wandering_meditations's reviews
84 reviews

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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dark funny informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A short yet dense book. I wouldn't say reading this is fun or relaxing, there's lots of reflecting and thinking needed. It is an incredibly complex book with many layers needing to be unraveled.
One of my favourite quotes from this book: "Which is better - cheap happiness, or lofty suffering?"
Alamut by Vladimir Bartol

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adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

There are lots of lessons and meanings that can be drawn from this book. One thing that stood out to me was the concept of truth. Truth is a central concept in this book and in the philosophy of Hassan Ibn Sabbah. Hassan believes Truth doesn't exist because it's all about our perceptions. Our senses are faulty, we can be tricked, therefore how is it even possible to discover truth? That's basically his argument in a nutshell, among other things. 

There's lots of amazing passages and dialogue in this book. There's lots of philosophical discussions but nothing overly complex that the casual reader won't understand.