In this episode of One Sealed Letter, we travel back to December 22, 1849, when the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky stood blindfolded before a firing squad. Moments before the command to fire, a messenger arrived with a pardon from Tsar Nicholas I. What followed was one of the most extraordinary letters ever written: a missive to his brother Mikhail, written just hours after Dostoevsky believed he was about to die.

We’ll explore the backstory of his arrest and mock execution, then read the full text of the letter that begins, “Life is a gift, life is happiness, each minute might have been an age of happiness.” Through Dostoevsky’s words, we’ll reflect on how close encounters with death can reawaken our appreciation for beauty, simplicity, and time itself.

Read the letter in full and other letters of Dostoevsky here: https://ia800506.us.archive.org/15/items/dostoevskyletter00dostuoft/dostoevskyletter00dostuoft.pdf

Sources:

• Fyodor Dostoevsky, Letter to Mikhail Dostoevsky, December 22, 1849 (Old Style), translated in Lapham’s Quarterly (“Reborn Into a New Form”)

• Walker Caplan, “On the Terrifying Hoax Execution That Haunted Dostoevsky’s Writing,” Literary Hub (2022)

• Alex Christofi, “Reborn Into a New Form (1849),” The Public Domain Review

• Spencer Baum, “Dostoevsky and the Firing Squad,” Medium