Notes from the Underground (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

This is a fast read but slow down. It’s like chewing a great steak. I hope this is helpful

This is a philosophical masterpiece! But, don't expect action, excitement, adventure, or humor. What we have been given is angst, confusion, loneliness, and boredom. This is Dostoyevsky's idea of modern man's modern-day dilemma. A character is portrayed whose sense of detachment is all pervasive and simultaneously, exhausting for the reader. Who are this man's 'notes" written for? They appear to be written for someone 'out there', but, who? Are they in fact written by our man to himself? Is this a pretend dialogue or a lonely monologue? Is it both? His truth seems minimally coherent, while his correspondence with reality, profoundly elusive. The author is asking us to ask ourselves, "Is it better to do nothing? Is conscious inertia beneficial?" Does our man really envy "normal" men? First he says, "Though I have said that I envy normal men, yet, I shall not care to be in his place, though I shall not stop envying him". "It is absolutely no matter whether I am going away or not going away". What is our man's plight really about? Does he know, do we know? Does Dostoyevsky know? Why the creation of such a "characterless" man? Throughout this novel we have the suggestion of rationality. But do we have a real context? Apart from himself, can we say that anything else exists? Meaning has been drained of vitality. Our man appears to be alienated as well as fragmented, self absorbed, and detestable. Things in themselves appear insubstantial, mere fragments of subjectivity. There are echos of other, more recent, books which appear to mirror the characteristics of this modern man's psychosocial dilemma. I'm referring to "The Minimal Self", "The Culture of Narcissism", and "The Master and His Emissary". I'm also reminded of Kekes' concept, "the dissolution of the evaluative dimension of personality" (Kekes, "The Human Condition") and Kernberg's concept of "identity diffusion" (Kernberg, "Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism").

I love how it looks !

This is the kind of book where the first page you’re gonna say OK I think this guy is crazy and I’m not gonna be reading the words of a madman lol. But once you make it to page 5 or 6 u see his genius really come out.

On a first glance, Notes From the Underground seems to be a short/small book, but even after reading a few pages, I was already blown away by its greatness!Incredibly modern for its time: I could see how inspiring this book might have been to Kafka and to many important existentialist thinkers of the 20th century, such as Sartre and Camus.I especially loved the first part: Dostoyevsky knows how to penetrate deep into the human soul (even though I don't believe in souls) and, in words, describes the human condition. He opens the eyes of his readers to a world where its darkness can blind one's sight forever, and still...You keep reading, even if you can't keep reading. This is not an easy read and yet, you can't escape from temptation.There are books that change you, maybe because of a particular character, or even just a single sentence. The books you'd never forget; books that make up your nostalgia; they are a piece of your youth; something unforgettable. And then...there are books that not only touch their readers, but they become part of history; an important milestone; they change every writer who comes after them and change the whole path of literature. The irony is that most of their writers had no clue about the importance of their work!Notes From Underground, for sure, is one of these books. Dostoyevsky, for sure, is one of those writers.I would definitely recommend this book to any literature-obsessed-mind!

The novel shows a kind of character that is so common in the world around us these days.It is highly recommended!

Dostoevsky treats on madness, mental illness, and the pains of social isolation in this brief, semi-philosophical narrative about a disillusioned, lonely young man with serious bipolar issues. Combining frenzied mania with grand, sweeping emotional revelations, Dostoevsky chronicles the mental turmoil of a character that, in this case, particularly resembles Dimitri from The Brothers Karamozov. Not his most grand work but brief and powerful. Plot picks up about halfway, and concerns the narrator's maladjusted behavior in various social settings. The style of language, the high-minded narcissism, the bitterness towards society, and the vicious pride in the his own intelligence portray a character whose psychological profile could be said to bear an eerie resemblance to those of the Columbine Killers and other mass shooters. Good read for a psychological trip to the underground.

What a mind trip into paranoia, delusion and self conscious deprecation. It's a quick read, and for that I was grateful. The underground is the writer's hell hole of contradictory thoughts seesawing between his delusions about reality and the fantasies of his imagination. Honestly, to sort through the writer's phantasms would require multiple readings. I don't care to that degree but nevertheless recommend you give this a read. I cannot help but feel that Dostoevsky enjoyed abundant spirits when he penned this lunatic's journal.

A magnificent short intro into the world of Dostoevsky. This book contains many of the philosophical underpinnings of his later more challenging works.

Dostoyevsky rarely fails to disappoint in my opinion and Notes from the Underground gives him the stage to discuss his time in a Russian penitentiary in the 19th century. The picture he paints is ostensibly bleak, but the shimmers of hope and faith that shine through round out this story.

The title of this book is ‘Note from Underground’.

This may be from a great writer, but I found this book difficult to read, the translation in my opinion is not very good , it was a difficult read

Masterpiece. A dramatic account of how one's life can take an unfortunate turn due to circumstance. A raw look on human frailties. Honest. Breathtaking.