A Skill Lesson Worth Five Kopecks: Dostoevsky and Grigorovich

F. M. Dostoevsky and D. V. Grigorovich, who had known each other since studying at the K. F. Kostomarov’s preparatory boarding school in St. Petersburg, and then at the Main Engineering School, were of opposite natures and had never been particularly close during their interactions. However, the mid-1840s were the time of the greatest rapprochement between the two writers and their mutual influence on each other’s work. One of the most famous episodes in memoirs about Dostoevsky is the incident described by Grigorovich. In 1844 the aspiring writer Dostoevsky advised Grigorovich, who was preparing his debut work “St. Petersburg Organ Grinders” for publication, to supplement the description of the 5-copeck coin thrown to the organ grinder with a vivid detail. The image of a ringing and bouncing coin became an example of the subtlety of the literary taste of the future author of “Poor Folk” and a paragon of stylistic requirements for a realistic work. Grigorovich’s testimony is usually accepted and quoted without any doubt as to its authenticity. The article presents the fact that Dostoevsky’s former flatmate sometimes made things up in his conversations and memoirs. However, he was unlikely to have made up this story, since the literary lesson was reflected not only in the essay “Petersburg Organ Grinders,” but also in the short novel “Plowman” by Grigorovich. The conversation with Grigorovich and the reading of his essay did not pass unnoticed by Dostoevsky himself. He used the image of a jingling coin tossed to an organ grinder in the novel “Poor Folk,” and in the story “Mr. Prokharchin” he listed the toy characters of Grigorovich’s essay. Grigorovich seems to have remembered Dostoevsky’s stylistic lesson half a century later. Judging by the advice given by Grigorovich to the young writer Anton Chekhov in a letter from 1886, as he grew older and improved his writing skills, he clarified his position on the limits of acceptability when introducing artistic details into realistic descriptions. As a result, he advised Chekhov not to get carried away with unnecessary details that have a “cynical connotation” and spoil the reader’s impression of the text. The young writer agreed with Grigorovich and followed this recommendation. The advice on improving literary style given by Dostoevsky and later Grigorovich became classic lessons of writing skill.