Bobok

"Bobok" is a 1873 short story by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is presented as the diary of Ivan Ivanovitch, a writer who goes to a funeral where he falls into deep contemplation. After a while, he begins to hear the voices of the recently dead, listening to their conversations about card games and political scandals. Our eavesdropper also learns that it is the “inertia" of consciousness that enables them to communicate in the grave, which they can do for up to a year. However, what he goes on to hear leaves him with a great sense of sadness and disappointment. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821 – 1881) was a Russian novelist, essayist, short story writer, journalist, and philosopher. His literature examines human psychology during the turbulent social, spiritual and political atmosphere of 19th-century Russia, and he is considered one of the greatest psychologists in world literature. A prolific writer, Dostoevsky produced 11 novels, three novellas, 17 short stories and numerous other works. This volume is not to be missed by fans of Russian literature and lovers of Dostoevsky's seminal work. Other notable works by this author include: “Crime and Punishment” (1866), “Notes from the Underground” (1864), and “The Idiot” (1869). Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

The stories in this volume demonstrate Dostoyevsky's genius for fusing caricature, irony and the grotesque to create a powerful dark humour. The Gambler is a breathtaking portrayal of an intense and futile obsession. Based on Dostoyevsky's own experience of financial desperation and the compulsive desire to win money, it focuses on the characters that take their places at the gaming tables of 'Roulettenburg': the outspoken, aristocratic 'Grandmamma', the mercenary Mademoiselle Blanche, the cool, mysterious Polina and Alex, the author's self-portrait; a man gripped by exhilaration and hopelessness. Bobok is a blackly comic satire in which a desolate writer becomes drawn into the conversations of the dead, and A Nasty Story is a humorous look at the disparity between a man's exaggerated ideal of himself and the sad reality.

Written primarily to provide petroleum engineers with a systematic analytical approach to the solution of fluid flow problems, this book will nevertheless be of interest to geologists, hydrologists, mining-, mechanical-, or civil engineers. It provides the knowledge necessary for petroleum engineers to develop design methods for drilling, production, transport of oil and gas. Basic mechanical laws are applied for perfect fluid flow, Newtonian fluid, non-Newtonian fluid, and multiple phase flows. Elements of gas dynamics, a non-familiar treatment of shock waves, boundary layer theory, and two-phase flow are also included.