Any Dostoyevsky readers out there? He was sentenced to death & lead to the gallows

[mod mom]

only to have that sentence ended at the last moment. He was actually taken to the gallows when the czar reprieved him. He wrote about the cruelty of that action. He had come to terms with death then next second off to prison in Siberia. "Memoirs From the House of the Dead" describes this psychological torture.

I've thought of that book all day today. My heart goes out to Troy, his family & supporters.

[mod mom]

1. His crime was belonging to a progressive minded literary group:

The Petrashevsky Circle was a Russian literary discussion group of progressive-minded commoner-intellectuals in St. Petersburg organized by Mikhail Petrashevsky, a follower of the French utopian socialist Charles Fourier. Among the members were writers, teachers, students, minor government officials, army officers. While differing in political views, most of them were opponents of the tsarist autocracy and the Russian serfdom. Among those connected to the circle were writers Dostoyevsky and Saltykov-Shchedrin, poets Pleshcheyev, Apollon Maikov, and Taras Shevchenko.<1>

Like that of the Lyubomudry group founded earlier in the century, the purpose of the circle was to discuss Western philosophy (specifically Hegel) and literature which was officially banned by the Imperial government of Nicholas I.

Nicholas I, terrified by the prospect of revolutions of 1848 spreading to Russia, saw great danger in secret organisations like this. Members of the Circle in 1849 were arrested and imprisoned. Later a large group of prisoners (such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky) had to go through a symbolic 'execution ritual' on the St. Petersburg Semionov-Plaz. Death sentences then were reprieved; some of the sentenced went to serve their time to Siberia, some to prisons (Dostoyevsky's eight-year sentence was later reduced to four years by Nicholas I).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrashevsky_Circle

[Gregorian]

2. This profoundly affects families as well.

Troy has a peace about his own life or death. But he is very concerned about his sisters.

This must stop. And I think this case, especially now with the delay, will bring this issue to the public.

We can look back and find all kinds of atrocities. I continue to say that our purpose here should be to transcend the human condition. We must expend effort to make this a better, more human, more caring world.

[fascisthunter]

3. My Favorite was "Notes from Underground"

Never read "Memoirs..."

Now I will...!

[mod mom]

4. Mine too! While in grad school I read all his works. Very dark, but the writing

is beyond words.

[fascisthunter]

5. It's been a while for me, but since I commute by train...

... I will need a good book, and you gave me one!

Also one of my favorites, "The Death Of Ivan Ilyich" - by Tolstoy

Man, how both could write... greats minds.

[mod mom]

7. Love it. I always think of it whenever I climb a ladder to do a chore.

Tolstoy was another of my favorites!

Both worked to enter the mind of the common man, and wrote of it successfully.

Crime & Punishment and The Brother Karamazov are also not to be missed, if you haven't read them. :hi:

[fascisthunter]

9. The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment were excellent

The Idiot I still need to read... I need to get back into reading. I read a lot, online mainly. I read books leisurely but not like I sued to. If I told you what I was reading now, you might laugh, or maybe not. I can tell you it is not something many would enjoy reading, but it is informative especially if one needs to know what tree one was going to prune.

[Boojatta]

6. Link to a Dostoyevsky thread in the DU Fiction forum.

Link

[bemildred]

8. Yes, I am, but this makes me think of Kafka.

Not that your allusion is a bad one.