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the Complete Review
the complete review - fiction



The Four Deaths
and One Resurrection
of Fyodor Mikhailovich

by
Zoran Živković


general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

To purchase The Four Deaths and One Resurrection [...]


Title: The Four Deaths and One Resurrection of Fyodor Mikhailovich
Author: Zoran Živković
Genre: Novel
Written: 2023 (Eng. 2024)
Length: 108 pages
Original in: Serbian
Availability: The Four Deaths and One Resurrection [...] - US
The Four Deaths and One Resurrection [...] - UK
The Four Deaths and One Resurrection [...] - Canada
from: Bookshop.org (US)
  • Serbian title: Четири смрти и једно васкрсење Фјодора Михајловича
  • Translated by Randall A. Major

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Our Assessment:

B : typically creative turns -- here playing off of Dostoevsky -- from Živković

See our review for fuller assessment.



Review Summaries
Source Rating Date Reviewer
The Washington Post . 7/6/2024 Michael Dirda


  From the Reviews:
  • "All these jeux d’esprits are entertaining but relatively uncomplicated, especially when compared with Zivkovic at his head-spinning best (for that try Impossible Stories)." - Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       The Fyodor Mikhailovich(s) of this volume -- which consists of a quartet of stories, each featuring (at least) one -- are none other than Dostoevsky himself -- or at least variations on the author, Zoran Živković drawing on the great Russian writer's work, the image we have of the master, and biographical detail in playfully imagining some unusual scenarios for him. Živković makes considerable effort to stay 'true' to the master -- even as the stories find Dostoevksy in some extraordinary situations.
       'The Park' plays off The Double -- "Wait, this is just like my novelette -- The Double", (a) Fyodor Mikhailovich realizes --, but turns what turns out to be more than just doubling into something rather different, finding that: "there is only one Fyodor Mikhailovich in this world. But this is not the only world"
       In 'The Restaurant Car', a man has died on a train -- yes, poor Fyodor Mikhailovich -- and an Inspector is now on board, questioning eight of the passengers. It's not even clear that a crime has been committed: the dead man seems to have simply had a heart attack over his dinner. But the dead man was: "the Fyodor Mikhailovich" and, as the Inspector realizes, the eight people being questioned knew him: they are all characters from his novels. The Inspector confronts them: "You didn't gather here by accident. This was all carefully calculated". And, as it turns out, there are motives galore .....
       'The Psychiatrist's Office' has Fyodor Mikhailovich -- or at least a simulacrum, a re-constituted e-version of the original thing -- on the couch. But, hey, as he -- it ? -- notes:

In every way possible, I am Fyodor Mikhailovich, except I'm not made of flesh and blood. I have his personality, his memories, his gift for writing. It is of absolutely no consequence whether I am of natural or artificial origin.
       Calling himself 'F.M.D 21' -- to differentiate himself from the long-dead original, 'F.M.D. 19' -- he's been bought by the Stellovsky family (who specialize in publishing books by 'artificial writers') and is excited about his prospects: "Finally I can start working". Except that times and expectations have changed, and the Stellovskies have quite a few things in mind, beginning with F.M.D. 21 reworking F.M.D. 19's stuff -- cutting it down to size, for one, and changing aspects of the novels. So, for example: "The Idiot is now also a detective novel" (indeed, part of a whole series of 'The Further Adventures of Inspector Myshkin', with: "as many as twenty-nine sequels") -- as: "Those are the only books that sell". (Unsurprisingly, the Stellovskies are related to F.M.D. 19's own publisher from back in the day -- they are his great-great-grandchildren --, Fyodor Timofeyevich Stellovsky, with whom he: "has such bad times".)
       Still, F.M.D 21 seems raring to go, to tailor those dusty old volumes to modern politically-correct demands and change lots of the fundamentals -- so why the session with the psychiatrist ? Well, all things considered, it's not all as straightforward as that, and there is something he wants from her .....
       The final story, 'The Turkish Bath', features the actual Dostoevsky and is set in Wiesbaden in 1871, describing the night of his last gambling spree. He's lost all his money and is despairing; on his way back to his hotel he stops at a bathhouse. It seems to be deserted, but in the thick fog he finds a conversation partner -- a voice at least, even if he can't make the figure out in the dense mist. The figure addresses Fyodor Mikhailovich in Russian -- and demonstrates intimate knowledge with Fyodor Mikhailovich's work and life. Even the work he hasn't written yet ..... It's a kind of intervention -- and obviously one that was successful.
       It all makes for a fun little collection -- a nice homage to Dostoevsky (among others), with some fun riffs on writing in general; a good little entertainment.

- M.A.Orthofer, 24 November 2025

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Links:

The Four Deaths and One Resurrection of Fyodor Mikhailovich: Reviews: Zoran Živković: Other books by Zoran Zivkovic under review: Other books of interest under review:

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About the Author:

       Zoran Živković was born in Belgrade in 1948.

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© 2025 the complete review

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