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The House of the Dead

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

3.91 · rating details · 2,165 ratings · 146 reviews

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.

Paperback, thrift, 247 pages

Published April 22nd 2004 by Dover Publications (first published 1860)

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Aug 13, 2010

Ricardo Lourenço rated it

· review of another edition

Cadernos da Casa Morta é, essencialmente, fruto da experiência pela qual Dostoiévski passou na Sibéria durante quatro anos, após ter sido exilado (1850-1954). Num período conturbado por agitações revolucionárias e fazendo Dostoiévski parte de um grupo intelectual liberal, uma denúncia por actividades políticas ilegais leva a que venha a ser condenado à morte. Tal sentença acaba por ser comutada em exílio e trabalhos forçados sendo, no entanto, tal mudança comunicada perante um pelotão de fuzilam...moreCadernos da Casa Morta é, essencialmente, fruto da experiência pela qual Dostoiévski passou na Sibéria durante quatro anos, após ter sido exilado (1850-1954). Num período conturbado por agitações revolucionárias e fazendo Dostoiévski parte de um grupo intelectual liberal, uma denúncia por actividades políticas ilegais leva a que venha a ser condenado à morte. Tal sentença acaba por ser comutada em exílio e trabalhos forçados sendo, no entanto, tal mudança comunicada perante um pelotão de fuzilamento numa execução simulada. Como seria de esperar, tais acontecimentos vieram a marcar a personalidade do escritor, o que, inevitavelmente, teve consequências nos seus trabalhos posteriores.
Ao longo desses penosos anos, Dostoiévski pôde observar uma realidade bastante diferente, pelo que neste livro estão patentes as conclusões que retirou, não só relativamente ao sistema prisional, à dureza dos castigos, mas também, no que diz respeito à personalidade dos que o rodeavam. Analisando esse ambiente de mente aberta, livrando-se de juízos precipitados, o autor retrata de forma pormenorizada o novo mundo em que foi inserido forçosamente, demonstrando o quanto é possível aprender mesmo com o mais simples dos homens.

“Basta raspar a casca exterior, artificial e olhar o cerne de mais perto, com atenção e sem ideias preconcebidas e então poderemos ver no povo coisas que nem sequer imaginávamos. Os nossos sábios não têm muito para ensinar ao povo. Posso, mesmo, afirmar: eles próprios, pelo contrário, têm muito a aprender com ele.”

Obrigado a conviver com todo o tipo de criminosos, de diferentes nacionalidades, costumes e religiões, torna-se possível observar particularidades que não são visíveis em liberdade. Tamanha variedade entre os presidiários leva a uma procura por classificar em grupos os seus companheiros prisionais, tendo em conta as variáveis já referidas, assim como as especificidades dos indivíduos em questão, mas ele próprio acaba por duvidar que tal tarefa seja possível:

“Porém, será possível fazer-se o que estou a tentar fazer agora: dividir os habitantes de uma prisão em categorias? A realidade é infinitamente mais variada do que todas as conclusões do pensamento abstracto, por mais sofisticadas que sejam, e não suporta classificações forçadas e generalizadas. Também nós tínhamos a nossa vida individual, por mais humilde que fosse; não vivíamos só a vida oficial, mas também uma vida interior, só nossa.”

As histórias que nos vão sendo descritas ao longo do livro, apenas reforçam essa ideia. Embora seja fácil identificar vários traços comuns, alguns fruto da vivência em grupo, a realidade é que cada individuo possuí um carácter único, e ao generalizar corre-se o risco de julgar erradamente, chegar a conclusões que não correspondem de todo à verdade. De resto tais generalizações são criticadas pelo próprio autor, que procura desmistificar, sempre que possível, considerações do género.
Mas Cadernos da Casa Morta retrata não só a realidade que envolve o narrador, mas também os sentimentos interiores, as suas mágoas pessoais, as dificuldades que este teve de suportar.

“Lembro-me de que todos esses anos, tão semelhantes uns aos outros, passavam mole e tristemente. Lembro-me de que todos esses longos e enfadonhos dias eram tão monótonos como as gotas de água a pingarem do telhado depois da chuva. Lembro-me de que apenas o desejo de renovação, de renascimento para uma nova vida me dava forças para ter paciência e não perder as esperanças.”

Uma ânsia de liberdade que era partilhada por todos os presidiários, que independentemente do seu tempo de pena e da sua idade, sonhavam inocentemente com uma nova vida, mesmo que a realidade ditasse que tal seria impossível.
De notar que, ao contrário do que seria de esperar, a prisão teve também aspectos benéficos, possibilitando uma introspecção que provocou mudanças na forma de pensar, na forma de ser de Dostoiévski.

“Lembro-me de que, durante todo esse tempo, apesar de estar com centenas de companheiros, me sentia muito solitário e acabei por me afeiçoar a essa solidão. Espiritualmente solitário, revia toda a minha vida passada, recordava tudo até ao último pormenor, analisava o meu passado, julgava-me a mim mesmo, severa e implacavelmente, e às vezes até abençoava o destino por me ter mandado tal solidão, sem a qual não seria possível esse julgamento de mim próprio nem a revisitação severa da minha antiga vida.”

Apesar de tudo, se tivesse de reter uma ideia chave, de extrair uma conclusão principal deste livro, seria a de que o homem é um animal de hábitos, em que mesmo as mais duras privações e as mais sólidas esperanças, ainda que apoiadas por uma determinação aparentemente forte, nem sempre se tornam suficientes para mover as fundações da personalidade humana, para modificar a forma de ser de alguém. Como é fácil nos perdermos nas ilusões que nós próprios criamos.
Sem dúvida uma obra que deve estar na prateleira de qualquer apreciador de Dostoiévski.(less)

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Aug 10, 2010

Erik Graff rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: Janny Marie Willis

Shelves: literature

This may well be the Dostoevsky book I most enjoyed reading. Although a kind of novel, it is based on the author's own four years of experiences in Siberian exile and has the ring of authenticity to it.

Dostoevsky had been exiled for his participation in the liberal Petrashevsky circle, a period during which he wrote his realistic Poor People. A young man, he had been, as we now say, scared shitless by the intentionally misleading prospect of execution and had himself undergone a...more

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Jul 09, 2010

Julia Boechat Machado rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, russian-literature, tingle-of-the-spine, punch-in-the-stomach, memoirs, 1860s

Relato autobiográfico em parte (o em parte é importante, já que o narrador é um homem preso por matar a esposa, e esse crime foi freqüentemente imputado a Dostoiévski por confusão). Fundamental para quem se interessa por Dostoiévski e no mínimo interessante para quem se interessa por história ou direitos humanos. Afinal, Dostoiévski disse que o grau de civilização de uma sociedade pode ser medido entrando em suas prisões.
Para quem quer saber mais sobre a prisão de Dostoiévski, alguns fatos...more

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Jan 21, 2012

Fatma rated it

I could tell while reading this book that Dostoyevsky was drawing from his own experience of prison - he spoke with a passion that only comes of experience.

The book follows the narrative of a former prisoner who recounts his ten years of incarceration in Siberia. He reminisces about his fellow prisoners, the motley group of wasted potential, the guards, at times hateful and some remembered with almost-love, but most of all about how life is lived in the prison itself.

Once a...more

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Oct 15, 2011

Carsten Thomsen rated it

This is an atypical Dostoevsky-novel. There's not really a plot here or a lot of symbolic things, but it's rather a plain collection of one prisoners memoirs. Alexander Petrovich Goryanchikov is imprisoned for 10 years for murdering his wife and he recollects his prison-years - and we get stories from some of the other prisoners - both the humble ones and the most barbaric ones.

These memoirs are based on Dostoevsky's own time in prison - he spent four years as a political prisoner in ...more

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Jul 29, 2011

Suzydumeur added it · review of another edition

Comme son titre l'indique la lecture de ce livre de Dostoïevski n'est pas des plus légères. Il témoigne de la vie dans un bagne (pas encore appelé "goulag") d'un homme - de condition "noble" - condamné à plusieurs années de détention. Celui-ci va décrire son environnement, ses relations, ses évènements, de l'intérieur, dans un style âpre et sombre. Plusieurs passages sont insupportables, notamment ceux détaillant les conditions d'hygiène, au sauna ou encore à "l'hôpital"...more

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Apr 07, 2011

Mohammed rated it

"One day I saw a prisoner, who had undergone his sentence, take leave of his comrades. He had twenty years's hard labor. More then one convict remembered seeing him arrive, quite young, careless thinking neither of his crime nor of his punishment. He was now an old man with gray hairs, with a sad and morose countenance. He walked in silence through our six barracks. When he entered each of them he prayed before the holy image, made a deep bow to his former companions, and begged them not t...more

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Feb 19, 2011

wally rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: dostoevsky

The House of the Dead, or Prison Life in Siberia, Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
Although it has been years since I read that other Russian prison story, one day in the life of ivan denisovich...this read provided a different take on that one...surely, prison life is not easy, but in this story, the prisoners seemed to have more...leeway, than what i recall from alexander solzi-neets-shin...names, sheesh, i'm sure i'll smoke a turb in purgatory for getting them wrong. ha! this one was published...more

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Sep 16, 2011

Anastasia rated it

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Shelves: biografia, classici

"Debbo io descrivere tutta quella vita, raccontare tutti i miei anni di prigionia? Non lo credo. Se io dovessi scrivere per ordine, di fila, tutto ciò che accadde, ciò che vidi, ciò che provai in quegli anni, potrei scrivere il doppio, il quadruplo dei capitoli scritti finora. Ma questa mia descrizione alla fine diventerebbe involontariamente troppo monotona. Tutte le circostanze si somiglierebbero e avrebbero lo stesso tono, specialmente se il lettore è già riuscito, per mezzo dei capitoli...more"Debbo io descrivere tutta quella vita, raccontare tutti i miei anni di prigionia? Non lo credo. Se io dovessi scrivere per ordine, di fila, tutto ciò che accadde, ciò che vidi, ciò che provai in quegli anni, potrei scrivere il doppio, il quadruplo dei capitoli scritti finora. Ma questa mia descrizione alla fine diventerebbe involontariamente troppo monotona. Tutte le circostanze si somiglierebbero e avrebbero lo stesso tono, specialmente se il lettore è già riuscito, per mezzo dei capitoli già scritti, a farsi un'idea abbastanza soddisfacente della vita dei forzati della seconda categoria. Io ho voluto rappresentare tutto il nostro penitenziario, tutta la mia vita di quegli anni, in un quadro chiaro, da mettere sotto gli occhi al lettore. Non so se ho raggiunto il mio scopo. Non ne posso esser giudice. Ma sono persuaso che posso finir qui il mio lavoro. A ripercorrere tutti questi ricordi mi viene un senso d'angoscia."

E se Fedor al tramonto (quasi) del 2011 vuole ancora delle risposte, io gli offro volentieri la mia: good job. Questo libro di Dostoevskij più che un romanzo, assume veramente le forme di un diario, un lungo discorso col lettore. Fedor racconta di sé attraverso la maschera di un personaggio immaginario, Petrovic, che fu rinchiuso per aver ucciso la moglie. Dostoevskij invece subì le pene del carcere per le sue convinzioni socialiste. Queste memorie furono scritti ancora prima di Umiliati e offesi, Memorie dal sottosuolo, Il giocatore, Delitto e castigo, e tanti altri. A distanza di vent'anni, con la pubblicazione de I fratelli Karamazov, Wikipedia mi dice che il pensiero di Fedor cambia notevolmente. Beh, io parlerò del giovane Dostoevskij che traspare da queste pagine.
In realtà Fedor non si concentra mai esplicitamente su se stesso, ma accenna a qualcosa di sè solo tramite gli altri forzati. Sembra sempre così concentrato nel cercare di descrivere il mondo del carcere, con sentimento, con pena, con comprensione, che forse non considera importante centrare la vicenda su se stesso. Così apprendiamo della sua sofferenza solo tramite quella degli altri, del suo sognare la libertà, accennato solo al momento del presentare quello degli altri. In sostanza Dostoevskij punta la lente su quello che lo circonda, ma non potendo fare a meno di notare anche il suo riflesso, spende qualche parola anche per sè stesso, sempre con una certa modestia.
Una cosa che in realtà mi ha colpito, per questo ne parlo. L'autore qui è più umano che mai. Se c'è un insegnamento importante che l'autore ci comunica attraverso il suo discorrere e attraverso riflessioni ben esplicite, è quello del non-diritto di trattare qualsiasi uomo come una bestia, anche se questo è un forzato. Anzi, il dipinto da cui emergono questi prigionieri è penoso a tratti, commovente, pieno di miseria. Forzati che non fanno altro che sognare la libertà, nutrono il disprezzo verso gli altri come se fosse la cosa più naturale da fare, non osano gemere sotto le frustate e i colpi delle verghe, si ribellano per la scarsa qualità del cibo, ma alle prime occhiate severe ritirano tutto, dicendosi "soddisfatti", si ubriacano e accumulano denari per cercare invano e infantilmente una sorta di libertà. Come dice lo stesso autore, il denaro era un simbolo: se lo avevi, avevi qualcosa. Nessuno può negare che i soldi in qualche modo ti permettano di essere libero, o più libero di quello che sei ora.
A volte appaiono persino come bambini, si rallegrano nei momenti di festa, si agghindano e si fanno belli solo per poter celebrare al meglio il Natale, nonostante le catene ai piedi.
In sostanza sono d'accordo con la quarta di copertina della Newton (che tra parentesi, rende difficoltosa la lettura, mamma mia che impaginazione pesante) quando dice che quella descritta da Fedor è una sofferta simpatia per il suo popolo. Non giudica mai severamente nessuno, si limita a riportare quello che ne pensa, non scorda mai quello che forse è l'elemento più nobile fra tutti: l'umanità.
Ed una certa tolleranza viene naturale quando si è sepolti sotto le soffitta di un carcere tutti insieme, costretti a convivere e sopportarsi per forza.

Naturalmente, essendo una specie di diario, in alcuni punti si ripete, oppure accenna ad un personaggio e lo riprende molto tempo dopo, divaga spesso, ma su queste cose uno ci passa sopra. (less)

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Feb 14, 2011

Nemesis rated it

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Shelves: finished, narrativa-straniera

Dicembre 1849, una data decisamente infausta per Fedor Dostoevskij.
In quel periodo, infatti, venne arrestato perché frequentatore del circolo di Petrascevskii, ritenuto a quei tempi un’alcova di giovani rivoluzionari.
Dostoevskij fu in un primo momento condannato a morte e, mentre era già sul patibolo, pronto per essere giustiziato, venne graziato dallo Zar, Nicola I, che lo condannò per quattro anni ai lavori forzati in Siberia.
Questo fu per lui un’esperienza tragica e infausta...moreDicembre 1849, una data decisamente infausta per Fedor Dostoevskij.
In quel periodo, infatti, venne arrestato perché frequentatore del circolo di Petrascevskii, ritenuto a quei tempi un’alcova di giovani rivoluzionari.
Dostoevskij fu in un primo momento condannato a morte e, mentre era già sul patibolo, pronto per essere giustiziato, venne graziato dallo Zar, Nicola I, che lo condannò per quattro anni ai lavori forzati in Siberia.
Questo fu per lui un’esperienza tragica e infausta, che lo segnò profondamente e che lo indusse, qualche anno dopo, a raccontarla in uno dei suoi libri più profondi, “Memorie di una casa morta”.
Più che un libro è una sorta di documentario su quella che può essere considerata una delle più terribili esperienze che un uomo possa mai fare, la reclusione in un carcere di massima sicurezza.
Il quadro che ci presenta Dostoevskij è quello di una dura, squallida e purtroppo realistica vita di un forzato dentro le mura di una prigione, tra sporcizia e animali di ogni sorta, tra inumane vessazioni fisiche e psicologiche.
Un testo indubbiamente disturbante per noi, cittadini del ventunesimo secolo, che concepiamo e viviamo un’altra idea di prigionia e ci troviamo costretti a leggere di disumane punizioni(ogni carcerato riceveva ogni giorno la sua buona dose di vergate), di prigionieri costretti a vivere in stanzoni con trenta-quaranta posti letto ciascuno e che erano costretti a lavorare notte e giorno legati a una catena che ne impediva i movimenti, oltre che procurare loro indicibili sofferenze.
Al di là di questi aspetti, però, questo è un testo che nasconde dietro di sé ben altro significato: al di là di tutte le sofferenze, al di là di tutti i tormenti subiti e sopportati, non è altro che un profondo inno alla vita, alla volontà(e talvolta alla gioia) di vivere che, nonostante tutto, anima la gente del reclusorio e che da loro la forza di sopravvivere con dignità al loro calvario.
Rispetto ad altri suoi capolavori(“Delitto e castigo”, “I demoni”, “I fratelli Karamazov”, “L’idiota”, “Il sosia”, “le notti bianche”, “l’eterno marito”, “la mite”), è indubbiamente di minor fascino dato l’argomento e soprattutto perché, a differenza degli altri, non ha una storia di fondo che possa appassionare, fin da subito, il lettore, ma è pur sempre un testo fondamentale per chiunque voglia avvicinarsi e capire più profondamente questo straordinario autore, un testo di forte impatto psicologico, che merita una lettura più che approfondita.
(less)

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Jun 12, 2007

Zach rated it

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'Yes, I guess I loved him too
I can still see him in my mind climbin' that hill
Did he make it to the top, well he probably did and dropped
Struck down by the strength of the will
Ain't nothin' left here partner, just the dust of a plague that has left this whole town afraid
From now on, this'll be where you're from
Let the dead bury the dead. Your time will come
Let hot iron blow as he raised the shade'
~Bob Dylan, Foot of Pride

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Feb 03, 2012

David Sarkies rated it

Recommends it for: Those who like prison stories

Shelves: dark

This is one of those very rare books where I read the first two sentences and knew instantly that I was going to like this book. This is one of the post-imprisonment books that Dostoevsky wrote, and in short, it is the story of a man sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the murder of his wife. The story is set in 19th Century Russia during the reign of the Czars, and imprisonment pretty much meant exile to the frozen wastes of Siberia. Further, even if one was not imprisoned in one of the 'S...more This is one of those very rare books where I read the first two sentences and knew instantly that I was going to like this book. This is one of the post-imprisonment books that Dostoevsky wrote, and in short, it is the story of a man sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the murder of his wife. The story is set in 19th Century Russia during the reign of the Czars, and imprisonment pretty much meant exile to the frozen wastes of Siberia. Further, even if one was not imprisoned in one of the 'Special Divisons' (the camp in which this book is set), one is still imprisoned not only by the vast emptiness and frozen wastes of Siberia, but also due to the fact one once one has been sent there, unless special dispensation was granted by the Czars, one would never leave Siberia. In many ways it mimics the method of incarceration by the British in the 18th and 19th Centuries, where convicts would be sent out to the colonies, and one would only return on pain of death.
Dostoevsky did spend four years in one of the Gulags, and it was only by the grace of the ruling Czar that he was allowed to return. His crime was being involved with a socialist group connected with the intelligensia of Russia (of which Dostoevsky was a member). While his group was not necessarily violent in nature, there were a number of violent revolutionary groups in Russia at the time, and Dostoevsky happened to get caught up in the purges. Prior too his imprisonment, Dostoevsky had already made his mark as a writer, however many of his pieces were pretty much overlooked. It was not until he returned from exile (as in many other cases) that he went on to write his classics, such as the Brothers Karmokov and Crime and Punishment (a bit of which I will discuss here).
However, this is not an autobiographical novel, Dostoevsky does not write about his experiences, but the experiences of a fictional character. Maybe it was a form of self-censorship, that by writing about a fictional character, he would be less likely to attract unwanted attention from the powers that be, and by writing a true story about life in the Gulags could easily have brought trouble upon himself. As such, but writing a fictional account, he could easily say that the events in the book never actually happened, however he was using his experiences to outline what life was like.
The House of Death is not a continuous story, but rather jumps all over the place. It is not a linear narrative that intends to tell a story, but rather written as the thoughts and recollections of the narrator. There is a large section at the beginning where he describes his first experiences in the Gulag, but as time drags on, everything tends to settle down. As such, he ends up focusing on the characters, and descriptions of what went on. Obviously it is the first section where he is learning and discovering about life that brings out the most detail.
Dostoevsky discusses punishment in the book, and I suspect that it is a glimpse into what he intended to write with regards to his book Crime and Punishment (however at this stage I have not read the book so can't comment beyond speculation, though a quick look on Wikipedia suggests that it is not). His argument here is that while in some cases punishment may appear consistent with a crime, depending on the culprit, it is not. For instance, if a peasant were to murder somebody, and be sentenced to ten years in the Gulag, he would not be too concerned as life both before and after the sentence was harsh, and in some ways, life in the Gulag is better for at least one is fed (barely), clothed, and given shelter. However, for one of the elite to be punished for the same crime in the same way, the punishment is much harsher, since all of the luxuries and benefits of his class is taken away from him.
Dostoevsky is very detailed in the book, with everything from the food, the beds, to life in the hospital, the festive period of Christmas, and details on the rare showers that the prisoners might have. When we enter the prison, we hear about how money exists, but is generally kept hidden from the guards, how trades people will go and perform their trades, and be paid for them, while others work in the work gangs. He learn of food and vodka smuggled into the prisoner, and of prisoners becoming exceedingly violent while under the influence. We also learn that all books, with the exception of the New Testament, are banned.
I guess the book finishes off in the same way that it begins. In the opening we are told that it is about life in the Gulag, and how he survived, and by the end we see that he is survived. He is finally released, and taken to the blacksmith to have his fetters removed. Once free, Dostoevsky writes 'Freedom, new life, resurrection from the dead … what a glorious moment!'.(less)

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Dec 25, 2010

Darko rated it

Shelves: classics

The House of Dead is the prison in Siberia where the main character, a man coming from the higher societal ranks, spends a number of years for an undisclosed crime. The novel describes mostly the first couple of months in the prison as they have left a heaviest impression on the character. He has to share room and bed with people coming from the lower ranks of the Russian 19th century society which is still mostly feudal. The most impressive are descriptions of the new relationships with pris...more

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Jan 07, 2012

Juliet rated it

Shelves: clasically-classic, history-winners

The House of Dead is a largely autobiographical novel based on Dostoyevsky's years in a Siberian prison labour camp. The title refers to the prisoner status which renders them dead to society. Although the book is perhaps not shocking in its narrative about the conditions, prison microcosm and attitudes, it is an eye opener all the same. We don't imagine conditions quite so severe and learn that British prisoners of the time lived a life of relative luxury by comparison. The diet, sleeping and b...more

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Sep 13, 2011

Harold Griffin rated it

A wonderful mostly fictional account of life in a Siberian prison. Dostoyevsky's narrator offers insights not only into historical prison conditions and practices, but into universal reactions of prisoners to their jailors, to each other (class divisions separate and isolate upper class prisoners from the rest), to their pets (some of which are killed for food or fur), to the duration of their sentences and to the prospects for escape. Reading his account of inmates' high hopes for escaped fello...more

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Feb 21, 2010

Tyler rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Tyler by: Author's Reputation

Shelves: 19th-century

While this book is good enough, I do not recommend it as the first Dostoevsky people should read, no matter what Tolstoy says! The account of the dog being sold best shows Dostoevsky's authorial magic. But generally, the book is documentary in style and little in it anticipates the author's later genius.

I was struck by the contrasts between the Russian prison system of the 19th century and the American one of the present. Dostoevsky's contemporaries experienced a prison life full o...more

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Aug 09, 2011

Ryan Milbrath rated it

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This early work semi-autobiographical novel by Dostoevsky contains many of the same, subjective, salvation through the redemptive power of the religion, and an honest, but sympathetic look at the peasentry. The details of the prison life create an almost suffocating and tragic view of the prison system in Tsarist Russia. The beginnings of Dostoesvky's descriptions of extreme personalities and psychologies, I feel, are readily apparent in this particular work. Unlike some of his other short st...more

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Apr 15, 2011

Sean de la Rosa rated it

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Semi-autobiographical, the story plots the life of Petrovich Goryancikov in a Siberian prison camp - Dostoyevsky spent a number of years in prison for his part in a political conspiracy against the Russian Government.

He wrote the House of the Dead 5 years before the acclaimed Crime and Punishment. Having read both novels, it is clear how the writers style and understanding of human emotion had developed - Crime and Punishment is a treasure!

For me, Dostoyevsky sums up the boo...more

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Jun 08, 2009

Samuel Snoek-Brown rated it

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This was my first Dostoyevsky. I'd always dreaded reading him because his weight--not only in length but also in canonical import--intimidated me, but the subject matter of this deeply personal book intrigued me and felt like a good introduction given my tastes in fiction. I wasn't wrong. Dostoyevsky's portrayal of life in a 19th-C. Siberian work prison is bleak and sometimes brutal, a stark vision of human depravity as well as humanity's capacity for adapting to--and accepting--almost any de...more

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Nov 24, 2008

Brett rated it

Shelves: classy-fiction

Dostoevsky's quasi-autobiographical account of a man sentenced to penal servitude in Siberia. Any description of the book mentions that Dostoevsky himself as actually brought in front of the firing squad and blindfolded before he was sent directly to the prison camp (Dostoevsky went for political reasons; the character in the novel goes because he killed his wife). Curiously, this incident does not appear in the novel, which virtually all happens within the prison walls. An interesting, though n...more

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Nov 22, 2010

Venus rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: novel

الکساندر بترووی» در اصل یک نجیب‌زادة روسی بود. او بر اثر حسادت، همسرش را کشت و فورا خود را به پلیس معرفی کرد. پلیس او را به ده سال حبس با اعمال شاقه محکوم کرد و پس از پایان این مدت او به اقامتگاه محکومین واقع در شهر «ک» فرستاده شد تا عمر خود را در آن‌جا به پایان آورد. یعنی او به یک کولونی محکومین، که کمی دورتر از شهر واقع شده بود، تعلق داشت، اما می‌توانست در شهر «ک» به سر برد. او در این شهر با تدریس زبان فرانسه و... لقمه‌نانی به دست می‌آورد. البته تدریس برای محکومین در شهرهای سیبری امری بعید، نب...more

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May 23, 2011

Marc rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I am having difficulty getting through this one - I really loved Crime & Punishment and so far that's the only other book I've read of his, so was looking forward to this one, it sounded interesting and started out well - then I found it slow, lengthy passages about uninteresting information - one thing I found quite annoying was the many times he would start a subject, then state that he would discuss this more later - this seemed to happen every few pages!! Like another reader said, it's incon...more

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Feb 02, 2011

Scott Gates rated it

· review of another edition

Chronologically, Dostoevsky’s just about to explode artistically after this point and write some of the greatest works ever.

People who were imprisoned and exiled to Siberia in Dostoevsky’s time were sent there for life. They’d serve their prison term, and then spend the rest of their life in a settlement in Siberia. Dostoevsky was an exception to this. He was imprisoned for four years and then spent six years as a settler-convict. So his life, and his literary work, was interrupted ...moreChronologically, Dostoevsky’s just about to explode artistically after this point and write some of the greatest works ever.

People who were imprisoned and exiled to Siberia in Dostoevsky’s time were sent there for life. They’d serve their prison term, and then spend the rest of their life in a settlement in Siberia. Dostoevsky was an exception to this. He was imprisoned for four years and then spent six years as a settler-convict. So his life, and his literary work, was interrupted for ten years. At the time he was imprisoned he was working on Netochka Nezvanovna, a novel that would remain unfinished after his resurrection.

Much of the power of House of the Dead is that there are several passages (or perhaps the entire thing) in which the descriptions of prison life can be read as a synecdoche of “free” existence as a whole. Almost any of Dostoevsky’s statements on the psychology of the prisoners could be applied to nonprisoners as well, and much of what he says of prison life could apply to unimprisoned existence. Near the end of the book, as the narrator’s about to walk out the door to freedom after thousands of days in prison, he thinks this:

“In consequence of our daydreams and our long divorce from it, freedom somehow seemed to us freer than real freedom, the freedom, that is, that exists in fact, in real life.”

Or near the end of the Christmas celebration, which the prisoners had looked forward to like children, he describes one of his fellow prisoners desperately trying to find some joy or to salvage something to remember from the sad festivities: “But up to the very last hour he was still waiting for something which must inevitably happen, something extraordinary, festive and joyous. . . . He scurried tirelessly from barrack to barrack. But nothing special happened or came under his eyes except drunkenness and senseless brawling and heads aching with the fumes of drink.”

The prose is more sedate than the immense, enthralling novels that are immediately to follow. But throughout there’s a deadened roar of despair. Even a reader greatly distanced from the prospect of long-term imprisonment can feel suffocated by the descriptions of cramped quarters, stifling heat, bug-ridden beds and food, crippling work, corporal punishment, and most of all the realization that every day would be the exact same for years and years. There was nothing to look forward to, day after day, page after page.

It was unexpected (at least to me) how these prisoners behaved at times. There was almost no violence. It was endearing how excited the prisoners were about dressing up in costumes and putting on theatrical performances during Christmas. When reading about these Christmas performances, how all the prisoners gathered together and laughed with and cheered at the actors (their fellow prisoners), I couldn’t help thinking that 1850s autocratic Russian society was significantly less perverse than current-day US society. Moving on, the prisoners also respected “gentlemen,” the educated minority from the upper class; they would mock but never threaten them. Fights were discouraged since a fight would entail the major or some other official conducting an investigation of the prison. No one in the prison community wanted fights and so they rarely happened. Instead, the prisoners would just yell at each other out of vanity or amusement and be cheered on like actors. In these yelling matches the prisoners would be able to let off steam, and would walk away from the encounter feeling good if they were able to insult their opponent with skill and provoke laughter.

“They were all vitally concerned about one thing: what sort of figure they cut.”

As the narrator prepares to leave the prison for good, he thinks:

“These indeed were no ordinary men. Perhaps, indeed, they were the most highly gifted and strongest of our people. But these powerful spirits were condemned to perish. . . . And who is to blame? That is the question, Who is to blame?”
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Jul 08, 2008

Farhad rated it

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داستايوفسكي در برادران كارامازوف از ديد داستاني پديده اي به نام پدركشي را باز مي كند و مورد تحليل قرار مي دهد.
در جنايت و مكافات همچون تكمله اي بر مكبث از جنايت آغاز كرده و هراس را مينويسد.
در قمارباز تقابل درونيات را در يك موقعيت تراژيك عمومي مورد چالش قرار مي دهد.
اين آثار نه فقط به خاطر هنر داستان نويسي او نامدار هستند.بل كه در هركدام از اين ها انسان و جزييات زندگي او و باورها و رفتارها و بيماريهايش مورد بررسي قرار مي گيرند.
ولي اگر بخواهيم شاهكار داستايوفكسي را معلوم كنيم...moreداستايوفسكي در برادران كارامازوف از ديد داستاني پديده اي به نام پدركشي را باز مي كند و مورد تحليل قرار مي دهد.
در جنايت و مكافات همچون تكمله اي بر مكبث از جنايت آغاز كرده و هراس را مينويسد.
در قمارباز تقابل درونيات را در يك موقعيت تراژيك عمومي مورد چالش قرار مي دهد.
اين آثار نه فقط به خاطر هنر داستان نويسي او نامدار هستند.بل كه در هركدام از اين ها انسان و جزييات زندگي او و باورها و رفتارها و بيماريهايش مورد بررسي قرار مي گيرند.
ولي اگر بخواهيم شاهكار داستايوفكسي را معلوم كنيم.اغراق نكرديم اگر بگوييم آن خاطرات خانه اموات است.
داستايوفسكي پس از دستگيري به دليل فعاليت هاي زيرزميني ضد حكومتي به اعدام محكوم شد.درست در لحظه اجراي حكم محكومين با يك درجه تخفيف به سيبري تبعيد مي شوند.زندان داستايوفسكي در سيبري خانه اموات است.زنداني با انواع محكومين خطرناك و مطرود از جامعه دزدها و آدم كش ها.
داستايوفسكي در اين فرصت مغتنم هم سلولي هاي خود را مانند يك روان شناس چيره دست بر ميز تشريح مي گذارد و بيماري هاي آنان را كشف مي كند.
در اين راه او به خودش هم رحم نمي كند.در نگاه داستايوفكي همه مريضند.بيماري هاي روحي سرچشمه جنايت،انحرافات جنسي و حتا عقده هاي دروني است.
بنابراين برخورد با شخصيت هاي داستايوفسكي در طول روز و اطراف چيزي شگفت نمي باشد.(less)

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Apr 14, 2008

Xio rated it

Started reading this last night and am thrilled about stumbling upon a Dostoevsky that I actually feel like reading (other than Notes from Underground, which I adore).

He was sentenced to prison after having a death sentenced commuted. The book itself is written under the guise of finding the manuscripts of a dead man in Siberia.

I am extremely interested in people's experiences of pain, suffering, imprisonment/confinement, torture and so on. But only with the caveat that...more

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Dec 15, 2007

Laura rated it

· review of another edition

I became interested in reading Memoirs after a recent trip to San Francisco, during which I had the pleasure of touring Alcatraz, the most infamous prison in the US. The desolation of its abandoned corridors and my mental image of the horror of life within its decrepit walls led me to pull Dostoevsky’s book from my shelves. Although much differed between the sun-drenched California penitentiary and the hardships of life in Siberia (with its corporal punishment and rough manual labor), the pris...moreI became interested in reading Memoirs after a recent trip to San Francisco, during which I had the pleasure of touring Alcatraz, the most infamous prison in the US. The desolation of its abandoned corridors and my mental image of the horror of life within its decrepit walls led me to pull Dostoevsky’s book from my shelves. Although much differed between the sun-drenched California penitentiary and the hardships of life in Siberia (with its corporal punishment and rough manual labor), the prisoners shared the anguish of freedom denied.

Although I understand that this was written as a partially-autobiographical memoir, the lack of cohesive plot to keep action flowing throughout the 10 chapters was a detriment, although the subject matter was certainly interesting. This memoir acted a social commentary noting the differences between the classes and, more specifically, how each class reacts to prison life. Dostoevsky attempts to humanize a social sect that had been demonized and misunderstood, and held that they defied stereotype and were as diverse as the general population. The narrator repeatedly describes the hardships for members of the nobility who, although undergoing the same sentence as a peasant farmer, were harder hit due to the social ostracism they face when rejected by the peasant majority. Socially, they are snubbed and ridiculed, and cannot find companionship during their long sentences.
I found that it was often difficult to become interested in characters other than the narrator, and indeed it was occasionally impossible to keep them straight, due to the brevity with which they were each dealt. The reader is introduced only briefly to characters as illustrations of certain character traits which are seen in the penitentiary. Their stories often defy chronology, which the narrator mentioning them and then switching to another topic with the caveat that he will return to that character later. Despite any weaknesses as a novel, it is amazing that the author remains so unemotional and objective in his fictionalized account of one man’s jail sentence.
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Jan 31, 2010

Elijah rated it

· review of another edition

Read this for a Tolstoy and Dostoevsky class, and while it is very good, I think it would be even better had I not needed to read the whole thing in under a week. Though it's a short book, it is very dense, with a lot of detail and one-or-two-page long paragraphs, etc.

All in all, the very un-Dostoevsky documentary approach to prison life is amazing when it's good, but a bit uneven. He based it almost all directly on his experiences (with a few additions, mostly for the purposes of ra...more

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Dec 06, 2011

Rachel Hirstwood rated it

· review of another edition

I kept liking this novel and then not liking it. It was like a Solzenethein (OK I give up trying to spell it - the man who wrote Cancer Ward) at times - no doubt because this book was also set in a Siberian jail. It was a bit long winded though. However I am glad I read it, as I've been promising I would for years, and this week it jumped out at me saying read me! There are some very funny insults and other little gems peppered throughout the pages and they kept me interested long enough to get ...more

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May 26, 2010

Venus added it

Shelves: novel

داستایوفسکی در این کتاب،یک قسمت از ماجرای محبوسیت خودش را در زندان سیبری شرح میدهد.ولی در ضمن،زندانیان دیگر را نیز معرفی کرده،سرگدشت غم انگیز آنها را به طرزی بدیع حکایت و به موشکافی در طبیعت آنها میپردازد و پرده از بسی اسرار درونی انسان بر میدارد

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Aug 23, 2009

Rebecca rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: the-classics, books-i-own

In reality my rating is 3.5 at the very least. Dostoeevsky refuses to let his customary bombastic writing style run away with him in this book. The detail of the life of prisoners in Siberia is lavish and, obviously real (after all, the author spent 4 years in prison) and for the most part is novel and absorbing. Sometimes he does go off on tangents and abstracts, but he only does this towards the later half of the book and he can be forgiven; he obviously wanted to bring about a few changes in ...more

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About Fyodor Dostoyevsky

CF also Федор Достоевский

Fyodor Mikhailovitch Dostoevsky was a Russian writer and essayist, notably known for his novels Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov.
Dostoyevsky's literary output explores human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. Considered by many as a founder or precursor of 20th-century existentialis...more

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Quotes from The House of the Dead

“Man is a creature that can get accustomed to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him.” — 6 people liked it

“Whoever has experienced the power and the unrestrained ability to humiliate another human being automatically loses his own sensations. Tyranny is a habit, it has its own organic life, it develops finally into a disease. The habit can kill and coarsen the very best man or woman to the level of a beast. Blood and power intoxicate ... the return of the human dignity, repentance and regeneration becomes almost impossible.” — 2 people liked it

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