The book of essays “Notes from the House of the Dead” by F. M. Dostoevsky was written shortly after his return from hard labor. It’s a unique document, containing accounts of the fates of real prisoners whom the writer encountered during his time at hard labor, numerous distinctive expressions and sayings he heard from inmates and soldiers. But it is also a deep philosophical work by an outstanding thinker, whose central idea is Freedom as a necessary condition of human existence. “Despite any measures, you cannot make a living man into a corpse,” the author of “Notes from the House of the Dead” insists.