Reviews

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

zgluckow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

3uthalia_e9's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

This book explores the inner workings of human psyche, how anxiety, fear and depression get hold of us. The first part introduces us to the inner conscious conflicts the underground man suffers. The constant paradoxical nature of his despairs claiming on one side to be superior than other humans in terms of heightened consciousness and intelligence and on the other hand draining oneself with self pity and hatred for thinking oneself above all. His desperations and wanting to be humiliated, at the same time wanting respect arise a sense of hostility that he suffers from the world. He suffers from prolonged loneliness and longs for connection and at the same time wants 'peace' by shoving away every human in his life. This constant conflict of complex nature comes from deepened self awareness and inward analysis, and in underground man's case, he himself is the reason that he suffers so much. The second part of the book explores the real realm, outside of his consciousness where he is encountered with much shame and humiliation. He indulges so much into his mind, that is agonized by the reality. The second part is his life which contradicts his mature, sophisticated and philosophical mind. This book was confusing and a bit boring to read at first, but after few pages we get a grasp of what is going on.

 Analyzing the book now, I feel I resonate with this character, he does describes my thoughts well. I think this book describes every human being capable of conscious thought. There are parts of you hidden in this book, some are nasty, disgusting, loathing even, the parts of you that hide away from the world, the anxiety, self pity, fear, constant existential dread, depression, and despair of not having any worth to the world. And the underground man said "  To be overly conscious is a sickness."  and  " How can a man of consciousness have the slightest respect for himself. "

sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

5.0

"I swear to you gentleman, that to be overly conscious is a disease , a real, thorough sickness.

Ninteenth century world probably didn't much know about relaxation techniques like meditation or yoga. Like all other FD's major characters, the narrator here could have found the use of such technique. His problem is that he is too conscious, thinks too much of what goes around him (the opposite of absent-mindedness). What do you and I think when one finds an apple lying around:

"oh! here is an apple. It looks good. I may eat it if I get hungry."

Now, what will the narrator of these notes will think:

"Oh! here is an apple. It is red in color. It was probably grown somewhere in some farm. It looks good. I may eat it ... but what if it is bad? what if it is poisioned? what if somebody is trying to kill me? But may be I'm overreacting. May be it is not poisonous .... but why is it staring at me, I swear it is staring at me, I should throw this out" *throws it out*

This overthinking atitude is quite good when he is writing ancedotes - in fact those ancedotes in the begining are incredible. The book has THE best begining I have ever come across. In one place in first few chapters, for exmaple, he tells you why Huxley's Brave New World or a utopia based on rationalism (Zamyatin's We) won't satisfy people:

As far as my personal opinion is concerned, to care only for well-being seems to me positively ill-bred. Whether it's good or bad, it is sometimes very pleasant, too, to smash things. I hold no brief for suffering nor for well-being either.

Still the problem comes with the social contact. The apple example was an exaggeration to extent that apple was not a human being. First half is full of author's beautiful ramblings but it is when goes out in society we see his real problem. He thinks too much while around people, keeps collecting bad thoughts while forgetting good ones.

Man only lives to count his troubles, he doesn't calculate his happiness.

This thus makes him paranoid believing that all the world is watching and judging him.

"I am alone, I thought, and they are everybody."

Thus he is quick to get excited and to be willing to take meaningless fights.

Spoiler

Even if he is not pranoid like in the climax, the anticipation of being in society for a long time is enough to make him go mad.

Thus he ends up living alone in the underground. His frustration in not being able to part of society makes him spiteful.

I got to the point of feeling a sort of secret abnormal, despicable enjoyment in returning home to my corner on some disgusting Petersburg night, acutely conscious that that day I had committed a loathsome action again, that what was done could never be undone, and secretly, inwardly gnawing, gnawing at myself for it, tearing and consuming myself till at last the bitterness turned into a sort of shameful accursed sweetness, and at last--into positive real enjoyment! Yes, into enjoyment, into enjoyment! I insist upon that.

The circle ends with him all alone once again which proves that loneliness is self-reproducing.

FD felt a need to point out through an author's note in the begining of the book that though this person is all imagination there do exist such persons in real life. This is how ahead of his times he was - I don't think anybody else could have noticed, leave alone graph so brilliantly, such a personality type. Incredible.

caralikesbooks's review against another edition

3.5

i wonder what kind of person dostoevsky was

g_schmigel2023's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

yusufmohi's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

isthisalice's review against another edition

5.0

I’ve never related to a character more in my life. I genuinely see myself in every aspect of the underground man and I deeply enjoyed his philosophical ramblings throughout the book. It was my first book by Dostoyevsky and it remains one of my favourites. He is an absolute genius and I’d recommend his books to anyone.

andotherworlds's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 // rtc

mirkhosro's review against another edition

5.0

I read this book in my late 20s. I just know that I should read it again in my 40s. The underground man may sound and seem too extreme in his thoughts and manners but I could some times very well relate to him. I believe he is the voice of some aspect of the personalities of us all. Some deep, underground, unconscious, repressed character that we seldom dare bring up, admit its existence and listen to it. But he is nevertheless there, living in our underground or his "corner". I know this may sound too Freudian, but hey, Freud himself has admitted that he was inspired by Dostoevsky!

flamepea's review against another edition

2.0

An interesting read - definitely not what I expected. Frustrating and obnoxious point of view but that was the purpose. Interesting to see how russians political turmoil and dostoyevsky’s banishment from russia influenced this text. Not my favourite but I don’t think this book is supposed to be pleasurable. I have a lot to say about its slut shaming and representation of gender. A lot of the times I wanted to throw this book across the room. Will soon analyse it deeper in literary classics unit as we question and appreciate the literary legitimacy of the underground.

Update
I have to say I do not plan on reading this again but I think its critique of notion of enlightenment & Russia’s political history is important to consider.