Name: Notes from Underground
ISBN: 9798853728615

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The New Translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

Notes from Underground

The only thing close to an honest review of this book I've ever heard was by a very elderly Irish literature professor whose favorite author was Dostoevsky. I asked him what he thought about this book. He said, "I don't know."

The first 40 pages of this 100 page work are the ones studied the most. The ideas are very dense; I've read this book about 4 times at this point and it has proposed something new each time. Other reviews and lectures can distill this work into a few basic and intelligible concepts. It doesn't seem like anyone, including myself, has been able to go beyond that.

I think that anyone who claims they understand this book is mistaken. Unfortunately, there are all too many of those who hear about Dostoevsky's "amazing" books, pick one up, exclaim at the volume of Russian names, repeat what others have said about how depressing and insane the plot is, and then never touch the book again. That can be said about any of Dostoevsky's greatest works, but Notes from Underground in particular stands out. This is absolutely not a one-time read.

And anyone who says Dostoevsky is depressing to read is missing the point. Dostoevsky was an Orthodox Christian. His works are full of hope and meaning, and the evil and dread that is present in his works serves to emphasize that. The world is a dark place; Dostoevsky leaves you with a little candlelight. It's easy to despair at the abyss. But what about that candle? With it, you can navigate a whole starless universe.

People say Crime and Punishment is like an extension of this book; I think it would be more accurate to say that Notes from Underground takes all the complexity and might of that work and crams it all into these extremely dense and frightening 40 pages, even though this work was published 2 years before.

This is one of those books that takes a lifetime to read, let alone understand. Most people take the "self-consciousness" and the "twice two makes five" bits and walk away with that. Those are indeed profound ideas, but to read this work once and move on is a huge mistake!

Clarence Kim

The only thing close to an honest review of this book I've ever heard was by a very elderly Irish literature professor whose favorite author was Dostoevsky. I asked him what he thought about this book. He said, "I don't know."

The first 40 pages of this 100 page work are the ones studied the most. The ideas are very dense; I've read this book about 4 times at this point and it has proposed something new each time. Other reviews and lectures can distill this work into a few basic and intelligible concepts. It doesn't seem like anyone, including myself, has been able to go beyond that.

I think that anyone who claims they understand this book is mistaken. Unfortunately, there are all too many of those who hear about Dostoevsky's "amazing" books, pick one up, exclaim at the volume of Russian names, repeat what others have said about how depressing and insane the plot is, and then never touch the book again. That can be said about any of Dostoevsky's greatest works, but Notes from Underground in particular stands out. This is absolutely not a one-time read.

And anyone who says Dostoevsky is depressing to read is missing the point. Dostoevsky was an Orthodox Christian. His works are full of hope and meaning, and the evil and dread that is present in his works serves to emphasize that. The world is a dark place; Dostoevsky leaves you with a little candlelight. It's easy to despair at the abyss. But what about that candle? With it, you can navigate a whole starless universe.

People say Crime and Punishment is like an extension of this book; I think it would be more accurate to say that Notes from Underground takes all the complexity and might of that work and crams it all into these extremely dense and frightening 40 pages, even though this work was published 2 years before.

This is one of those books that takes a lifetime to read, let alone understand. Most people take the "self-consciousness" and the "twice two makes five" bits and walk away with that. Those are indeed profound ideas, but to read this work once and move on is a huge mistake!

Notes from Underground The New Translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

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