A Little Hero

"A Little Hero" is a short story that deals with the topic of pre-adolescence, maturity, the abandonment of pure childhood, and the resulting and inevitable discovery of the existence of sexual life. The protagonist is trying to understand the world of adults in every possible way, and faces problems at every turn. Interesting enough, this story lacks the trademark disaster and drama in the majority of Dostoevsky's works, and is a light and humorous reading that does not even look written by him. It should be noted, of course, that Dostoevsky wrote it while he was in prison.