Energy, Ingenuity & Talent

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Hi Matt

The wonder of an outsider developing sympathy
and admiration for his fellow-convicts and the
marvellous fact of a spiritual awakening gives
me hope for life and makes all forms of suf-
fering seem reasonable and for a greater
good.

As a child I feared all forms of degradation and
deprivation and used to torment myself with
visions of Armageddon and my projected
inability to suffer for my beliefs and con-
victions should torture be forced on me.

Thank you for pointing me towards the kind of
narrative that lifts that kind of sorrow and reveals
hope and release for all of us, if only we are willing
to make the choice for sympathy and admiration.
Your input is very valuable and I cannot thank
you enough!


I read the summary on the site you mentioned:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Dead_(novel)

The narrator, Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov, sentenced
to deportation to Siberia and ten years of hard labour. Life in
prison is hard for Aleksandr since he is a gentleman suffering
the malice of the other prisoners, the peasantry.

Gradually Aleksandr overcomes his revulsion at his situation
and fellow convicts, undergoing a spiritual re-awakening
culminating in his release from the camp.

Dostoyevsky portrays the prison inmates with sympathy for their
plight and admiration for their energy, ingenuity and talent. He
concludes that the prison, with its absurd practices and savage
corporal punishments is a tragedy, both for the prisoners and
for Russia.
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