Notes from the Dead House by Dostoyevsky

>>9358332
I haven't read it but I will bump this thread because it deserves better than to be buried with no replies, while threads filled with childish "ironic" posts go on for days. I haven't seen this book discussed here, as far as I can recall.

>>9358332
I'm also interested.
Anyone here who read it?

I think it's well written realism but there's too many characters present. He doesn't dwell deep enough in any of them for it to be really interesting. His meditations on the topic of harsh or light punishment for criminals turned out correct though so I'll give him that much. Harder punishment does nothing to halt crime, Dostoyevsky realised in the 19th century what the US still hasn't grasped today.

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>>9358332
I tried to read it. I'm not sure on whether it's because the book is bad or because the translation was bad, but I could not get past 1/3 of it. It is extremely boring and slow, and doesn't seem to talk about any philosophy. It is most likely just a shitty autobiography the dude tried to write.
I'm a pretty big fan of Dostoevsky, but don't waste your time on that one.

>>9358332
>>9359330

It's excellent. Along with The Double and The Gambler, it deserves a great deal of the attention devoted to Notes from Underground. Like The Gambler (but even moreso), it comes from a painful place in Dostoyevsky's life which gives it a clear versimilitude and psychological perceptiveness.
Also, 'House of the Dead" seems like a much more faithful title than "Dead House" for dealing better with the characters (see also "Demons" instead of "The Possessed", for different reasons).

>>9358332
Great Book!
To be honest its my favorite by Dostoyevsky after C&P and Brothers Karamazov.

>>9359215
Thank you, Anon.
>>9359330
I did.
>>9359352
There are lots of characters yeah. I think Dostoyevsy just mention all the types of inmates he met during his 4 years in prison.
The crime/punishment topic was really interesting.
The historical significance went over my head the first time I read it which I think is what happened to >>9359353 too. Dostoyevsky was imprisoned for political crimes as a member of the revolutionary Petrashevsky Circle who were opposed to the tsarist autocracy of Nikolaus I.
The way he describes the prison system should also be seen as a political statement.
It's funny how the protagonist is introduced as having been imprisoned for murder in order to avoid censorship. If you keep reading, it is just casually mentioned that he's imprisoned for political crime and the murder is never mentioned again.
The one thing that is a real bummer about translations are the Russian colloquialisms and proverbs the inmates use. Dostoyevsky filled a notebook with these while he was imprisoned specifically to use them in his book.

Did anybody else have a hard time imagining the punishments dished out against the inmates vividly?
I'm sure back then everybody knew what 1000 blows/running the gauntlet actually means in terms of the pain and injuries suffered.
>>9359410
I haven't read the novellas you mentioned but they sound promising!
Not a native speaker so I just translated the title literally. In my language it makes sense.

>>9359410
Notes from the Underground has more meme appeal than anything else by Dosto for very obvious reasons.

>>9359519
>Not a native speaker so I just translated the title literally. In my language it makes sense
No, that's fine; my limited Russian shows me why that makes sense. It's how Pevear and Volokhonsky render the title, for example. The body of the book suggests a different understanding of мёpтвoгo, is all.