The Christmas Tree and the Wedding (Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1848)Read this short story online here.The story is again in first-person (this is the standard for all Dostoevsky stories). The narrator tells the reader that he is just back from a wedding, but stops abruptly to tell us about a Christmas party he attended four years ago. Both these stories are connected as you will discover at the end.
One of the things I enjoy the most about Dostoevsky is his attention to detail: in this short story he becomes the perfect voyeur observing adults and children at this Christmas party, and telling us about their behaviors, unmasking how we behave as a people, unaware of our consequences. There is always sly humor in Dostoevsky's stories, but I found the comedic element to be more effective in this story especially because this time the author has a villain that reminds of you those fat, red-cheeked English lords that want to covet money and young girls.
The Christmas Tree and the Wedding is a very short story, but is a very good study of class struggle and the ruin of childhood.
