Poor Folk (1844-5) is Dostoevsky's first novel. It follows the relationship between Makar Dievushkin and Barbara Dobroselova. The former lives in a room in a boarding house and the two write letters to one another. They live across the street from one another, such that Makar can see Barbara's window from his. Their living conditions are terrible, and they frequently exchange letters discussing their shared circumstance. Makar buys Barbara small gifts, despite her protestations...
More Description Poor Folk (1844-5) is Dostoevsky's first novel. It follows the relationship between Makar Dievushkin and Barbara Dobroselova. The former lives in a room in a boarding house and the two write letters to one another. They live across the street from one another, such that Makar can see Barbara's window from his. Their living conditions are terrible, and they frequently exchange letters discussing their shared circumstance. Makar buys Barbara small gifts, despite her protestations that she knows he cannot afford them.
The novel comprises a series of letters in which they discuss, in addition to their living conditions, their day-to-day affairs at work (Makar is a clerk and supports Barbara). Makar laments the current conditions he sees in the street, full of hungry children. He lives with the Gorshkov family, whose patriarch lost his job through a lawsuit whose details Makar doesn't know. Makar remarks that the Gorshkov children never make a sound, much less engage in the the playful activity that most children enjoy. He occasionally hears sobbing from their room, and he pities them even though he is himself poor. Barbara encourages him to live a quiet and simple life. Barbara's cousin, Sasha, lives nearby, and Barbara feels that Sasha is following her