Notes from a Dead House by Fyodor Dostoevsky (English) Hardcover Book

Description: Notes from a Dead House by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky "A translation from the Russian of Fyodor Dostoevskys novel based on his experience in a prison in Siberia"-- FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A beautiful hardcover edition of the first great prison memoir, Fyodor Dostoevskys fictionalized account of his life-changing penal servitude in Siberia. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, with an introduction by Richard Pevear. Sentenced to death for advocating socialism in 1849, Dostoevsky served a commuted sentence of four years of hard labor. The account he wrote afterward, Notes from a Dead House (sometimes translated as The House of the Dead), is filled with vivid details of brutal punishments, shocking conditions, and the psychological effects of the loss of freedom and hope, but also of the feuds and betrayals, the moments of comedy, and the acts of kindness he observed. As a nobleman and a political prisoner, Dostoevsky was despised by most of his fellow convicts, and his first-person narrator—a nobleman who has killed his wife—experiences a similar struggle to adapt. He also undergoes a transformation over the course of his ordeal, as he discovers that even among the most debased criminals there are strong and beautiful souls. Notes from a Dead House reveals the prison as a tragedy both for the inmates and for Russia. It endures as a monumental meditation on freedom. Everymans Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket. Author Biography Together, RICHARD PEVEAR and LARISSA VOLOKHONSKY have translated works by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov, and Pasternak. They were twice awarded the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize (for their versions of Dostoevskys The Brothers Karamazov and Tolstoys Anna Karenina), and their translation of Dostoevskys Demons was one of three nominees for the same prize. They are married and live in France. Review "Excellent. . . . Dostoevskys constant preoccupation is the meaning of human freedom and the prisoners preservation of their dignity." —Harpers Magazine "A priceless addition to the literature of the penal experience. . . . A master of psychological portraiture. . . . A testament to the power of the human will, the way it can marshal patience and imagination and hope against the most nightmarish assaults on human dignity." —The New Criterion"One of the most harrowingly universal books Dostoevsky ever wrote. . . . Its cause for no small celebration that the extraordinary series of translations by Pevear and Volokhonsky has now seized on Notes from The House of the Dead." —The Buffalo News"The appearance of any new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is always an event in a literary season. . . . [A] powerful new translation." —Open Letters Monthly"One of literatures definitive prison memoirs. . . . A classic made current and a welcome addition to the library of Russian literature in translation." —Kirkus Reviews "Dostoevsky unflinchingly describes the dehumanization of prison, such as the way fetters were not even lifted from the dying, but also conveys how the flame of humanity survives even under such conditions, allowing cleverness and compassion to endure. This new translation is eminently readable." —Publishers Weekly Review Quote "Excellent. . . . Dostoevskys constant preoccupation is the meaning of human freedom and the prisoners preservation of their dignity." -- Harpers Magazine "A priceless addition to the literature of the penal experience. . . . A master of psychological portraiture. . . . A testament to the power of the human will, the way it can marshal patience and imagination and hope against the most nightmarish assaults on human dignity." -- The New Criterion "One of the most harrowingly universal books Dostoevsky ever wrote. . . . Its cause for no small celebration that the extraordinary series of translations by Pevear and Volokhonsky has now seized on Notes from The House of the Dead." -- The Buffalo News "The appearance of any new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is always an event in a literary season. . . . [A] powerful new translation." -- Open Letters Monthly "One of literatures definitive prison memoirs. . . . A classic made current and a welcome addition to the library of Russian literature in translation." -- Kirkus Reviews "Dostoevsky unflinchingly describes the dehumanization of prison, such as the way fetters were not even lifted from the dying, but also conveys how the flame of humanity survives even under such conditions, allowing cleverness and compassion to endure. This new translation is eminently readable." -- Publishers Weekly Excerpt from Book i The Dead House Our prison stood at the edge of the fortress, right by the fortress rampart. You could look at Gods world through the chinks in the fence: wouldnt you see at least something? But all you could see was a strip of sky and a high earthen rampart overgrown with weeds, and on the wall sentries pacing up and down day and night, and right then you would think that years would go by, and you would come in the same way to look through the chinks in the fence and see the same rampart, the same sentries, and the same little strip of sky, not the sky over the prison, but a different, far-off, free sky. Picture to yourself a large yard, some two hundred paces long and a hundred and fifty wide, surrounded on all sides, in the form of an irregular hexagon, by a high stockade, that is, a fence of high posts (palings) dug deeply into the ground, their ribs pressed firmly against each other, fastened together by crosswise planks, and sharpened at the tips: this was the outer wall of the prison. On one side of the wall sturdy gates had been set in, always locked, always guarded day and night by sentries; they were opened on demand to let people out to work. Beyond those gates was the bright, free world; people lived like everybody else. But on this side of the wall, you pictured that world as some sort of impossible fairy tale. Here you were in a special world, unlike anything else; it had its own special laws, its own clothing, its own morals and customs, an alive dead house, a life like nowhere else, and special people. It is this special corner that I am setting out to describe. Once inside the wall, you see several buildings. On both sides of the wide inner yard stretch two long, one-story log houses. These are the barracks. Here the prisoners live, sorted by categories. Then, deeper into the enclosure, there is another similar house: this is the kitchen, divided into two sections; further on there is another building where there are cellars, barns, and sheds, all under the same roof. The middle of the yard is empty and forms a rather large, level space. Here the prisoners line up for head count and roll call morning, noon, and evening, and occasionally several more times a day--depending on the suspiciousness of the sentries and their ability to count quickly. Round about, between the buildings and the fence, there is still quite a lot of space. There, behind the buildings, some inmates of a more unsociable and gloomy character like to walk in their off-hours, shielded from all eyes, and think their own thoughts. Meeting them during these strolls, I liked to peer into their sullen, branded faces, trying to guess what they were thinking about. There was one prisoner whose favorite occupation during his free time was counting the posts. There were about fifteen hundred of them, and he had them all counted up and marked off; each post signified a day for him; each day he counted off one post and in that way, by the number of posts left uncounted, he could actually see how many days of prison he had left before his term was served. He was sincerely glad when he finished some one side of the hexagon. He still had many years to wait; but in prison there was time enough to learn patience. I once saw a prisoner taking leave of his comrades before being released after twenty years in prison. There were people who remembered him entering the prison for the first time, young, carefree, mindful neither of his crime nor of his punishment. He was leaving a gray-haired old man with a sad and gloomy face. He went silently around our six barracks. On entering each barrack, he recited a prayer before the icons, then made a low bow to his comrades, asking them not to remember evil against him.1 I also remember how one prisoner, formerly a well-to-do Siberian peasant, was called to the gates once towards evening. Six months earlier he had received news that his former wife had remarried, and he had been deeply saddened. Now she herself came to the prison, sent for him, and gave him alms. They talked for about two minutes, wept a little, and said good-bye forever. I saw his face when he came back to the barrack ... Yes, you could learn patience in that place. When darkness fell, we were all brought to the barracks, where we were locked in for the night. I always found it hard to go back to our barrack from outside. It was a long, low, and stuffy room, dimly lit by tallow candles, with a heavy, stifling smell. I dont understand now how I survived for ten years in it. Three planks on the bunk: that was all my space. Some thirty men shared the same bunk in our room alone. In winter they locked up early; it was a good four hours before everybody fell asleep. Meanwhile--noise, din, guffawing, swearing, the clank of chains, fumes and soot, shaven heads, branded faces, ragged clothes, everything abused, besmeared ... yes, man survives it all! Man is a creature who gets used to everything, and that, I think, is the best definition of him. Altogether there were about two hundred and fifty of us in the prison--a nearly constant figure. Some came, others finished their terms and left, still others died. And they were all kinds! I think each province, each region of Russia had its representatives here. There were non-Russians, there were even exiles from the Caucasian mountaineers. All this was sorted out according to the severity of the crime and, consequently, to the number of years they were condemned to serve. It must be supposed that there was no crime that did not have its representative here. The main core of all the prison populace consisted of deported convicts of the civilian category ( departed convicts, as they na Details ISBN0307959619 Language English Year 2021 ISBN-10 0307959619 ISBN-13 9780307959614 Format Hardcover Publication Date 2021-02-02 Author Larissa Volokhonsky Pages 376 Country of Publication United States Translated from Russian AU Release Date 2021-02-02 NZ Release Date 2021-02-02 US Release Date 2021-02-02 UK Release Date 2021-02-02 Publisher Random House USA Inc Series Everymans Library Classics Series Imprint Everymans Library USA Place of Publication New York Translator Larissa Volokhonsky DEWEY 891.733 Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:141688939;

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