false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166854591m/17881.jpg 17881 6 ‘It is best to do nothing! The best thing is conscious inertia! So long live the underground!’ Alienated from society and paralyzed by a sense of his own insignificance, the anonymous narrator of Dostoyevsky’s groundbreaking Notes from Underground tells the story of his tortured life. With bitter sarcasm, he describes his refusal to become a worker in the ‘ant-hill’ of society and his gradual withdrawal to an existence ‘underground’. The seemingly ordinary world of St Petersburg takes on a nightmarish quality in The Double when a government clerk encounters a man who exactly resembles him – his double perhaps, or possibly the darker side of his own personality. Like Notes from Underground, this is a masterly study of human consciousness. Jessie Coulson’s introduction discusses the stories’ critical reception and the themes they share with Dostoyevksy’s great novels. *Synopsis from Penguin Classics' 2003 edition 2551651 book 1864 Notes from Underground & The Double total:1282|5:518|4:497|3:221|2:40|1:6| 1282 5327 1741 65 2 2 false false Mon Apr 28 09:44:53 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 28 09:46:04 -0700 2008 4 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Apr 27 22:24:52 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 23 20:50:15 -0700 2009
Notes from Underground is about a man so bound by 19th c. societal standards that he will not allow himself to be with the woman he loves because she is a prostitute. The female character, Liza, i...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Nov 05 10:01:53 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 06 08:12:38 -0800 2007

Regard this extract:

Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone, but only to his friends. He has other matters in his mind which he wou...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jan 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 07:56:52 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 20:43:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 23:13:42 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 00:11:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 1989 Thu Sep 10 11:33:23 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 11:35:12 -0700 2009 What is to be done when one reaches the certainty that nothing is certain? Told in two parts – first in an excerpt from the narrator’s journal, then as a brief allegorical story – the ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Oct 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 14:21:25 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 15:50:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jul 22 13:37:32 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 22 13:38:08 -0700 2008 5 1 false false Tue Oct 07 19:43:39 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 19:43:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Aug 26 15:42:44 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 16:19:14 -0700 2008 Notes From Underground (Bantam 1974, translated by Mirra Ginsburg).

Dostoyevsky's portrayal of the solitary man is striking and powerful. The reader feels pained for this man, frustrated by him, sorry for his pitiful existence, and can hardly stand his ve...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 14 15:52:35 -0700 2008 Mon May 19 21:47:50 -0700 2008
The frightened and wounded expression on her face was followed first by a look of sorrowful perplexity. When I began calling myself a scoundrel and a blackguard and my tears flowed (the tira...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 23 14:37:13 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 12 16:47:45 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 21 00:00:00 -0700 1975 Fri Mar 27 23:08:16 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 23:12:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1962 Wed Aug 19 12:58:42 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 13:01:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Aug 03 05:05:05 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 05:06:21 -0700 2009 Notes, and I can tell already that the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation is a lot more powerful.
Still, I'll read it properly later.]]> 4 0 false false Thu Dec 11 19:50:20 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 19:21:58 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 28 08:45:28 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 08:49:40 -0800 2008 1 3 0 false false Tue Sep 22 15:15:01 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 15:15:46 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Dec 14 18:54:26 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 18:55:42 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Mar 24 07:04:54 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 07:04:54 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=17881