crocodile tears. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)891.73Literature Literature of other languages Literature of east Indo-European and Celtic languages Russian and East Slavic languages Russian fictionLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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But I've read some disappointing stuff lately, and these stories were anything but. Dostoevsky is known for being Deep And Profound, and therefore mistakenly not thought of as a satirist, because for whatever reason anglophones believe that you can only be Deep And Profound while being Existentialist About The Lack Of Meaning Of Life, which is hard to do when you're laughing. But the big D's major books, particularly Demons, are deeply satirical, so it's no surprise that he does a good job with this story about a liberal/progressive/positivist getting swallowed by what may or may not be a crocodile (I suspect it's actually a fake, because that makes the story even funnier). The high point is the wonderful rants by our modern-day Jonah, who plans to use his new found expertize to rise to the heights of the bureaucracy, while admitting that the economic imperative requires that he *not* be removed from the crocodile's belly.
Hernandez's story does not actually feature a crocodile, and has nothing to do with any of this, though it is similarly cutting re consumerism and the bien pensants of the bourgeoisie. Because the narrator is less distanced than in Dostoevsky's 'Crocodile,' Hernandez's story is actually closer to the feeling of Dostoevsky's novels, where the satire and hatred is crushingly sad.
So, this poorly constructed volume did its job: I read Dostoevsky's story, and enjoyed it; I read Hernandez's story, and decided to read more of him. ( )