The House of the Dead (Penguin Classics)

This is a good entry point for reading through Dostoevsky’s novels, the project I have set out for the next 12-18 months. History has already rendered its opinion on the great Russian novelist but I will toss in my 2 cents worth. My version has a different cover design but the same content and translator. This translation has a very British sound to it but seemed very good. A few brief notes were included that clarified what would have been very obscure references. The print is on the small side and some of the paragraphs consume more than a page. Keeping all the names straight is an ongoing challenge. Nice inexpensive paperback ( used). Looking forward to some short stories and then on to the bigger novels. Join me in this reading challenge.

Dostoevsky's 4-year prison sentence was a hellish experience for the author. From it came a literary masterpiece: The House of the Dead. His insight into the human psyche is superb here as it is elsewhere in his other masterpieces- he masterly captures the emotions, tensions, and unspoken thoughts among his protagonists. He slow-walks his reader deep into the oppressive bowels of his prison life. While weaving stories of seared souls he paints raw unforgettable tableaus that excite all the senses of the psyche. But his triumph lies not just there but also in drawing a universal psychological portraiture of the incarcerated criminal, of his social life behind prison walls, his interactions with penal professionals, his aspirations, and above all his stunted personhood. The universality of this masterpiece is not limited to the prison life but also it embraces the condition of the sinning or erring Man. It erects blueprints for understanding and for restoring his brokenness. It sets the ground for a spiritual exercise of restoration and rehabilitation. A must read.

This book was difficult because of its subject matter. The text is a small print, the book felt longer than 350 pages

Excellent

Great philosophical book would recommend

As a fan of Dostoevsky, this the last of major works that I have read. Not only would my understanding and appreciation of Dostoevsky been incomplete had I not read Notes From. A Dead House, but I'm glad I read it after reading his works.This is an honest and profound piece of writing, impossible to categorize, that has stayed with me, and given me greater insights into the writer. For anyone who admires, or simply wants to engage deeply with the philosophy of Dostoevsky, I highly recommend this beautiful artistic offering.

The book is good and so is the translation. However I must subtract one start due to, in my opinion, a high amount of grammatical errors. I do reccomend this book nonetheless. Jan

This is not one of Dostoevsky's "big five" books. It is his recounting of his four years in a Siberian Tsarist prison, as punishment for his having entertained "Petrashevisht" ideas. The introduction in this edition gave a great context for Dostoevsky's book, which anticipated by a century Solzenitzen's monumental work. As Dostoevsky wrote, "I had a feeling that work could be my salvation …. The continual mental unease, the nervous irritation and closed atmosphere of the barrack could destroy me completely… . The [other] convicts gave me a hard time at first because of my love of work, and they poisoned my life for a long time with their mockery and contempt" (p.129). We have a lot of stuff in America that doesn't add up, but I think Russia must be on the other side of Mars: over 1000 years of chronic authoritarian rule, founded in the right of the government to lie and imprison people for their thoughts, worse in the past 200, and now with Putin and the oligarchs running the show. I liked this book.

Dostoevsky is the best Russian philosopher

After reading most of Dostoyevsky's works, save for The House of the Dead, I decided to wade into his 'memoir' of prison to explore his experience that no doubt coloured his subsequent writing. I wasn't disappointed. He writes "through" a fictitious character, rather than telling his story in "first person." As I read the fictional character's account of the years spent as a convict, as an 'unfortunate,' I couldn't help but "hear" Dostoyevsky's voice, not the voice of his fictional literary "alter-ego." One moment finds the author a psychologist, the next a sociologist and the next a philosopher. Combine all three disciplines, spice with abundant, incisive self-examination and one has a book that not only entertains but shocks the reader. His attention to detail is a hallmark of the work. One's sensibilities are offended by the atrocious treatment of human beings and by the heinous crimes of some of the convicts. One's emotions are twisted by the unbelievable images created by Dostoyevsky's keen perceptions, both of his fellow "convicts" and of the sadistic so-called "executioners" -- the happy, gleeful, mentally deranged constabulary that seem to only live for the beatings and floggings of the inmates; these marginal humans revel in administering severe punishments, even unto death. However, there are enough "lighter" moments, even compassionate moments (like the Stage Show and Hospital) sprinkled into the narrative to lift the reader out of rising despair and ease uncommon tension. As well, the author describes some of his fellow prisoners in near comedic terms. Would I recommend this work to readers? Absolutely, but be prepared for a dose of reality that often exists without non-fictional illumination--the kind that may sharpen one's sanguine view of humanity. Like most Russian literature, compelling images, cogent thoughts and feelings will tend to remain with the reader for some time. Ard Caldwell Kelowna

Original Copy good quality pages and cover. Came in good condition.

It's good but I haven't read it yet.