I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 111 My time has not yet come; some are reborn after death.
While the story of Mikhail was unfolding, his friends were naturally living their own lives, experiencing all sorts of different things.

For the young Dostoevsky, this period of his life was mostly bitter and troubled.

As mentioned before, Dostoevsky's "Poor Folk" brought him fame after its publication, but it also suffered fierce attacks from all walks of life. The main criticisms were its verbosity and length, as well as its obvious stylistic imitation of Gogol.

Fortunately, he received strong support from Belinsky's commentary and long articles praising him from other friends, which brought him great reputation overall. However, due to his sensitive personality and the arrogant tone he unconsciously revealed, he would always unintentionally cause trouble for himself.

Such behavior would cause trouble even among a group of saints, let alone among a group of writers who are not young, still need to compete for public attention, and also have their own vanity to satisfy. It would often be even more likely to provoke them.

Mikhail had encountered similar situations before, but he always remained very humble. At the same time, his rapid ascension left those who might have had reservations about him speechless. In the end, those petty thoughts and opinions naturally vanished with Mikhail's success, and might even have transformed into a more intense reverence.

In short, they were so impressed by Mikhail that they didn't even have time to be jealous.

However, due to his personality and behavior, Lao Tuo sometimes even led to others ostracizing and persecuting him.

Fortunately, by the time Dostoevsky demonstrated this, Mikhail already held considerable prestige within Belinsky's circle. On one hand, he had influence over Dostoevsky, which made the latter less arrogant; on the other hand, he could, to some extent, restrain the actions of certain individuals within the circle.

All these factors combined meant that things were generally peaceful, but largely due to significant differences in their thinking, Dostoevsky was indeed somewhat reluctant to spend time with some of his group members when Mikhail was not present.

There are many reasons for this. Some of Dostoevsky's own problems are also related to his friend Grigorovich. While enthusiastically recommending Dostoevsky's works, this young man was also a gossip. He told everyone about Dostoevsky's actions behind his back, so sometimes, when Dostoevsky appeared, people were already angry with him.

So gradually, due to various factors, Lao Tuo, who was originally enthusiastic about participating in group activities, became more and more indifferent to this matter.

To be honest, for this reclusive man who had few friends besides Shdelowski and his brother, everything in his circle was actually quite welcoming. However, excessive pride and vanity, along with other factors, ultimately distanced him from Belinsky's circle.

However, on the other hand, his arrogance and vanity are actually linked to his desire to be accepted and loved, and this somewhat distorted psychology is often reflected in his novels.

Because of the cold reception he received in his interpersonal relationships, coupled with Mikhail's encouragement, the young Dostoevsky recently completed another work he was very confident in: "The Double," which was published in the latest issue of "The Contemporary."

Unfortunately, this work, which he considered "ten times better than Poor Folk!", did not achieve the same sensational effect as Poor Folk. In fact, while acknowledging the excellent aspects of the work, Belinsky also devoted considerable space to criticism.

Belinsky's comments on this work naturally made him a laughing stock and even the subject of ridicule among writers in the literary circle who did not have a high opinion of him.

This was an extremely painful experience for the sensitive old man.

Mikhail arrived at that very moment, and when the young Dostoevsky heard that familiar voice, he immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed to open the door for Mikhail.

As soon as the door opened, he saw that familiar smiling young face, and immediately noticed the thing the other person was carrying.

Perhaps knowing that he was in a bit of a predicament recently, Mikhail would bring him something every time he visited. These little things were just right, improving his living conditions to some extent without hurting his overly sensitive pride.

In short, upon seeing Mikhail, Old Dostoevsky, who had been sighing and lamenting, immediately became cheerful and quickly invited Mikhail in.

When Mikhail came in, he didn't say anything. Instead, he sat down in a familiar spot and invited Lao Tuo to sit down and have some tea. He also opened the snacks he had just bought and offered them to Lao Tuo.

After the two enjoyed their tea together for quite some time, seeing that Dostoevsky had relaxed, Mikhail naturally brought up Dostoevsky's latest work and reiterated his opinion:
"Regarding 'Double Personality' and your Gorlodkin, I agree with my previous view that it is a very profound work. You don't need to worry too much about it. It will become an important direction for your future writing, and many people will study such characters and such writing styles."

In short, the protagonist of the novel *Double Personality* is Gorlodkin, a timid and lowly civil servant who is constantly bullied. He desperately wants to be opportunistic, flattering, and climbing the social ladder to become a "darling of society," but at the same time, he is hesitant and lacks the courage and ability to do shameless things, thus causing him to suffer from mental turmoil and develop a split personality.

He conjured up another personality of his own, a personality that was despicable, shameless, cunning, and treacherous—the kind of person he wanted to be but dared not or could not be. At the same time, he felt this alter ego was so vile that he dared not look at it directly, and it terrified him. Thus, he lived in constant fear and eventually went mad.

Undoubtedly, this is a novel ahead of its time, demonstrating that Dostoevsky in his early years was already attempting to delve deeper into the human heart, discovering the distorted and base circumstances suffered by people due to their external environment in the abyss of the human mind.

Strictly speaking, this does not actually meet Belinsky's expectations of Dostoevsky.

This is also related to Belinsky's weaknesses. As a critic, Belinsky was first and foremost a tormented yet hopeful moralist, striving to distinguish right from wrong. He didn't particularly value art as art itself, but rather its power to captivate people's hearts. In other words, literature should be a tool and aid in promoting social progress.

Therefore, he did not appreciate the somewhat bizarre and delusional depictions of mental illness in *The Double*. Given the need to critique the dark reality of Russia, he emphasized even more that literature should serve society, which was also a key tenet of the "Naturalist" school.

While Dostoevsky rose to prominence during this wave, as a writer he respected Belinsky but also possessed his own artistic ideals, stubbornly adhering to his own path. He grew weary of the narrow style of the Naturalists and felt he needed a new style to achieve inner peace. Consequently, his subsequent works suffered prolonged misunderstanding from critics and readers, leading to increasing financial hardship and prompting him to seek solace in other groups.

Undoubtedly, they each have their own stances and viewpoints, and each has its own rationale to varying degrees. From Mikhail's perspective, he was actually able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of many people.

After all, as time exerted its power, many controversial events had long since reached a fairly fair conclusion, and he happened to know all of these.

So sometimes what's important isn't judging them right or wrong—people their age don't need that anymore—but rather encouraging them, as quietly as possible, to move in the right direction, and uniting as many forces as possible. Then perhaps when the tide of the times reaches a certain point, all that has been done will eventually bear fruit.

This is Mikhail's understanding of his relationship with his friends.

Although Dostoevsky had heard about "Dual Personality" before, his eyes stung slightly when he heard it from Mikhail again.

After all, as time went by, due to the difficulty of reading and the complexity of the techniques, negative reviews became increasingly numerous, even among those who had previously supported him. In such an environment, to still hear positive feedback from a genius he greatly admired was something only God knew how precious it was to Dostoevsky.

Despite being deeply moved, the frustration and depression of recent days still compelled Old Dostoevsky to ask, "Mikhail, if it were you, and your work, which you are so confident in and value highly, never received recognition from others, how would you feel? Would you feel frustrated?"

“My dear Fyodor, you just need to think of it that way.”

In Dostoevsky's eyes, the young man with black eyes seemed to merely smile slightly upon hearing this hypothesis. Then, after taking a bite of dessert and a sip of tea, he uttered a sentence as sharp as thunder, with a seemingly casual gaze and tone:

"My time has not yet come; some are born after death."

Upon hearing these words, the young Dostoevsky was stunned for a long while, then trembled as if waking from a dream. Only after Mikhail looked at him with concern did he shout as if he had just regained consciousness:
“Mikhail! Who else but you could say such a thing?! I’m completely healed now! Those comments that have bothered me for so long, those incessant chatter, let them all go to hell! I’m going to start writing a new work soon, just you wait and see, the next work won’t disappoint you!”

Mikhail, looking at the excited old Dostoevsky, said, "."

Is talk therapy really that effective?
In any case, the outcome is ultimately good.

Although Old Tuo is overly sensitive and may experience internal turmoil due to certain comments, at least for now, he seems capable of plowing two acres of land if given a plow.
After the young Dostoevsky calmed down, Mikhail didn't rush to leave. Instead, he ate desserts and drank tea while listening attentively to Dostoevsky recount the latest gossip and scandals in the literary world.

Mikhail doesn't really care about these things, but listening to them occasionally might be a good way to relax in life.

Old Tuo had been quite sociable lately, and he also had a roommate who couldn't keep his mouth shut, so he started talking non-stop.

Although Mikhail doesn't pay much attention to literary gossip and hasn't been very social lately, his legend still circulates everywhere, even though he's not actively involved in literary circles. At least according to Dostoevsky, five out of ten stories are about him: Mikhail's clever acquisition of "The Modern Man," Mikhail's skillful handling of the censor, and the untold stories of Mikhail and noble ladies.
Mikhail: “???”

Slander! Slander!
What if Nadya hears this?!

Aside from these gossips, what's more noteworthy is the series of actions taken by Krajewsky, the publisher of "Chronicles of the Fatherland." In response to the impact from "The Modern Man," he not only intensified his advertising campaign but also tried to poach writers from "The Modern Man." He attempted to recruit any well-written authors from "The Modern Man" to "Chronicles of the Fatherland."

Old Dostoevsky's assessment of this was: "Mikhail, he can't possibly poach you, the publisher, too, can he? And as long as you're here, no matter how many people he poachs, *The Modern Man* magazine will still be competitive! Besides, the fees he offers are really not much, less than two-thirds of what you pay me!"
As long as you're here, I will continue to contribute to *Modern People*.

Mikhail had certainly heard about Krajevsky's series of actions, but he didn't really pay much attention to them, and just continued to listen to Old Dostoevsky's gossip.

When it was almost time, under Old Dostoevsky's reluctant gaze, Mikhail patted his bottom and prepared to take his leave. Just as he was about to leave gracefully, Old Dostoevsky suddenly said, "Mikhail, when are you planning to come and visit Mr. Petrashevsky? Although he is a somewhat eccentric man, he is also a tireless bibliophile and avid reader. He has collected a large number of banned books on history, economics, and socio-politics."

I'm sure you'll be interested in these things.

Mikhail: “?”

Why don't you put it more clearly? Am I the kind of person who would be interested in banned books?
"Almost there, almost there, I'll definitely do it next time."

Mikhail's body stiffened slightly, but he eventually took a step and made his escape.

Behind him, the young Dostoevsky continued to watch him leave. As dusk approached and night fell in St. Petersburg, the dark-eyed youth strode forward without hesitation, leaving the St. Petersburg night behind him.

(End of this chapter)