The House of the Dead (Dover Thrift Editions.) | Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The House of the Dead (Dover Thrift Editions.) | Fyodor Dostoyevsky | The House of the Dead

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The House of the D...

	The House of the Dead (Dover Thrift Editions.) Fyodor Dostoyevsky Dover Publications, 2004 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Accused of political subversion as a young man, Dostoyevsky was sentenced to 4 years of hard labor at a Siberian prison camp. Years later, he developed this semi-autobiographical memoir of a man condemned to penal servitude for murdering his wife. This haunting and remarkable work ranks amoung Dostoyevsky's greatest masterpieces.

Days of fear and hope

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "The House of the Dead" is one of the most powerful narratives about life in prison. A quasi-autobiographical work, the writer used the days he spent in Siberia prison to create powerful moments of sadness, fear and hope. Not many were able to be released from there, but he was one of them, and with this work he reminds everyone what it is about to be a political prisoner.

"The House of the Dead" may not be one of best works from this Russian writer, who produced masterpieces such as "Crime an Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov", but still it is a vivid account of hard times. Many scenes are unforgettable, and resonate to the condition that many people live today around the world - think of the soup that the prisoners have in the first part of the book, for instance.

Dostoyevsky manages to create a living portray of many people who are forced to share the same place at the same time, however much they can't stand each other. He is able to bring to life both human beings and animals. His description of his meeting with a dog can bring tears to the eyes of the most tough reader.

David McDuff's translation is superb, and so is Penguin Classics edition. The book is complemented by notes on the text and a excellent introduction. However, as happens to many books in this collection, it is advisable to read the introduction after reading the novel, because it may have spoilers.

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The House of the Dead

You can't go wrong with Dostoyevsky. Plus you can't beat the price, it was only $3.50!!!!!

Great Cultural Perspective

Based on Dostoyevsky experiences after spending four years in prison under the most horrific of conditions, with inadequate food and shelter, and little or no privacy. This psychologigal and sociological study of prisoners who have committed heinous crimes recognizes that people are capable of redemption and are entitled to live with dignity. Men who have slipped into misfortune and as usual contains much humor and insight into the human condition

Surviving the House of the Dead

The "House of the Dead" is an early semi autobiographical work of Fyodor Dostoevsky, telling the tale of a nobleman who is imprisoned in a labour camp in Siberia for a crime of passion. The tale is semi-autobiographical because Dostoevsky as a young man was also imprisoned in Siberia for being a member of a radical political organisation an experience which was to form and influence his amazing insights and understanding of human nature.

Although not Dostoevsky greatest work "House of the Dead" is still a fascinating portrait of life in the Tsarist gulags system - a life of great hardship and deprivation yet filled with simple moments of humanity showing mankinds ability to adapt and survive in the most extreme of circumstances. Dostoevsky tells his story in a chronological order from his characters arrival as a new alienated and withdrawn noble to his gradual adjustment to prison and the return of hope as he realises that he can survive and will have a life after the completion of his term.

It is also interesting to read House of the Dead in conjunction with later works such as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn dealing with the gulag system in communist times to see the continuation of the institution despite the changing of social regimes.

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A Documentary of 19th Century Russian Prison Camps

Dostoyevsky wrote from his heart and mostly, his suffering.

The House of the Dead, for me, was a difficult read.

The Siberian labour camps of the 19th century reveals suffering and cruelty in its true, ugly form.

Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov, narrates his experience in detail and if one enters the text, understands his viewpoint and his growing learning curve to merely remain alive.

Goryanchikov's (Dostoyevskys) imprisonment was for sedition: writing about the injustices of the Romanov Dynasty. Under the Czar Alexander (whose secret police arrested Dostoevski) was later assassinated by a bomb underneath the royal carriage. Nicholas, the last Czar of Russia, witnessed his father's gruesome death. The Czar's secret police continued with even more ruthlessness, to find anyone anti-royalty: they were everywhere...and even a hint of rebellion, landed one a trip to Siberia.

What makes this text unique and fascinating is the style used by the author - an outsider looking in, a jounalist recording the cruelty, sadism and at times the kindness of human nature. There are so many interesting characters in the novel, like most Russian novels of this time period, one continually has to flick back as there are so many patronynmic's used, it is difficult to keep up...

Similar in cruelty is the book by the renowned psychiatrist, Viktor E. Frankl and his insightful text, "Man's Search for Meaning".

There seems to be many similarities between Goryanchikov and Frankl, as far as their attitude to insane crulety and one's attitude of mind, simply to survive.

A difficult read, particularly if one avoids stories about man's inhumanity to man, and the 19th century style of writing...

Frankl survived the Nazi concentration camps under conditions that would make anyone wish for death. An important book.

The House of the Dead recomended for students of lit and the curious but not the faint of heart.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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