Memoirs from the House of the Dead

Author: Dostoevsky

Translated by: Sami Al-Durubi

This book is the fruit of a personal experience lived by Dostoevsky, as he talks about what he himself suffered in prison, although he attributes the memoirs to a man he named Alexander Goryanchikov. He describes the feelings of losing freedom, and living with murderers and thieves who harbor intense animosity towards him because he belongs to the class of masters who oppress the common people. But Dostoevsky does not wallow in pessimistic feelings; rather, over time, he begins to distinguish between the wicked and the good, and he finds among the prisoners those whose crimes can be understood, and even excused from a moral point of view.

He presents us with a powerful depiction of prison life, with its misery, its elevated human relationships, the exchange of benefits, trade... and things that are difficult to imagine. Dostoevsky criticizes the prison system, saying, "We must confess the truth: these men possess magnificent treasures.... And perhaps among our people they are the most talented and the richest in potential, but their excellent faculties have perished irrevocably. Who is to blame?"

As is his custom, Dostoevsky, in "Memoirs from the House of the Dead," delves into the deep recesses of the human soul, probing its depths for a nature that neither reason controls nor comprehends. He studies the psychology of the prisoner in his cruelty and in his readiness to give all he possesses for a gesture of kindness and human affection. He also studies the psychology of the executioner, who, even if he were the best of men, his heart hardens under the influence of habit, until he becomes a ferocious animal.

What was said about the novel "Memoirs from the House of the Dead"

I was feeling very distressed these days, so I picked up the book "Memoirs from the House of the Dead" and reread it. I had forgotten much of it, and when I reread it, I realized that there is not a single book in all of modern literature that surpasses it, not even Pushkin's books. It is not the tone that is wonderful in it, but the perspective it contains; it is sincere, natural, Christian; it is a book that teaches religion. So if you see Dostoevsky, tell him that I love him. - Tolstoy