Notes from the underground
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The opening of two new metro stations in the Russian capital should be a cause for celebration for Moscow's commuters, but the station named after Dostoyevsky is already winning an unwelcome reputation thanks to the dark and violent scenes from the great writer's work depicted on its walls.
In fact things are so bad, the press and bloggers have already dubbed the new Dostoyevskaya stop "Suicide Station".
No one has actually taken their own life there so far, but some mental health practitioners have raised fears the artwork is enough to push vulnerable people over the brink.
It's not a question of the artistic merit of the floor-to-ceiling mosaics showing key scenes from the novelist's work, but rather doubt about whether the disturbing content is a suitable accompaniment to the daily commute.
Do Muscovites on their way to or from a potentially stressful day at work really need to see character from The Demons raising a gun to his head or Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment murdering two women with an axe?
Vladimir Supkin, who teaches literature at Moscow's International University, is one of those who feels its all just a bit much. "The station is not a happy one. I was surprised when I saw it because it's not light, but very dark. They're not calming pictures. It's very, very strange for the people who come to station, it will be very unpleasant for them and will ruin their mood," he says.
But psychiatrist Dzhayla Siklinskaya dismisses these claims. "It is too much of a leap to say that the presence of these pictures could push someone over the edge. There are so many other factors. Think of all the things we see every day, even on the news. They are much more violent and graphic," she believes.
