Notes from a Dead House

Description

The House of the Dead (Russian: Записки из Мёртвого дома, Zapiski iz Myortvovo doma) is a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1860–2 in the journal Vremya by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, which portrays the life of convicts in a Siberian prison camp. The novel has also been published under the titles Memoirs from the House of The Dead, Notes from the Dead House (or Notes from a Dead House), and Notes from the House of the Dead. The book is, essentially, a disguised memoir; a loosely-knit collection of facts, events and philosophical discussion organised by "theme" rather than as a continuous story. Dostoevsky himself spent four years in exile in such a prison 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.

First Sentence

Our prison stood at the edge of the fortress, right next to the ramparts.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Notes from a Dead HousePaperbackVintage2016-03-22
• Aufzeichnungen aus einem toten HauseI. Ladyschnikow Verlag1900-01-01
• The house of the deadMacmillan1923-01-01
• The house of the deadMacmillan1931-01-01
• The house of the deadMacmillan1955-01-01
• Memoirs from the House of the Dead.Oxford University Press1956-01-01