โ Scribed by Fyodor Dostoevsky
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
ebook, 480 pages
Published 1861
Barnes & Noble Classics (2009)
Introduction by: Joseph Frank
Translated by: Constance Garnett
Includes 2 Novellas:
- The House of the Dead (247 pages. 1861)
- Poor Folk (167 pages, 1846)
Arrested in 1849 for belonging to a secret group of radical utopians, Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to four years in a Siberian labor camp--a terrible mental, spiritual, and physical ordeal that inspired him to write the novel "The House of the Dead."
Told from the point of view of a fictitious narrator--a convict serving a ten-year sentence for murdering his wife--"The House of the Dead" describes in vivid detail the horrors that Dostoevsky himself witnessed while in prison: the brutality of guards who relish cruelty for its own sake; the evil of criminals who enjoy murdering children; and the existence of decent souls amid filth and degradation. More than just a work of documentary realism, "The House of the Dead" also describes the spiritual death and gradual resurrection from despair experienced by the novel's central character--a reawakening that culminates in his final reconciliation with himself and humanity.
Also included in this volume is Dostoevsky's first published work, "Poor Folk," a novel written in the form of letters that brought Dostoevsky immediate critical and public recognition.
Joseph Frank is Professor Emeritus at Princeton University and Stanford University. He is the author of an acclaimed five-volume study of Dostoevsky's life and work.
As with a number of the author's other works, the novel "The House of the Dead" brilliantly explores his characters' thoughts while probing the depths of the human soul. Describing in relentless detail the physical and mental suffering of the convicts, Dostoyevsky's character never loses faith in human qualities and the goodness of man.
A haunting and remarkable work filled with wonder and resignation, The House of the Dead ranks among the Russian novelist's greatest masterpieces. Of this powerful autobiographical novel, Tolstoy wrote, "I know no better book in all modern literature."
Poor Folk is an epistolary novel -- that is, a tale told as a series of letters between the characters. And oh, what characters these are! Makar Dievushkin Alexievitch is a copy writer, barely squeaking by; Barbara Dobroselova Alexievna works as a seamstress, and both face the sort of everyday humiliation society puts upon the poor. These are people respected by no one, not even by themselves. These are folks too poor, in their circumstances, to marry; the love between them is a chaste and proper thing, a love that brings some readers to tears. But it isn't maudlin, either; Fyodor Dostoevsky has something profound to say about these people and this circumstance. And he says it very well.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
_The House of the Dead and Poor Folk_ , by **Fyodor Dostoevsky** , is part of the _Barnes & Noble Classics_ _series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are
Poor folk -- The landlady -- Mr. Prokharchin -- Polzunkov.
Anthology containing: Poor Folk The Double Notes From The Underground Crime and Punishment The Gambler The Idiot The Possessed (The Devils) A Raw Youth The Dream of a Ridiculous Man The Brothers Karamazov
In January 1850 Dostoyevsky was sent to a remote Siberian prison camp for his part in a political conspiracy. The four years he spent there, startlingly re-created in The House of the Dead, were the most agonizing of his life. In this fictionalized account he recounts his soul-destroying incarcerati
Attempting to rebuild her life after a violent relationship, Maggie Turner, a successful young artist, moves from London to Allihies and buys an ancient abandoned cottage. Keen to concentrate on her art, she is captivated by the wild beauty of her surroundings. After renovations, she hosts a house-