The Eternal Husband By Fyodor Dostoevsky

 

Note for the readers-

This is a review on a book based on human psychology, and many readers may or may not agree with my views (this is not a judgement/discernment). I share my views, and not trying convince others on the same! I respect those who don’t align with me. I like healthy discussions and keep away from disrespectful arguments/clashes. Kindly take it strictly as my point of view, and not a battleground of opinions!
Thanks.

Review starts-

“Post few of my recent disconcerting perusals on mental health, I was stranded in a space of discontentment. As the famous saying goes, “iron cuts iron”, so was seeking for better reads on human psychology, to reconcile with myself. Fyodor Dostoevsky (FD) came to my rescue!

Can a novel talk about the trials and tribulations of human mind, make you walk through all the agonies vicariously and yet not depress you? Jauntily take you through the perplexities of human-psyche and leave you in a space of relief and contentment?
“The Eternal Husband” (TEH), did that for me!
I never knew that agonies of human mind, can be rejoiced, and aren’t always unnerving and stifling!
Fyodor Dostoevsky(FD)’s dark dramatic life, endowed him with a piercing grasp of human psychology. He had done a doctorate on human suffering!

Just weighing as a novella, yet holding a gargantuan content on mental-labyrinth, “TEH”, is one of the most profound and earnest perusals of a heartfelt book on pragmatic agonies of the human mind! (Just to mention, till date for me! Maybe going forward, I may bump onto more jewels 😊)
FD has dealt with the labyrinthine of the human mind with extreme care and compassion. The novella doesn’t go discordant for a tad. FD’s mastery of word-craft is unquestionable.
“TEH”, allows the reader, to experience the complexities of the human mind vicariously through a psychotic cat-and-mouse game. The cat and mouse are the two old friends, who meet after an absence of nine years.

The most impactful takeaway for me is the fact - The cat and mouse though at loggerheads for prevalent reasons, still support each other in the beautiful journey of their respective mental agonies! That’s what we call is living in a social setup, we build differences and yet bridge them. 😊

The book starts, with the hypochondriac Velchaninov(VE), battling a court case, suffering with sleeplessness, jostling all the past events which are battering his mind, events apropos of nothing, without any gravity or concern.

On the lopside, impunity of the past events enjoyed by him previously, events which held no importance or gravity for him, are substantially filling him with fits of tearful remorse and self-reproach in the present! Again, that’s what we call is human maturity, as we become older, the events which held no importance for us, take precedence 😊
I fell in awe of the beauty of awareness, infused by FD. Writing on depression and complexities, acknowledging the agonies and leaving readers with subtle solutions and methods, makes the author respectable for me! The solutions need to be deciphered by the reader himself/herself.

VE perceives reality when he is alone, his overactive brain keeps processing and buzzing with thoughts of the past, but being aware, VE keeps destroying them with proper reasoning. The duality of obscurity and clarity, can help readers understand their own agonies.
This principle of duality of obscurity and clarity is what makes a human mind afterall!
VE, aware of the loathing and sufferance from all the memories, allows himself to rest and enjoy in intervals, to gain composure and health. Though he is melancholy, yet is aware and seeks a way out of the dejection.

It is then when he confronts his ex-lover’s husband, Pavel Pavlovitch(PP), wearing a hat with a crape. He is stupefied post meeting him. VE assumes a darker hue than what he was wearing before, post knowing about his wife’s sudden death. PP’s wife, Natalya (NP) is VE’s ex-lover. PP has given into drinking post NP’s demise. This book is about the journey of the two, coming to terms due to NP’s infidelity and demise (holding back spoilers, not sharing the entire plot).

PP is the quintessential “eternal husband”, a subservient husband, but VE describes him as a ludicrous cuckold, someone who was born just to be a “husband”.

VE describes him as -
“Such a man is born and grows up only to be a husband, and, having married, is promptly transformed into a supplement of his wife, even when he happens to have unmistakable character of his own. The chief sign of such a husband is a certain decoration. He can no more escape wearing horns than the sun can help shining; he is not only unaware of the fact, but is bound by the very laws of his nature to be unaware of it”

There is an air of perplexity that surrounds the two throughout, which makes it darkly interesting.
We also get to know about Liza, PP’s daughter (biological daughter of VE). VE upon knowing this gets a purpose to live , a ray of hope in life. We all are seeking for a purpose to live, isn’t it? Liza, due to PP’s delirious state is not been taken care off and is given to a foster family(not sharing more to contain back spoilers)

NP’s description is penetrating, as an alluring enchantress who keeps sucking souls of men, and the men can’t resist back. I was enchanted by the way VE describes NP -

“Her manners were those of a provincial lady and at the same time, it is true, she had a great deal of tact; she had artistic taste, but showed it principally in knowing how to dress. In character she was resolute and domineering; she could never make up her mind to compromise in anything: it was all or nothing. In difficult positions her firmness and stoicism were amazing. She was capable of generosity and at the same time would be utterly unjust”
“She was faithful to her lover, but only as long as he did not bore her. She was fond of tormenting her lover, but she liked making up for it too. She was of a passionate, cruel and sensual type. She hated depravity and condemned it with exaggerated severity and —was herself depraved.”

It is funny, hilarious and yet deals with the dark-web of the human mind. We will see a mind on a journey towards stability, getting debased and defiled, and as the course of events unfold, how a tormented mind comes to terms and moves on in surrender and solace!

There are few loose ends, for which I couldn’t find answers –

PP has been defined by VE as a high-class man, but I couldn’t find that high-esteemed PP throughout the novel. PP has been shown a sloven drunkard throughout.
Liza hasn’t been discussed much, VE finds a fulcrum in her, a purpose to live, PE too has a purpose to live, but the chapter of Liza closes very quickly. The story could have taken another turn from here if FD wished so!

To get through the novel, you have to get into the mind of VE (into his shoes) and then peruse through, else it is tough to be understood.

The cat and mouse though indifferent towards each other for substantial reasons, still support each other for resolving their respective mental agonies! This support-system formed the pith of the novella. Though just a novella, it isn’t less than any magnanimous novel of FD 😊

I still have a gratifying hangover post the read, a quick valid 5-stars!

Special mention - Brilliant translation by Constance Garnett