Dostoevsky Murals in Moscow Subway

There’s a controversy over Dostoevsky murals in a Moscow subway, because some people think they are too depressing and could attract the suicidal.

Unfortunately, I read about twenty articles and none of them actually provided the photos, which you would think would be a primary goal of journalism — actually enabling readers to make their own call. So I went and found the images. The controversial ones are below — Raskolnikov from “Crime and Punishment” holding an axe aloft, ready to slay the second woman, and Kirillov in “The Devils,” who commits suicide to proclaim his freedom.

To be honest, there’s nothing over the line here. The axe characters are portrayed in silhouette, not HD detail, and the suicidal man with a gun to his head is portrayed abstractly, in broad swathes of monochromatic hues. Besides, you Russians: you have a violent history of Literature. Embrace it.

To put this into perspective, what would be the American equivalent? Toni Morrison scenes in a New York Subway? Cormac McCarthy scenes on Los Angeles buses? Flannery O’Connor at Grand Central Station? I’m sure the outcome would also be rather grim.

As Ivan Nikolayev, the artist, said, “What did you want? Scenes of dancing? Dostoevsky does not have them.