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Notes from Underground

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Andrew R. MacAndrew (Translator, Afterword), Ben Marcus (Goodreads Author) (Introduction)

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 · rating details · 39,995 ratings · 1,426 reviews

The compelling works presented in this volume were written at distinct periods in Dostoyevsky's life, at decisive moments in his groping for a political philosophy and a religious answer. From the primitive peasant who kills without understanding that he is destroying life to the anxious antihero of Notes from Underground—who both craves and despises affection—the writer's...more

Paperback, 233 pages

Published November 2nd 2004 by Signet Classics (first published 1861)

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Community Reviews

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Jun 15, 2009 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-summer-of-classix, littry-fiction, favorites

oh, dear. this is not a character that it is healthy to relate to, is it?? he is a scootch more pathetic than me, and more articulate, but his pettinesses are mine; his misanthropy is mine, his contradictions and weaknesses... i have to go hide now, i feel dirty and exposed...

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Mar 04, 2009 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009, good-fiction, philosophy, darkness, funny-shit, memorable-characters

More than anything, this book should make you think. And not about trivial shit either, but about big, important conditions of life and how best to view and react to them. I have "should" italicized in that first sentence for a reason: If you don't give yourself time to think -- if just skim through the book quickly -- then you won't get anything out of it.

It's narrated by a guy living underground, in poverty. You are reading his notes. The first half, his ramblings, thoughts and philosophies of...more

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May 09, 2013 MJ Nicholls rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borscht-and-kvass, novellas, pre-1900s, nonreviews

New:

“ . . . we’ve all grown unaccustomed to life, we’re all lame, each of us more or less. We’ve even grown so unaccustomed that at times we feel a sort of loathing for real “living life,” and therefore cannot bear to be reminded of it. For we’ve reached a point where we regard real “living life” almost as labor, almost as service, and we all agree in ourselves that it’s better from a book. And why do we sometimes fuss about, why these caprices, these demands of ours? We ourselves don’t know why...more

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Feb 28, 2008 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: civilization's discontents

Shelves: favorites

Dostoevsky's Underground Man promises to be the life of any party.

Over the course of this thin little book, the unnamed protagonist swirls through self-conscious agonies and flights of egotism, never afraid to contradict himself or lay bare his own self-loathing. One part book-bound Don Quixote, and one part George Costanza, this insecure little bureaucrat rages against his lot as one of the rabblement, but is completely impotent to meaningfully exercise his will. Through the intellectual labyri...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Samadrita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: russia, european-literature, non-fiction-ish, philosophical, psychological, brain-fodder, 1001-and-more, cherished, re-readable, awesomesauce, existentialism, novella-short-stories

I did two things after finishing with this book.
- 1)Strengthened my resolve to finish Crime and Punishment and read the rest of Dostoyevsky's works without any inner grumbling.
- 2)Looked up Albert Camus' background and profile on the internet.
Yes Dostoyevsky was one of Camus' influences. If you read Notes from Underground right after Camus' The Fall, it becomes all the more obvious.

Well anyway here's a word of advice.
Do not read this book on a cold, practical day. Do not read this on a day w...more I did two things after finishing with this book.
- 1)Strengthened my resolve to finish Crime and Punishment and read the rest of Dostoyevsky's works without any inner grumbling.
- 2)Looked up Albert Camus' background and profile on the internet.
Yes Dostoyevsky was one of Camus' influences. If you read Notes from Underground right after Camus' The Fall, it becomes all the more obvious.

Well anyway here's a word of advice.
Do not read this book on a cold, practical day. Do not read this on a day when your mind is too painstakingly slow to register the meaning of words. Do not read this on a day you're feeling cheerful either.

Read this on a day you want to sit in a corner of your room, have a few hours to yourself for contemplation without being interrupted every 2 minutes by a notification on whatsapp or a phone call. Better still switch off your phone, or put it off the grid before reading this book. Read this on a day when you seek intellectual nourishment.
Because most sentences in this book deserve a re-read, then another.
On a day when anything irrespective of how trifle it is, has the capability of setting you off, you might rubbish Notes from Underground as the ramblings of an unhinged mind, shallow self-justification of a social outcast.
But on a day when your mind is very receptive and free from most forms of negativity the narrator would appear to be a more or less balanced individual (somewhat conflicted maybe) voicing all our innermost thoughts - the undignified, blasphemous, befuddling thoughts that are carefully dissembled in the darkest nooks and crevices of our minds. The thoughts which are not even trendy enough to be glorified in literature.
The thoughts which we do not have time enough to entertain because we're always too busy grappling with the great predicament of 'life'. The thoughts all of us would even label 'immoral' at certain times.
We take refuge behind our 'busy schedule' excuse to never fully confront life or realize its many complexities.
We live with a terribly flawed understanding of what we really are, what we really aspire to achieve or what is it towards which we're running. We never stop to think of the alternatives believing quite blindly that they do not exist.
I would not be able to say anything more about the book for philosophical ramblings and anecdotal passages cannot be summarized. But what I can say with conviction is that Dostoyevsky's intention has been to make you think and introspect rather than recounting a tale.
So that is why read this book on a day you won't denounce or reject without giving the narrator's opinion a second thought.
And what you must certainly not do, is scoff at its length. Trust me it will take some time to actually get through its pages.(less)

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Apr 04, 2013 Jonfaith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mother-rus

Shooting from my hip, I'd guess that Notes From The Underground emerged via the tradition of epistolary novels and the recent triumph of Gogol's Diary of a Madman. There is little need here to measure the impact and influence of Dostoevsky's tract. Nearly all of noir fiction is indebted. The monologue as a novella continues to thrive, finding its zenith, perhaps, in the work of Thomas Bernhard.

Notes is a work for the young. Its transgressions can't begin to shock anymore. Its creative instabilit...more

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Jul 28, 2007 Jim Coughenour rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: russianliterature

"I am a sick man... I am a wicked man. An unattractive man. I think my liver hurts."

I first read Notes from Underground as a very serious college student; then in my 30s in my merry flaneur stage. Reading it a third time in Pevear and Volokhonsky's excellent translation has been a bit of a shock. What I first read as a profound existential tract now strikes me as a cartoon. Still, Dostoevsky's parody of an impoverished resentful intellectual ("a foul, obscene fly – more intelligent, more develo...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Emilian Kasemi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, reviews, read-and-reread

Dostoyevsky was the first to analyze the human soul. He realized the importance of an aspect of the personality that a few years later Sigmund Freud revealed it was the case of an element so darkly,yes, but knowable, that is the unconscious.
The underground as the title suggests doesn't describe a social condition (even if miserable), but instead represents the soul of the narrator. His unconscious, his weaknesses, his frustrations, his neuroses.
Dostoevsky, a master on investigating the darkest...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Venus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel

ما حتا نمی‌دانیم که این"زندگی زنده و واقعی" در کجاست و اساسا چیست و چه نام دارد.تجربه می‌کنیم: تنهایمان بگذارند،کتاب‌هایمان را بگیرند،آن وقت سرگشته خواهیم شد و به خطا خواهیم رفت. و نخواهیم دانست به
که باید پناه ببریم و به کدام سو توجه کنیم.چه چیز را دوست بداریم؛و از چه چیز نفرت داشته باشیم؛چه چیز را تجلیل کنیم؛و چه چیز را تحقیر.بر ما حتی دشوار است که بشر باشیم: بشر عادی و واقعی؛بشر دارای گوشت و پوست،با تن و خون و رگ و ریشه. ما از چنین بودنی شرمساریم؛ آن را ننگ و عار می‌شماریم. ما پیوسته سعی بر آن...more

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Jul 25, 2008 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: assigned-to-shane, russian-literature

I first read this novel in college during a period of especially intense teenage intellectual angst. I don't remember why I picked it up; it was a whim. Immediately I recognized the narrator.

Dostoevsky's unnamed narrator/protagonist is intelligent, sensitive, idealistic -- and morally paralyzed. His intellect and pride, rather than freeing him from the grubbiness of society, have trapped him inside himself. He is unwilling to share his life with less thoughtful people, but this has just made him...more

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Oct 22, 2007 Nels Mattson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book back as a Freshman and I really enjoyed it, but I don't think I understood it much at all. For example, the second part of the book is titled "Apropos of Wet Snow" and I had no idea what "apropos of" meant, much less what the importance of the wet snow was. This time through the book I looked up apropos and learned that it's an adverb, adjective and a preposition (when used with "of"). In this case it means "concerning". As for the wet snow, I'll get to that later. In Richard Pe...more I read this book back as a Freshman and I really enjoyed it, but I don't think I understood it much at all. For example, the second part of the book is titled "Apropos of Wet Snow" and I had no idea what "apropos of" meant, much less what the importance of the wet snow was. This time through the book I looked up apropos and learned that it's an adverb, adjective and a preposition (when used with "of"). In this case it means "concerning". As for the wet snow, I'll get to that later. In Richard Pevear's introduction he writes at length about how Dostoevsky wrote Notes from Underground to satirize Cherneshevsky's novel "What is to Be Done?" Cherneshevsky is a utopian rationalist materialist socialist egoist, to put it briefly. It took me quite some time reading Notes from Underground to stumble upon what I think Dostoevsky's point is. The book is confusing for several reasons. It takes place in two parts- the part taking place after the second, although the second was written after the first part. The second part is the narrator's reflections on times past and not his actual feelings at the time. Also, he contradicts himself constantly. Most confusingly, the censors at the time took out large chunks of the first part which, according to Dostoevsky himself, make it so that it doesn't make sense. Dostoevsky never corrected the omissions from the censors. It should come as no surprise, then, that I only started to understand the "point" of the book about halfway through the second part. Those like Cherneshevsky were promoting a Crystal Palace where everyone wanted to do good things for themselves and others. The narrator is forever trying to do bad things like insult an officer or partake in a duel. His inability to do these bad things stops him from doing anything and his life as a whole stagnates. He becomes utterly miserable and retreats underground. The wet snow, as I understand it, is symbolic for what is weighing him down. Wet snow is heavier than colder, drier snow. Here, the wet snow is the Underground Man's attempt and failure to do bad things, while the colder, drier snow would be his actual performance of bad deeds. Because he's incapable of doing anything "bad," he is weighed down by his inaction for a number of reasons. In a nutshell, Dostoevsky is saying that if people are not given the right to do bad things, even if they don't do them, they will be miserable.

It is altogether possible that my reading of this book is way, way off and I'd love to hear alternate (or more accurate) readings. There's a lot more to it where this came from too.(less)

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Jan 20, 2009 Nate D rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who overthink, people who think.

Recommended to Nate D by: dfw

Shelves: russia

1. Irritated by Underground Man.
2. Amused by Underground Man.
3. Sick of Underground Man.
4. Want to fly to Moscow, travel back in time, and punch Underground Man right in the face.
5. Pity for Underground Man.
6. Horrified by Underground Man.
7. Further reading of Underground Man's monologue almost physically painful. I almost wanted to cover my eyes, but this would have posed problems for reading.
8. Glad to be free of the Underground Man, but glad to have known him, in the end.

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Aug 12, 2007 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am trying to live my life as if I believed the protagonist of this book is deluded.

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Jan 29, 2008 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: writers and poets

Notes from Underground is one of the most challenging little books I've read since my stint with Faulkner a few years ago. Dostoyevsky demands your complete attention. This book is no typical fun, summer read. However, if you stick with it, some of Dostoyevsky's insights into the human condition will not only make you say "that's me!" (though you probably won't admit it), they might even make you laugh.

One of the reasons this book is so difficult is due to the narrator. He is obviously a genius...more Notes from Underground is one of the most challenging little books I've read since my stint with Faulkner a few years ago. Dostoyevsky demands your complete attention. This book is no typical fun, summer read. However, if you stick with it, some of Dostoyevsky's insights into the human condition will not only make you say "that's me!" (though you probably won't admit it), they might even make you laugh.

One of the reasons this book is so difficult is due to the narrator. He is obviously a genius, but his often contradictory ravings leave the reader confused and unable to grasp his true character. Contradiction then, becomes the narrator's essence, and right when you think you have a handle on what he's saying--his proclamation of cowardice for example--he says something very bold and outragous!

I have NOT done any research on Dostoyevsky or this book, but I must admit that I did read the afterward by the book's editor, Andrew R. MacAndrew. In the afterward, Macandrew offers some very valuable information about Dostoyevsky: First, Dostoyevsky is a Christian. This fact is not hugely important. I just thought his pathos was extremely dark and his vision of humanity very dim for a Christian. Second, the book's narrator is an "anti-hero"--one whom Dostoyevsky himself dislikes very much.

The book is separated into two sections. The first section's narrator is 40 years old and writes from the vantage point of his "mousehole." The mousehole basically means underground, isolated, lonely, and quite possibly manic-depressive. This narrator takes pleasure in humiliation and claims that he is entirely motivated by boredom. I found this sad because the narrator obviously has a great talent for rhetoric, even though his meanderings often end up in silly contradiction!

Ultimately, the narrator of the first section is reduced to nothingness, because for all his genius condemnations of the "crystal palace" (utopia), he has nothing to offer in its place save destitution and sorrow. As readers we are taken in by his bravado and let down by his eventual futility.

The second section gives hints that the narrator is the same, but this time he is 24 years old. This section is more of a narrative tale and contains far less philosophy than the first. It seems to be the prior narrator's "philosophy" in action rather than just through words. This section is actually quite a page turner, and Dostoyevsky's great skill at simple prose comes shining through. I found the anti-hero of this section absolutely dissapointing and unpredictable--perhaps the finest possible characteristics of an anti-hero!

Regardless of the narrator's flaws, this section forces us to ask what our primary motivations are in life. To be a follower or a leader, and if we choose to lead, will we do it with arrogance or humility? These are very valid questions when one considers the political upheaval in Russia between the Czars and the socialists, not to mention the simple idea of the corruptibility of power at any level.

My favorite part of the book is on the second to last page. Despite all the narrators "issues," he offers one final thought that is both intriguing and universal. It is actually an ethical question, and for me, it encapsulates the most important theme of the book. In his darkest hour of regret, when he realizes he has abandoned the opportunity to love he asks:

"What's better--cheap happiness or lofty suffering? Well, tell me--which of the two is better?"

You either "get it" or you don't. Great book. (less)

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Nov 20, 2008 Ingrid rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: a philosopher.

Recommended to Ingrid by: Western Civilization Class Req.

"I am a bored girl. I am a tired girl." If you preceive that this is mockery of the way Notes from Underground opens, you are absolutely right. If Dostoevsky was trying to attain unto "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," by Dickens, he comes immeasurable short. I realize I can't appreciate living in Russia as an artist (writer) during the 19th century. But, in my opinion Dostoevsky, comes across as arrogant and trite despite his environ. NOW I'll read the other reviews. Regardl...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews, favorites

Short, brisk, Scathing and dark as dark can be. I hope you experience some of the uplifting depression this book gave me... It does pull you out in the end but around the middle of the book, it buries you deeper than you ever thought possible.

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Aug 08, 2010 Nathanimal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: some-favorite-novels, russian

August 4th 2010 - Today I wore my pockety pair of pants, the better to smuggle this book into the bathroom stall at work and read. I don't care who knows it! I'm sure Underground Man would identify.

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Aug 31, 2011 Dante rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, imaginative-lit, prose, novel, classics

This is a novel about a man who lives in an "underground." It's a metaphorical "underground." The character is using it to describe his psychological, or existential, condition.

The book basically consists of the character's monologue. It's divided into two parts. Part one is called "Underground" and part two is called "On the occasion of wet snow."

Frankly, I didn't understand part one. I didn't understand what the character was saying. He was rambling on and on about many things, and it's hard t...more This is a novel about a man who lives in an "underground." It's a metaphorical "underground." The character is using it to describe his psychological, or existential, condition.

The book basically consists of the character's monologue. It's divided into two parts. Part one is called "Underground" and part two is called "On the occasion of wet snow."

Frankly, I didn't understand part one. I didn't understand what the character was saying. He was rambling on and on about many things, and it's hard to see what his point is. He seems to be talking about what basically is wrong with modern man. He talks a bit about man's virtues and then he talks about his defects. He also seems to be talking about free will and determinism. That's all I've picked up from him, so I'm basically lost when I "listened" to his monologue.

Part two is much more interesting. It's a pleasure to read. But he can also get annoying and irritating. He can get on your nerves sometimes. He's a very disagreeable sort of fellow. He's conflicted, offensive, critical, and thinking too much about many things at once. He has a lot of issues in his life, probably because of his very unhappy childhood. But strangely, there are a few things about him that I can relate with. For instance, I'm kind of a loner myself. It started in my high school years. And I can identify with his loneliness, with his feelings of isolation and sadness, and the sense that other people don't like you and think that you're weird. I was moved by that scene in the book where he was hungry for company, and he sought out his former classmate, Simonov, and he found him with his other old classmates, and he found himself not welcomed.

I also found it very interesting the character's change of tone somewhere in part two of the book. In part one, and in most parts of the book actually, he was very cynical and pessimistic, and hateful, and overly-critical. But his good qualities surfaced when he was talking to Liza in that brothel. I was moved by how he sought to move her heart so that she may realize that she's killing herself and throwing away her life and soul by working in that dark place. His speech was very touching. But I also found it very funny when he hurried to leave the place as Liza started to cry! Actually, there are several amusing scenes in the book. The character is quite hilarious. For example, the scene where he was quarreling with his servant!

I was beginning to love the story until I got to the part where he drove Liza away with his tirade! This guy is simply mad. Confessions of a drama king! It could have ended as a beautiful love story. It didn't. He was simply too disagreeable, offensive, mean, rude, cynical, and more. He has too many issues. I've concluded from that that he really deserves his fate. I mean, he is responsible for his condition. He brought himself to the rut he is in, this "underground" he's writing from. And honestly, I think he chooses to remain there. He could've chosen a different, happier life. He could've chosen love over self-centeredness, selfishness and egotism. But he decides to remain in his underground. I suspect that he derives some sort of pleasure from being lonely and miserable!(less)

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May 25, 2011 محمود أغيورلي rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

الانسان الصرصار - فيودور دستويفسكي -
-------------------------------------
يحدث هذا الاستمتاع بسبب افراطك في إدراك انحطاطك، وشعورك بأنك قد وصلت إلى آخر الحدود وأن ذلك
رهيب، إلا أنه لا يمكن أن يكون غير ذلك، وأنه ليس في استطاعتك أن تنجو منه، وأنه ليس في استطاعتك أيضاً
أن تكون إنساناً مختلفاً، وأنه حتى إذا كان لديك شيء من الإيمان ومتسع من الوقت لتصبح إنساناً آخر، فإنك لا
تريد ذلك، وحتى إذا رغبت في ذلك، فإنك لن تفعل شيئاً منه، لأنه ربما لا يوجد في الواقع ذلك الشكل الذي تريد
أن تكونه. إن أفظع ما في الأمر...more

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Jan 17, 2010 Knarik rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, russian, society-relationship

The first part fascinated me. Each sentance was a new and honest explanation of human feelings and behavior. Each sentance showed what a brilliant writer Dostoevsky is. The second part was a look into the brain of the madman-hero. It was dark and suffocating. Although this book is short-90 pages- it is not an easy read. This book must be read slowly, to be able to comprehend its meaning and feel its depth.
"...By the way of the most inevitable, logical combinations to reach the most revolting co...more

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Aug 10, 2008 Shane Avery rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A chilling story that managed to terrify at certain points. Dostoevsky's narrator develops a startling contempt for the world, which leads him to withdraw to the Underground. The narrator has come to believe that "to be overly conscious is a sickness, a real, thorough sickness. For man's everyday use, ordinary human consciousness would be more than enough; that is, a half, a quarter of the portion that falls to the lot of a developed man in our unfortunate nineteenth century..." As a "developed...more A chilling story that managed to terrify at certain points. Dostoevsky's narrator develops a startling contempt for the world, which leads him to withdraw to the Underground. The narrator has come to believe that "to be overly conscious is a sickness, a real, thorough sickness. For man's everyday use, ordinary human consciousness would be more than enough; that is, a half, a quarter of the portion that falls to the lot of a developed man in our unfortunate nineteenth century..." As a "developed man," the narrator sees futility in human action, human thought, and human feeling, because none of them truly exist as commonly understood by less developed, "ingenuous" men. The real problem is when "living life" is reduced to categories, and human profit becomes a matter of calculus. For:

"two times two is four is no longer life, gentlemen, but the beginning of death. At least man has always somehow feared this two times two is four, and I fear it even now. Suppose all man ever does is search for this two times two is four; he crosses oceans, he sacrifices his life in the search; but to search it out, actually to find it -- by God, he's somehow afraid. For he senses that once he finds it, there will be nothing to search for . . . . two times two is four is a most obnoxious thing. Two times two is four -- why, in my opinion, it's sheer impudence, sirs. Two times two is four has a cocky look; it stands across your path arms akimbo, and spits. I agree that two times two is four is an excellent thing; but if we're going to start praising everything, then two times two is five is sometimes also a most charming little thing."

And how does the narrator respond? With "conscious inertia." After years of intentionally humiliating himself, he withdraws and agonizes over his misery.

I suppose the question we must ask ourselves is: whose fault is it? Do we blame the narrator? Do we pity him? From what, really, does he withdraw? Intellectual movements that denied human volition and advocated utilitarian, enlightened self-interest? I suppose the point is that his education, which included nothing of the spiritual sort, produced in the narrator a nihilistic and unbearable ontological grounding. If everything can be reduced to a sort of behavioural psychology, then what's the point of ideals like justice, or love, when they are, from empirical and scientific vantage points, glorified fictions. The ingenuous man, who believes in justice, can dedicate his life in pursuit of it. But when justice is a scientific term, understood as the sum of a particular range of scientific stimuli, how can the enlightened man justify a belief therein? It sounds like the author (not the narrator) is making a case for the need for humans to believe in things which may not true.

(less)

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Aug 12, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, philosophy, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, russian, 19th-century

As most of you know, I really enjoy Russian literature and Notes from Underground is my first attempt at reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I found it a great place to start; it wasn’t very long, it was fairly easy to read and it was still as beautifully written as all the other Russian novels I’ve read. Notes from Underground is the story of a bitter isolated man (known to the world as the underground man) and his monolog about life and the problems with western philosophy. Considered by many as the f...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Madness...This is madness, I tell you!

Or worse, it's philosophy, some sound, some twisted in counterintuitive logic.

In the first part of Notes for Underground the narration reads like the journal of a rambling genius or psychopath. It's difficult to decide. This section had my mind wandering in a whirl of amazement, boredom and confusion. If the entire book went on this way, as slim as it is, I doubt I would've finished it, or if I had, you'd not see a four star rating up there.

The second part...more

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Aug 08, 2007 Seth Peterson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Possibly my favorite book ever. Bitter, depressing, cynically hopefull and hopelessly ignorant, the Underground Man is every part of myself that I wish wasn't there. The first part is a dizzying philosophical meandering; the second a train wreck of a life captured in one devastating story. A must-read.

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Sep 25, 2012 nik rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: real-horrowshow

I got really tired of writing Book Reviews. But right now, it looks like I'm going to be writing one. HA-HA-HA. Notes from the Underground. Written way back 1864 by Sir Fyodor Dostoyevsky(Don't bother with the Sir, I just decided to put it there because there are several parts of this novel that makes me think of Fight Club). According to the Mad Historians, Notes from the Underground or Letters from the Underground was considered to be the first existential novel. If you're into the Existential...more I got really tired of writing Book Reviews. But right now, it looks like I'm going to be writing one. HA-HA-HA. Notes from the Underground. Written way back 1864 by Sir Fyodor Dostoyevsky(Don't bother with the Sir, I just decided to put it there because there are several parts of this novel that makes me think of Fight Club). According to the Mad Historians, Notes from the Underground or Letters from the Underground was considered to be the first existential novel. If you're into the Existential School of Philosophy, you must have read or heard about this book. It was way back years ago(perhaps last 2008) that I have heard about his book from a crazy friend. He asked me to find a set of books in our library(That includes the Notes). But I know he meant that I should steal(or better yet, save) those books from dying of solitude. He said that no one would ever touch those books in our library. I sought for it, but have found none. I gave up my search for those books and moved on with my life. And out of nowhere, when I was roaming around Fully-Booked, it was there. It was like waiting for me there in its shelf. Very Fucking Fresh. When I took a hold of it, I smelled its pages. I know I was going to buy it. But I have very insufficient funds. Luckily, my best friend happened to be meeting up with me at that time. I told her about the book and told me that she has been also looking for that book for such a long time. So we volted in and saved it from the bookstore. HA-HA-HA

Enough. Enough. I know you've had enough of that silly narrative. So let me start nicely(at least at some sense) with this. The book was narrated by a miserable unnamed guy who has a sick liver, and not to mention, mind. Living on the deepest ground of poverty yet he happens to be an overly-cultured man. Poverty had seemed to fuel his intellect and soul.

The unnamed narrator started off, "I'm a sick man . . .. I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased." And so forth. Think of those few sentences as the starting line of the journey you'll be suffering while reading the book. The underground man talked about his Psychological Ideals such as Free Will, Suffering, Fate, Etc.

But oh well, I forgot about the mumbo jumbo technical stuff that I was supposed to be writing here. I must had been drinking too much while I was reading it.

I certainly lost the drive of writing book reviews. This may well serve as one shitty book review. Oh well. This may be a start of getting that drive back. (less)

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Jun 08, 2009 Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ htgkvkkviholmvobsvzighxofyyzmw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-me-mine, a-day-in-the-life

dapet dg harga 2000 emas... seperti nemu harta karun ;)

Sekilas ceritanya mengingatkan saya pada The Catcher In The Rye yang sama-sama menceritakan individu yang menarik diri lingkungan sosial setelah ditolak oleh sistem sosial yang dia anggap penuh dengan kemunafikan, kepura-puraan, imitasi, dan tidak memiliki empati. Tapi ada perbedaan mendasar sih.

Dalam The Catcher In The Rye diceritakan tokohnya berupa pemuda canggung yang sedang 'menemukan jati' diri namun kemudian kecewa melihat 'kenyataan...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Elaine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A wonderful read! And, a Russian novel that's only 130 pages long! The Pevear and Volokhonsky translation captures Dostoevsky's original marvelously (see the Intro for their comparisons with other translations and how they preserve the humour and punch of Dostoevky's Russian.

What is marvelous is that this is the first stream of consciousness novel, the clear predecessor of The Catcher in the Rye as well as the early 20th century novelists like Woolf and Joyce, who themselves acknowledged Dostoev...more

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Nov 30, 2008 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 50-books-2008

Before this the only Dostoevsky I had read was The Idiot, which was quite good but was also quite a bit more distanced from the reader than this. Here I can see why many consider him to be the godfather of the existentialists, as well as one of the first truly psychological authors. Apparently, Walter Kaufmann (the great translator and interpreter of Nietzsche) even described this as "the best overture for existentialism ever written." The book's narrator is an educated but poor man who is drive...more

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Apr 18, 2008 Tyler rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: The Chosen

Shelves: 19th-century, superb

What would a bottle of vodka say if it could talk?

In this, my favorite book, the volcanic surge of a man's heart takes readers on a roller-coaster ride that yanks from one rant to the next with blinding speed and intense prose over the course of a brief 165 pages.

In it, Dostoyevsky explores the ideas and problems facing people of his day, hence all humanity. The way he does it is exceptional. The book is divided, the first part spinning the common thread of the issues at hand, and the second par...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Torments and Tormenticules: A Review of Notes from Underground

“The sauce here consisted of contradiction and suffering, of tormenting inner analysis, and all of these torments and tormenticules…”

All of Dostoevsky’s books are uncomfortable. Entering the thoughts of one of his antiheroes is like donning a hair shirt. Or perhaps that assessment is too harsh, because in spite of the discomfort there is something enjoyable about reading Dostoevsky that comes from the quick and cunning sense of humor...more Torments and Tormenticules: A Review of Notes from Underground

“The sauce here consisted of contradiction and suffering, of tormenting inner analysis, and all of these torments and tormenticules…”

All of Dostoevsky’s books are uncomfortable. Entering the thoughts of one of his antiheroes is like donning a hair shirt. Or perhaps that assessment is too harsh, because in spite of the discomfort there is something enjoyable about reading Dostoevsky that comes from the quick and cunning sense of humor which flashes here and there amongst all that scratchy hair like strands of silver thread---it isn’t comforting so much as it is delightful to behold, made shinier by contrast. There is the golden thread of intelligence here as well, binding up the seams, fastening the reader more tightly into the odious garment. So perhaps the hair shirt analogy is apt after all, especially in light of Dostoevsky’s recurrent obsession with suffering, even of the most banal variety, as a process by which the soul is distilled.
In Part One of Notes from Underground, the narrator introduces himself as “a sick man” and “a wicked man.” His tone is hostile, he feels persecuted, wallows in self-pity, then will not permit himself to wallow, his mind swarms with bitter fantasies of revenge, he chokes on a sense of his superiority but finding no evidence of it within himself he contents himself with finding fault in others, he spurs himself spitefully onward, he is crippled by paroxysms of humiliation and personal failure. He launches into a diatribe against Chernyshevsky’s What is to be Done? then stabs halfheartedly at Buckle, Burke, and Rousseau (among others) before returning to rancorous allusions to Russians like N.N. Ge, and A.E. Anaevsky whose work, I confess (another of Dostoevsky’s preoccupations in this book: the need to confess) I am not familiar with. The torturous content of Part One is stitched together with arguments against utopian idealism, the assertion that free will trumps innate goodness, and a quickly sketched outline of a philosophy of contrariness. Part Two: Apropos of Wet Snow continues to make tangential and often critical references to other Russian authors while the narrator revisits three sordid memories. He remembers a soldier who inadvertently insulted him by brusquely passing him in a bar (and insulted him further by never noticing him.) Then he recalls a going away dinner some of his former classmates had for a friend of theirs, how he invited himself, and behaved obnoxiously out of a muddled sense of superiority, inferiority, and desperation for friendship. His most painful memory however centers on Liza, the heart of his garrulous narrative, a young prostitute he meets at a brothel after the going away dinner, and the contemptible way he treats her that night and again later when she shows up at his house. By sending her away his heartlessness becomes irreparable.
When the underground man introduces himself to the reader Dostoevsky appears briefly at the door, speaking through the keyhole of a footnote while the underground man continues, oblivious to the authors presence, importunately addressing the reader through the floorboards. Dostoevsky asserts that while the underground man is fictional this type of man “not only may, but even must exist in our society, taking into consideration the circumstances under which our society has generally been formed.” If I am to take him at his word then this is a critique of the social ills that produce such a miserable little man and the ideas that beleaguer his festering brain. Dostoevsky says nothing about Liza but he has used a hapless prostitute before (Sonya, in Crime and Punishment) for the dual purpose of yardstick by which the reader can measure the antiheros sin, and as the bringer of love, more suffering, and the possibility of salvation, although the underground man opts to take his suffering without love or salvation.
The social ills, the “circumstances” that Dostoevsky mentions are different than those that I would enumerate, and the clues are in the underground man’s reading material. I suspect the underground man is a precursor to Antonin Artaud, a sort of self-loathing madman whose mind has been polluted by the decadence of western culture. The underground man is such a champion of free will however, that I would hold him more personally accountable than Dostoevsky does. The underground man has all kinds of opportunities but he prefers to sulk alone, and while I empathize with him because he suffers I stop short of blaming society, as Dostoevsky would have me do. Besides, there is Liza, who is a far more plausible victim of “circumstances” and she seems solely to exist in the memory of the underground man, in his narrative, and in the book so that she can be abused. At the end of Notes from Underground the underground man momentarily comforts himself with the thought that perhaps the suffering he has caused her will purify her soul, will grant her access to salvation, but he dismisses the thought unwilling to grant himself that comfort, and I dismiss that idea as well although I don’t think Dostoevsky intends for his reader to cleave suffering and salvation in two so easily.
Dostoevsky is a great chronicler of “torments and tormenticules” as his bestiary of characters can easily attest. He writes a great internal monologue, keeps the rooms bare of all but the most necessary props and then fills up space with internal demons projected outwards. He is at his artistic best with the full-fledged “torments” in the big books, like the Brothers Karamazov or Crime and Punishment. He depicts the “tormenticules” in exquisite detail in stories like The Double, but he is too earnest he cannot carry the tragic in one hand and the comic in the other as Gogol did in Dead Souls. Dostoevsky lacks the agility needed for satire, becoming bogged down instead in suffering and psychosis. He can be funny but he fumbles with his sense of humor and drops it entirely when he starts chasing salvation. Notes from Underground has some of strengths as the longer books, forceful descriptions of a man struggling with his conscience, examination of philosophical, spiritual, and emotional abnegation of goodness, and a pathos that he somehow manages to dredge up for the most disagreeable characters. It is this pathos, finally, that I find most compelling in Dostoevsky’s work, because personal suffering is just suffering, what is meaningful is the ability to cast a kind eye on the suffering of others.

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About Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the human soul had a profound influence on the 20th century novel.

Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to S...more Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the human soul had a profound influence on the 20th century novel.

Dostoevsky was the second son of a former army doctor. He was educated at home and at a private school. Shortly after the death of his mother in 1837 he was sent to St. Petersburg, where he entered the Army Engineering College. Dostoevsky's father died in 1839, most likely of apoplexy, but it was rumored that he was murdered by his own serfs. Dostoevsky graduated as a military engineer, but resigned in 1844 to devote himself to writing. His first novel, Poor Folk appeared in 1846.

That year he joined a group of utopian socialists. He was arrested in 1849 and sentenced to death, commuted to imprisonment in Siberia. Dostoevsky spent four years in hard labor and four years as a soldier in Semipalatinsk, a city in what it is today Kazakhstan.

Dostoevsky returned to St. Petersburg in 1854 as a writer with a religious mission and published three works that derive in different ways from his Siberia experiences: The House of the Dead , (1860) a fictional account of prison life, The Insulted and Injured, which reflects the author's refutation of naive Utopianism in the face of evil, and Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, his account of a trip to Western Europe.

In 1857 Dostoevsky married Maria Isaev, a 29-year old widow. He resigned from the army two years later. Between the years 1861 and 1863 he served as editor of the monthly periodical Time, which was later suppressed because of an article on the Polish uprising.

In 1864-65 his wife and brother died and he was burdened with debts. His situation was made even worse by his gambling addiction. From the turmoil of the 1860s emerged Notes from the Underground, a psychological study of an outsider, which marked a major advancement in Dostoevsky's artistic development.

In 1867 Dostoevsky married Anna Snitkin, his 22-year old stenographer. They traveled abroad and returned in 1871. By the time of The Brothers Karamazov (1879-80), Dostoevsky was recognized in his own country as one of its great writers.(less)

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“Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms. It's by talking nonsense that one gets to the truth! I talk nonsense, therefore I'm human” — 1,501 people liked it

“Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn't calculate his happiness.” — 1,194 people liked it

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