Reviews

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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day6official's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

nagirak's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

A night of ramblings from a man living in self-imposed solitude speaking solely in crazed paradoxes.

I honestly did not enjoy this book but it is without a doubt a good book. I think everyone can see themselves, even a little bit, in the underground man. The though yo-yo that occurs when in a precarious situation was exemplified scarily accurately with the narrator jumping from thinking he is in power and above all to being ashamed and inferior all within one thought.

The book is a constant back and forth of this man thinking through possible scenarios and makes you wonder how much of this is an accurate recollection or an inflated memory of a relatively normal situation.

This is a perfect 2/5 for me because while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, I also wouldn’t NOT recommend it if someone said they were interested in reading it. As I said above, it’s definitely a good book but not one that I personally enjoyed.

rdeca's review against another edition

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5.0

A masterpiece. It is hard to believe how someone can be so in touch with human emotion to write something like this. Everyone says "don't read this if you're depressed" but I believe it was written specifically for those times, in fact the conclusion of the book is incredibly positive.

Everyone spends some time "underground" in their lives, and Dostoevsky has portrayed how that feels immaculately.

itsdeea's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

4.0

estifanos's review against another edition

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4.0

This is probably one of the most thought-provoking books I have read this year, if not ever.

yuzuuka's review against another edition

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5.0

“I am a sick man... I am a wicked man.” The very first line in this book- in ways I cannot describe sets the perfect tone and canopy for this deliriously brilliant novel. This was my first time reading Dostoevsky, and I’ll admit, I was a bit apprehensive. But just two sentences in, and he had me by the collar.

The narration is nothing short of a masterpiece—part one is written in the ramblings of an Underground Man, with run-on sentences, contradictions piled on contradictions, moments of deep philosophical musings, and even some comedy. I really fell in love with the narrative style.

What stood out most to me was the dynamic between the narrator and the reader. The novel pulls you into a back-and-forth, prompting you to reread, decode, and reflect on the narrator just as he does on you. Themes of loneliness, classism, and existential angst are explored with striking intensity, making you reflect deeply on the nature of human existence.

The second part of the story, however, is where the lines blur as to who the Underground Man really is. As you learn more about him, you start to see how similar he is to you. While vile and often off-putting, his thoughts are nothing new—we’ve all had them before! The Underground Man is “us.” As he says, “I am not justifying myself with this allness. As far as I’m concerned, I have merely carried to an extreme in my life what you have not dared to carry even halfway, and what’s more, you’ve taken your cowardice for good sense, and found comfort in this, deceiving yourselves.” Such an ending leaves you with nothing to do but stare, befuddled, into your ceiling.

aidonz's review against another edition

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3.0

This felt like two completely different books combined into one. First half is a philosophical rant, somewhat incoherent at times but I found many of the arguments that were strung together to be enjoyable. The narrator sort of justifies his rediculous way of life by arguing how irrational humans are. While both parts share a narrator, you don't get to see how wretched he is until part two.

Have you ever been falling asleep only to shoot awake when you think of something you "should have said" in an argument you were in earlier that day? This narrator is so conceited and narcissistic that he lives in his own world of "I ought to" and "if only I". The narrative begins with the main character hatching a master plan to bump shoulders with a man on the street out of spite. Like, it literally goes into insane detail on how much he plans and yearns for physically bumping into someone as an insult. This narrator is a horrible man and that is made clear at the very beginning. While the unabashed rediculous nature of the story is comical at times, it's equally tedious. However, it really wasn't like anything I've read before and I am excited to read more Dostoyevsky.