The House of the Dead

Description

The House of the Dead is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in 1862. It is a semi-autobiographical philosophical novel that is partly based on Dostoevsky's own experiences in a labour camp in the mid-1800s. He spent four years at the camp and a further six years in exile. The novel is narrated by Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov, who has been sentenced to ten years of hard labour in Siberia for murdering his wife. Set apart from the other prisoners because of his higher social status (as Dostoevsky was), he finds life in the prison particularly difficult. During his time there he undergoes a spriritual awakening and develops sympathy for the prisoners - admiring their courage and talents. With many of the characters in the book based on people the author met whilst in prison himself, the novel's plot is largely composed of the narrator's transformation and newfound understanding of humanity.

It is the only book of Dostoevsky's that both Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Turgenev had high praise for.

This book has 123,184 words, 195 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1862. This translated edition was first published by J. M. Dent in 1911.

Production notes: This ebook of The House of the Dead was published by Global Grey on the 18th October 2022. The artwork used for the cover is 'Tasso in the Prison' by Louis Gallait.