The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (Russian: Сон смешного человека, Son smeshnovo cheloveka) is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing of any value in the world. Slipping into nihilism with “terrible anguish”, he is determined to commit suicide. However, after a chance encounter with a young girl, he begins an inner journey that re-instills a love for his fellow man. The story first appeared in Dostoevsky's self-published monthly journal A Writer's Diary in 1877. According to literary theorist and Dostoevsky scholar Mikhail Bakhtin, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is a modern manifestation of the ancient literary genre Menippean satire, and touches on almost all the themes characteristic of Dostoevsky's large-scale works.