Notes from Underground

by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator)

In 1864, just prior to the years in which he wrote his greatest novels — Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed and The Brothers Karamazov — Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) penned the darkly fascinating Notes from the Underground. Its nameless hero is a profoundly alienated individual in whose brooding self-analysis there is a search for the true and the good in a world of relative values and few absolutes. Moreover, the novel introduces themes — moral, religious, political and social — that dominated Dostoyevsky's later works. Notes from the Underground, then, aside from its own compelling qualities, offers readers an ideal introduction to the creative imagination, profundity and uncanny psychological penetration of one of the most influential novelists of the nineteenth century. Constance Garnett's authoritative translation is reprinted here, with a new introduction.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Philosophy, Russia, Russian Literature, Literature, Novels

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1864

About the author

Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский (Russian)

Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.

Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .

Many literary critics rate him among the greatest authors of world literature and consider multiple books written by him to be highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He is also well regarded as a philosopher and theologian.

See also:
Russian → Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский
French → Fédor Dostoïevski
French → Fiodor Dostoïevski
Spanish → Fiódor Dostoyevski
Portuguese → Fiódor Dostoiévski

Reviews

[Eva]

"Človek je namreč zabit, fenomenalno zabit."

[Nataša]

Globoko filozofsko in psihološko delo, v katerem Dostojevski skozi notranji monolog anonimnega pripovedovalca razgalja krizo modernega človeka. Glavni junak, tako imenovani "podzemni človek," živi umaknjen od družbe, zagrenjen, samokritičen in hkrati poln prezira do sveta okoli sebe. Njegovi zapisi so neusmiljena analiza človeške zavesti, svobodne volje in hinavščine družbenih idealov.
Bere se kot opozorilo bodoči družbi, ki se postopoma spreminja v množico konformističnih, brezobličnih posameznikov, ki slepo sledijo racionalnim pravilom in navideznemu napredku.
Zapisi iz podzemlja so tako kritika racionalizma, utopičnih družbenih teorij in lažne morale, hkrati pa strašljivo natančen portret človeka, ki je ujet v lastne misli. Dostojevski pokaže, da samospoznanje brez sočutja in smisla vodi v samouničenje. Knjiga ostaja aktualna še danes, saj nas sili k vprašanju, ali sodobna družba res vodi v napredek – ali pa zgolj v bolj prefinjeno obliko duhovnega podzemlja.

[Matjaž Lesjak]

Kot vlak, ki vse hitreje, nezadržno drvi v zid. Odlično.

[Tjaša Štern]

Se nikol nisem brala kaj takega, sploh 1. Del Podtalje je bil tok zanimiv. V nekaterih pogledih se strinjam s filozofijo človeka iz podtalja, ampak hkrati se mi zdi, da je njegovo celotna izpoved in predavanje popolnoma brez pomena, ker ne more imeti globokih človeškoh odnosev z osebami in je popolnoma izoliran ter na nek način hoče biti izoliran od sveta, hkrati pa o sebi vedno govori, kot da je na zelo višjem nivoju od ostalih. Ves čas jim hoče, dokazati kako pameten je, hkrati pa govori, da si sploh ne zaslužijo pogovarjati z njim, ker so taki izmečki. Ironično, ampak v tem sem jaz nekako videla pomen cele knjige? Ful me je navdušil del o hotenju. Bom verjetno kdaj še enkrat prebrala, vsaj Podtalje.

[Viva]

model se ne znajde najbolje v družbi, ima pa še slabo vest zaradi določenega dogodka v svojem življenju. odkrije ga seveda na koncu knjige, pred tem pa same blodnje in veliko filozofiranja.