A human being must resist despair.                                      Iris Murdoch "Nuns and soldiers". 

 

An oldie

 

 I had lived a life of sadness.     

Village Evenings Near Dikanka and Mirgorod by Nikolai Gogol https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195680.Village_Evenings_Near_Dikanka_and_Mirgorod                     

As far as I know Nikolai Gogol has never considered himself to be only a russian writer, he was Ukrainian but lived in Russian Empire being a protege of higher society of intellectuals. He has considered himself to be both Ukrainian and Russian writer. I really enjoy this book and his other novels for the atmosphere of mystery and ukrainian village, funny jokes and folklore motifs. P.S. However I didn't like the depiction of spiritual darkness in his books, even though it seemed very true.