Жила-была женщина, которая хотела убить соседского ребенка

English Title: [b:There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales 6490566 There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby Scary Fairy Tales Ludmilla Petrushevskaya https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395002383s/6490566.jpg 6681958]I can't say I'd recommend this collection as a whole, but there are a few gems that are well worth a read. There are a lot of stories crammed in, as most are very short, but many also focus on very similar themes and events, which meant either that each story was rather predictable or that, if you read them one after another, it's very easy to get them confused. I tried to read the whole collection slowly, so I could distinguish between each of them, but despite my efforts I've forgotten many of the stories already. Not all the stories were like this, however, and these were the stories that really stood out for me:“Месть” (Revenge): This story is about being consumed by hate and features the collection's title.“Гигиена” (Hygiene): I think this was the longest story of the collection? At least, it felt like it much more development than many of the stories. The story focuses on family, who confine themselves to their apartment to protect themselves from a highly contagious epidemic. It's the perfect mix of suspense, character development and social commentary.“В дом кто-то есть” (There's Someone in the House): This was probably my favourite of the whole collection. A woman, who lives on her own with her cat, believes there is some kind of poltergeist haunting her flat, and so she starts destroying all her possessions to get rid of it. Simply wonderful! I loved how hopeful the ending was, especially in comparison with the rest of the collection.“Черное пальто” (Black Coat): A really chilling story to end the collection and another one that focussed on the theme that living is a choice. Although this one was more plainly about suicide.On the basis of these stories above, I would really like to read more of Petrushevskaya's work. They prove that she has some fantastic ideas, and her style is very easy to read and to-the-point. Perfect for someone like me, a non-native speaker reading these in the original Russian. The language level of these stories was just right for me, so I could really appreciate the writing and enjoy the stories themselves. However, my rating reflects the fact that I don't think the collection was that well put together, and many of the stories were utterly forgettable and completely outshined by those I've listed above.