Хозяйка = Khozayka = The Landlady, Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Landlady is a novella by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky, written in 1847. Set in Saint Petersburg, it tells of an abstracted young man, Vasily Mikhailovich Ordynov, and his obsessive love for Katerina, the wife of a dismal husband whom Ordynkov perceives as a malignant fortune-teller or mystic. The story has echoes of Russian folklore and may contain autobiographical references. In its time The Landlady had a mixed reception, more rece...

The Landlady is a love story by Dostoyevski. It is not the content we are accustomed to. And this is because this short story was written before his exile in Siberia.For which he is very grateful because this experience changed his whole way of thinking and wtiting. And this is proved by reading books he wrote before and his exile. What I liked in this book is the language. Also I could say that the characters have traits which are developed deeper in his later works. Other than that, I wouldn't...

On my journey to finish off all Dostoevsky's works, I picked this up today, which became my 11th novel/novella out of the 16 which he wrote in his lifetime. I was aware of the fact that this is perhaps his least celebrated works and is normally criticised. This made it difficult for me personally as I did not want to read anything by him which I might end up not liking. Most importantly, I pondered, will I be able to admit to myself that I did not like it?That means, would I eventually lie to my...

Because of a change in circumstance, a reclusive sort of man must set out to find a new place to lodge. This quest gets him out into the city’s hustle and bustle, and he becomes thrilled by the wonder of it all. But the quest also wakes him up to the realization of all he’s missed out on by being shut in. And so he is intermittently cast down as well. At length he comes to a church where he becomes obsessed with a woman he sees crying there. By following her and the old man she’s always with, he...

This novelette cannot have been written by anyone other than Fyodor Dostoyevsky, yet it is by no means one of his greatest works. Rather, it harks back more to the works of E.T.A. Hoffmann than to the mature Russian author.The Landlady seems to be stuck midway between two genres: German fantastic romanticism and the typically Dostoyevskian "narcissistic complex of self-lacerations and enjoyment of humiliation," as one critic calls it.The (anti)hero is one Vassili Mikhailovich Ordynov, a poor stu...

Another early work by Dosoyevsky where he was still trying to find his feet. Based apparently of russian folklore and it certainly is an odd one. There's alot of things suggested throughout the story including incest, and not alot of its cleared up to be truely satisfying. It's not bad, i think Dostoyevsky was trying to do something abit different and it's mixed results again like The Double.

I liked it, but it's a bit to confusing, to many things unsaid, rather left for guessing which I didn't like. Not a boring read, but left me with too many questions.

It was about time that I made progress with my list of Dostoyevsky's works. The list had only few novels left. Just one post-underground, which I will probably save for the last, and four pre-underground. I decided to take up The Landlady next. With a seventeen hour flight coming up, the rather small novella found a very comfortable niche in my itinerary.This was Dostoyevsky's third novel, after Poor Folks and The Double. Of the recurring themes that Dostoyevsky would use later in his writings,

This novella by Dostoyevsky has been condemned as rubbish. I, on the other hand, found it to be a page turner. Although I could not help hearing echoes of E.T.A. Hoffman, which some of Dostoyevsky's harshest critics have also pointed to, the work is completely different from anything that could have been written anywhere outside Russia. There is not even the slightest hint of glorifying anything that surpasses our understanding. In fact, it is through those incomprehensible events that we can in...

This was a good short story, but it failed to go, for me at least, higher than a certain level. It kept promising more and it failed to deliver. One might say the author succeeded in making me feel close to what the protagonist was feeling. But that was it. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn’t start reading this short story with any expectations, but the first part really made me feel like there was something worth reading coming really soon. That something never came.

This novella was a bit of a letdown after reading The Double. This story was a short romance, but it did not have the depth of insight into the characters that other stories of Dostoyevsky have. The story basically is just a boy falling madly in love with a woman he hardly knows, and then finding out that there is more to her than he knew but he doesn't care. Then it pretty much ends. Dostoyevsky still writes beautifully so I am glad to have at least read this.

Also Read:Mr. ProkharchinPolzunkov I really wish I could find more scholarly resources on the Interwebs concerning this story. It is absolutely mind-blowing, but I still give it only four stars because so much of it IS puzzling, almost too puzzling and unclear. Perhaps lost in translation? I am getting that feeling all too often with Dostoevsky's works.

3.9A masterwork of emotive writing, but almost to the point where the exhibition becomes exaggerated. One is left wondering how it could possibly be that these characters are imbued with so much energy as to not drop dead of exhaustion from such frequent paroxysms of devilishness from such catharses of ecstasy.

Such a great novella with Gothic elements! I really loved it!

This is one of the lower-rated works of Dostoyevsky. However, I enjoyed it and the 3rd party narrations. This is filled with Russian folklore and allusions to Pushkin, but they are very hard for the outsider to grasp without the help of a reader's guide. His sheer writing ability is evident, even though it's not honed. Like most of his pre-prison works, he lacks the strong moral voice that defines his great works.

a 3.5, maybe a 3.75.This is a short novella an educated man, a reader, who goes through hard times as his landlady moves ad he is out on a quest for a new home.The Novella was divided into two parts, the first of which Fyodor takes his time to show us the hardships of being in a new town. How people will give you the 'creep looks', how your heart is filled with cautiousness mixed with curiosity in knowing the people around you, how difficult it is to settle for us because of your financials, and...

in a way, i think, polansky's "bitter moon" could pass for a screen adaptation. bertolucci may have got inspired by this story, too. just kind of, though, for among other things it's a noticeably sensuous reading, in part as well - and more accustomed - sickening, not withstanding this one heavy with pearls of wisdom - at least in case you tend to identify with that ordynov-character, as, to give an example, "beauty is stronger than power". i entitled the chapters, daring a hint perhaps:part 1,

After finishing the first two books of Dostoyevsky, the landlady could be read easily and quickly. It might be the reason I don't like the topic government society. Even though this one his third novella, he began to plan this novella before publishing The Poor Folk. Well, we can see the similarities between The Poor Folk and The LandLady. Actually both Ordinov and Devushkin imagine themselves as a hero that he has to rescue the needy maiden. Ordinov is a hero that rescues a maiden who has mesme...

Bookish intellectual Vasily Ordynov, Old man Ilia Murin and his young wife Mrs. Katerina Murin.Murin is an old guy who others believe that he is a kind of sorcerer and controlling his wife. Vasily meets with the couple and becomes their guest. After staying with them he finds out that Ilia Murin had an affair with Katerina’s mother long time back and he might be Katerina’s biological father and on top of these Katerina had a fiancé - guess what – who might be killed by Mr. Murin. Vasily falls in...

Somewhere between the realism of "Poor Folk" and the mystical tones of "The Double," the novella shares many features with Dostoyevsky's short story "Mr Prokharchin," which was published shortly before it. In other words, this little book brings together many of the styles and themes Dostoyevsky had been developing to this point, though I do not think it does so successfully. There is no doubt that Dostoyevsky's imprisonment in Siberia changed him as a novelist for the better, and this is an exa...

Feverish and haunting. Leaves you feeling that nothing happens in isolation, but also that somethings can’t be neatly explained (and thus never fully explained). It is almost like a strange memory, from start to finish, near enough to feel like a burden, but too distant to be properly coherent and with a feeling of surrealism even in it’s clarity.

A disappointment for Destovesky fan.Anyways well written but not the stuff I expected.

Dostoevsky's first focused study into the character type of the dreamer, The Landlady follows Vasily Ordynov, an denizen of St. Petersburg whose search for a new apartment and his desire for love find their object in Katerina, landlady and wife to the domineering mystic, Ilia Murin. Like several of Dostoevsky's pre- and post-Siberia characters whose inner lives take over and sabotage their real experience, Ordynov is a weakling who nonetheless (or therefore) possesses the tendency to extremize h...

Dostoyevsky understands the inner workings of the human mind like no other writer of his stature and "The Landlady" is yet another display of his mastery.Albeit a touch melodramatic here and there–an impression which may have been caused by the translator's work– this novella is a gripping read, another page-turner produced by the seminal Russian genius.

the landlady is a mysterious and adventurous story. it is creepy and unsettling at some points in the story. it deals with an old off lady and a man looking for a place to stay. i liked it because it is really interesting and hooks you. its scary and fun to read. its a good short story, i liked it.

Very different from everything I read by Dostoyevsky. The writing is very intricate and confused... I don't think I understood the end of the story... I will try to listen to the audiobook, maybe the second time around it's going to become clearer...

I really enjoyed the writing and mystery but had to read the end again as I couldn’t believe that’s how it ended? I still wonder did I miss something? There didn’t appear to be any twist or mystery at the end, very frustrating as I felt it was leading to something very chilling and interesting...

Thanks to the odd materialistic person

He just needs the money, ok?

That book was perfect.I loved it.Main character is alone and hardworking.He saw two people at the church and this event changed his life.