Take a drink when:
- a son has a strained relationship with his father
- the word “sensualism/-ity” appears
- crosses are exchanged
- there is a dream sequence
- a crime is committed against a child (mentioned or actual)
- money is refused (take an extra drink if an attempt is made to destroy the money)
- a character has an epileptic fit
- someone recounts watching a condemned man during the moments before his execution
- a prostitute has a heart of gold
- Russia’s holy world-historical mission is alluded to
- two people of unequal station scandalously appear together
- an allusion is made to another Russian writer (take an extra drink if it’s Pushkin, Tolstoy, or Gogol)
- a first-person narrator reveals himself in what is otherwise third-person omniscient narration
- false newspaper articles appear
- the spread of modern ideology is compared to a disease
- someone considers fighting a duel
- a character struggles with debt (take an extra drink if it’s from gambling)
- a character announces a lack of faith in God
- a seemingly impoverished character has a servant (I still don’t understand the economy of the Russian Empire…)
- a character “flies at” someone else
- a religious conversion is finally made
- a character has a “speaking name”
Finish your drink when:
- a character is murdered
- a character commits suicide
- a child dies for any reason
Bibliotheca Yalenskaya 