The House of the Dead

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Alexander Petrovitch Goriantchikoff is a mid-19th century nobleman who was convicted of killing his wife through jealousy. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail in Siberia. This novel is his observations of life in that prison.

The Siberian prison is the "House of the Dead." This first person narrative novel dicusses the conditions in the prison, the personalities of the different prisoners, how class distinction exists even in confinement, and how he adjusts to his new lifestyle. This book is an observation of life.

This is not a novel about the prison conditions yet they are constantly in the background. This is more a novel about the people and personalities within the prison. This discusses the prisoners' treatment of each other as well as the treatment received by the prison officials. It is a matter-of-fact narrative, only slightly colored by the narrator's emotions.

This book, written over 100 years ago (1860 or so), shows a different aspect of 19th century Russia. Dostoyevsky spent time in prison so was able to write this authoritatively. Yet he does not blast the system, just report what happened. It is a book about people, not conditions, and how they coped under those conditions. Since I am used to more modern writing, I found this slow going for the first part. Part II picked up and held my interest. This is not a one time only read. This is one to pick up again after some time. I know there is much in it that I missed.

Why did I pick up this particular dark book? It is not one I would have gravitated to on my own. Instead, it was chosen as a monthly book to read in my reading group. There's something to be said about book lovers getting together and recommending new things to read.