| The House of The Dead (Notes from the Dead House) |  | Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Publisher: ignacio hills press (TM) IgnacioHillsPress.com
Category: EBooks
List Price: $1.00
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Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 38237
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1st
ASIN: B001FWYYOK
Publication Date: September 12, 2008
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Product Description
NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reader.
The House of the Dead is a novel published in 1862 by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It portrays the life of convicts in a Siberian prison camp.
The author spent four years in exile in such a camp following his conviction for involvement in the Petrashevsky circle. This experience allowed him to describe with great authenticity the conditions of prison life and the characters of the convicts.
The narrator, Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov, has been sentenced to deportation to Siberia and ten years of hard labour. Life in prison is particularly hard for Aleksandr Petrovich, since he is a "gentleman" and suffers the malice of the other prisoners, nearly all of whom belong to the peasantry. Gradually Goryanchikov overcomes his revulsion at his situation and his fellow convicts, undergoing a spiritual re-awakening that culminates with his release from the camp.
Dostoyevsky portrays the inmates of the prison with sympathy for their plight, and also expresses admiration for their energy, ingenuity and talent. He concludes that the existence of the prison, with its absurd practices and savage corporal punishments is a tragic fact, both for the prisoners and for Russia itself.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
A Documentary of 19th Century Russian Prison Camps March 1, 2008
C. Middleton (Australia)
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.
 The House of the Dead January 5, 2008
Mr. Aaron J. Myers
You can't go wrong with Dostoyevsky. Plus you can't beat the price, it was only $3.50!!!!!
Surviving the House of the Dead June 20, 2007
dinadan26 (Burwood, New South Wales Australia)
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.
Great Cultural Perspective December 7, 2006
Arckitekt (Boston)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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
Days of fear and hope May 19, 2006
Alysson Oliveira (Sao Paulo-- Brazil)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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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