Name: Notes from Underground and the Grand Inquisitor
Rating: 4.126959247648903 (319 reviews)
ISBN: 9780452010932

Ralph E. Matlaw

Fyodor Dostoevsky

"The connection between these works is unmistakable, as is their direct relation to Dostoevsky's life--sensational, harrowing, and frenzied." --From the Introduction by Ralph E. Matlow

Notes from Underground and the Grand Inquisitor

Written in 1864, this classic novel recounts the apology and confession of a minor nineteenth-century official, an almost comical account of the man's separation from society and his descent "underground"

Notes from Underground

podkuren

" I am a sick man . . . I am a spiteful man, " the irascible voice of a nameless narrator cries out. And so, from underground, emerge the passionate confessions of a suffering man; the brutal self-examination of a tormented soul; the bristling scorn and iconoclasm of alienated individual who has become one of the greatest antiheroes in all literature. "Notes From Underground," published in 1864, marks a tuming point in Dostoevsky's writing: it announces the moral political, and social ideas he will treat on a monumental scale in "Crime And Punishment," "The Idiot," and "The Brothers Karamazov," And it remains to this day one of the most searingly honest and universal testaments to human despair ever penned. " The political cataclysms and cultural revolutions of our century... confirm the status of "Notes from Underground" as one of the most sheerly astonishing and subversive creations of European fiction." from the Introduction by Donald Fanger

Notes from the Underground

Bambang Hartono

Lays the foundation of dostoevsky’s literature. He writes the schizo mind so well…..

Notes from underground, White nights, The dream of a ridiculous man, and selections from The house of the dead

Ans Rizwan

how he's too much conscious, he distinguishes his personality from the normal (direct personality) of a 19th-century man, who acts as law and nature find fit.

St. Petersburg, as a city, becomes an abode of his consciousness — welcoming him to perform sins (nothing good or aligned with what law finds good and right), freely, in his wretched space of mind and physical room.

Too much consciousness, too much knowing of oneself, leads one to accept a side of personality which is not normal (acute overthinking) in the society he's living in.

Another idea: how the "mouse" (man of consciousness) and the

"direct person" (man of nature and truth) justify revenge and find solutions to insult and submissiveness through the act of revenge.

The latter is proud of his revenge, however, the mouse is not.

So, if a man is conscious and learned, he will cease from doing nasty or malicious things — because having known all, having thought it through, will only lead to the inability to act, or the choice not to act.

But then again - the Underground Man supports his argument that there's a kind of enjoyment in performing miserable, insulted, rash, spiteful acts in a city like Petersburg.

Jasmine

how he's too much conscious, he distinguishes his personality from the normal (direct personality) of a 19th-century man, who acts as law and nature find fit.

St. Petersburg, as a city, becomes an abode of his consciousness — welcoming him to perform sins (nothing good or aligned with what law finds good and right), freely, in his wretched space of mind and physical room.

Too much consciousness, too much knowing of oneself, leads one to accept a side of personality which is not normal (acute overthinking) in the society he's living in.

Another idea: how the "mouse" (man of consciousness) and the

"direct person" (man of nature and truth) justify revenge and find solutions to insult and submissiveness through the act of revenge.

The latter is proud of his revenge, however, the mouse is not.

So, if a man is conscious and learned, he will cease from doing nasty or malicious things — because having known all, having thought it through, will only lead to the inability to act, or the choice not to act.

But then again - the Underground Man supports his argument that there's a kind of enjoyment in performing miserable, insulted, rash, spiteful acts in a city like Petersburg.

Greg Talbot

I have crossed the seas, I have left cities behind me, and I have followed the source of rivers towards their source or plunged into forests, always making for other cities. I have had women, I have fought with men ; and I could never turn back any more than a record can spin in reverse. And all that was leading me where ? To this very moment... ― Nausea, Jean Paul-Sarte And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who couldn’t hear the music. - Friedrich Nietzsche If there is a more crushing, difficult, and burdensome book of about 100 pages, I haven’t yet read it. Heralded as a major break in the tradition of literature, it’s impossible to minimize Dostoevsky’s contribution to modern literature and to exploring interiority. Dostoevsky introduces us to the man in the basement. A sick man, a wicked man (p.3). In part 1 “Underground”, the reader essentially has a discussion about the wanting of man. We are inclined to believe that man yearns to be good, yearns to be moral, for virtue and fulfillment. Tearing back the wallpaper...the narrator exposes the thorn in the garden. The wanting to be human is not to be “keys on the piano”..but a dreadful wantingness that of striving to be more. “One’s own free and voluntary wanting, one’s own caprice, however wild, one’s own fancy, though chafed sometimes to the point of madness - all this is the same most profitable profit, the omitted one, which does not fit into any classification, and because of which all systems and theories are constantly blown to the devil. (p.25) The questions he asks are so bare..about purpose and meaning that he approaches the questions jokingly, sarcastically and other times intensely. Creating a voice in literatuere that we can find in the existential philosophers Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Sartre have asked..our narrator asks us as a reader to look beyond reason. We can see artistisy, and majesty in mankind but you have to admit that there is an irrational component. “Anything can be said about world history...only one thing cannot be said - that it is sensible (p.25). And most confounding and liberating...we strive to be irrational..to create, to differentiate ourselves from the group. It’s an unraveling that is both terrifying and promising. Part II, “Apropos of the wet snow”, shifts to the narrator attempting to connect to the world. His madness, and unhinged worldview leds to rejection, and like a prophet of doom, he destroys the hopes of a young 20-year old woman. Dark fruits of meaningless and an imagined barren future are discussed. Our narrator, is the tortured meaningless of slushy, snowy environment that recoils the heart and isolates the body. The uncertainly dials up and expands as the novel ramps up toward the conclusion. Seeing himself as an anti-hero and untethered from humanity, there is wholeness only in his lostness. “Leave us to ourselves, without a book, and we’ll get immediately confused, lost - we won’t know what to join, what to hold to, what to love and what to hate, what to respect and what to despise” (p.130). “Notes From the Underground’ is fully unsettling. It raises questions our assumptions for our goals, who we strive to be, and what we really are. This portrayal of nihilism and renunciation of cherished values is a major theme...and is arguably as potent and thoughtful today. In many ways this book feels like the start of a larger discussion. How best to live with irrationality? What is the freedom of irrational? Is there authenticity, joy, meaning to be had? This story could be written today..and it is in books and movies everywhere. I think about the psychoanalytic lectures of Jordan Peterson to bring order to the chaos. I think about the values of young people today actively fighting for environmental changes, to reduce gun violence and those who fight for humanist immigration policies. We can see the madness and irrationality across our societal and political worlds. Every flicker of this madness of course contains the solutions..to explore our irrationality, to find meaning in the meaninglessness, to take ownership and responsibility of our lives. The sordid and dark chambers of the heart written in the “Notes of the Underground” is a difficult path to explore. Here we have the dark, dreadful and soul-crushing events of a day. And on the other side of this day, we as a reader get to explore the remaining questions. And that eternal question on the tip of our thoughts though life. What to do with the time we have? What now?

Angeline Bien

SONYA

It's like reading the diary of a Redditor who happened to live during 19th century Russia. 

Notes from the underground

mr. underground sure is one pessimistic yapper

mint

“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.”

Introducing: The Underground Man. He's not like the other guys. He's much superior in intelligence, a man of refined culture, and so acutely aware of his own supposed brilliance that he struggles to treat his fellow human beings as his equals, which leads to his alienation and bitter isolation. But here's the catch: he's also irrational and contradictory.

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground is a novella of bitter self-analysis and existential torment. It features the underground man, an unnamed narrator, a retired civil servant living in 19th-century St. Petersburg, who, from his "underground" perspective, delivers a scathing critique of society and the human condition.

"You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there’s no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man’s nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses. And although our life, in this manifestation of it, is often worthless, yet it is life and not simply extracting square roots."

To be human is to be irrational. One of the prominent themes of Notes from Underground is the absolute rejection of rationalism and utilitarianism. The Underground Man, in his vitriolic monologue, argues that human beings are not simply driven by logic and self-interest. He asserts that humans possess a fundamental desire for free will, even if that free will leads to self-destruction. He delights in acts of spite and contradiction, not because they are beneficial, but because they assert his individuality against the perceived tyranny of reason.

The novella is divided into two parts. The first, "Underground", is a philosophical diatribe, a furious and fragmented outpouring of the narrator's thoughts. He rails against the "crystal palace" of utopian ideals, a world where everything is predictable and harmonious. He argues that such a world would be a prison, devoid of the very essence of humanity: the ability to choose, even if those choices are absurd and harmful. He revels in his own "sick liver," which, I take, is a metaphor for his psychological and emotional decay—viewed as a reflection to his authentic, suffering humanity.

The second part, "Apropos of the Wet Snow," or "On the Occasion of the Wet Snow," (in other translations) shifts to a more narrative structure. It recounts specific incidents from the underground man's past, revealing the consequences of his philosophy. We witness his humiliating encounters with former schoolmates, his desperate attempts to assert dominance, and his ultimately pathetic failure to connect with others. His interactions with Liza, a young prostitute, are particularly pivotal. He attempts to "save" her, but his motives are tainted by his own need for validation and control (*coughs* mansplaining). His cruelty and self-loathing ultimately drive her away, leaving him alone with his festering resentment.

Dostoevsky powerfully devises a narrator who is both repulsive and utterly captivating. The Underground Man's self-awareness is his greatest torment. He recognizes his own failings, his pettiness, and his cruelty, yet he is unable to change—an internal conflict that creates a character of remarkable depth and complexity. He is a man trapped in a cycle of self-destruction, driven by a profound need to assert his individuality in a world that seems determined to erase it. The tone of the novella is relentlessly bleak and cynical. The narrator's voice is filled with bitterness, sarcasm, and self-pity. He is a master of self-deprecation, but his humor is always laced with a dark undercurrent of despair. Dostoevsky's prose mirrors the narrator's fragmented and chaotic mind, creating a sense of unease and disorientation. The novella is a relentless assault on the reader's sensibilities, forcing us to confront the uncomfortable truths about human nature.

Reading Notes from Underground, I'd like to imagine myself sitting in a shadowy, back-alley pub, where a mysterious man suddenly sits in front of me and, with no preamble, starts to make fun of himself, of me, and of society. Listening to this man is a disconcerting spectacle—sometimes I'd laugh with him, sometimes I want to shake him by the shoulders, it's a maelstrom of mixed emotions. But after all pints are down to the dregs and patrons are slowly leaving the place, I realize listening to this mysterious man is no wasted time at all—for I have been forced to confront the unsettling depths of my own inner contradictions.

To conclude, Dostoevsky's exploration of free will, alienation, and the search for meaning resonates with readers today as much as it did in the 19th century. Notes from Underground leaves the reader with a lingering sense of unease, an understanding of the complexities of human nature, and a haunting question: how much of the underground man resides within us all?

Rien

“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.”

Introducing: The Underground Man. He's not like the other guys. He's much superior in intelligence, a man of refined culture, and so acutely aware of his own supposed brilliance that he struggles to treat his fellow human beings as his equals, which leads to his alienation and bitter isolation. But here's the catch: he's also irrational and contradictory.

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground is a novella of bitter self-analysis and existential torment. It features the underground man, an unnamed narrator, a retired civil servant living in 19th-century St. Petersburg, who, from his "underground" perspective, delivers a scathing critique of society and the human condition.

"You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there’s no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man’s nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses. And although our life, in this manifestation of it, is often worthless, yet it is life and not simply extracting square roots."

To be human is to be irrational. One of the prominent themes of Notes from Underground is the absolute rejection of rationalism and utilitarianism. The Underground Man, in his vitriolic monologue, argues that human beings are not simply driven by logic and self-interest. He asserts that humans possess a fundamental desire for free will, even if that free will leads to self-destruction. He delights in acts of spite and contradiction, not because they are beneficial, but because they assert his individuality against the perceived tyranny of reason.

The novella is divided into two parts. The first, "Underground", is a philosophical diatribe, a furious and fragmented outpouring of the narrator's thoughts. He rails against the "crystal palace" of utopian ideals, a world where everything is predictable and harmonious. He argues that such a world would be a prison, devoid of the very essence of humanity: the ability to choose, even if those choices are absurd and harmful. He revels in his own "sick liver," which, I take, is a metaphor for his psychological and emotional decay—viewed as a reflection to his authentic, suffering humanity.

The second part, "Apropos of the Wet Snow," or "On the Occasion of the Wet Snow," (in other translations) shifts to a more narrative structure. It recounts specific incidents from the underground man's past, revealing the consequences of his philosophy. We witness his humiliating encounters with former schoolmates, his desperate attempts to assert dominance, and his ultimately pathetic failure to connect with others. His interactions with Liza, a young prostitute, are particularly pivotal. He attempts to "save" her, but his motives are tainted by his own need for validation and control (*coughs* mansplaining). His cruelty and self-loathing ultimately drive her away, leaving him alone with his festering resentment.

Dostoevsky powerfully devises a narrator who is both repulsive and utterly captivating. The Underground Man's self-awareness is his greatest torment. He recognizes his own failings, his pettiness, and his cruelty, yet he is unable to change—an internal conflict that creates a character of remarkable depth and complexity. He is a man trapped in a cycle of self-destruction, driven by a profound need to assert his individuality in a world that seems determined to erase it. The tone of the novella is relentlessly bleak and cynical. The narrator's voice is filled with bitterness, sarcasm, and self-pity. He is a master of self-deprecation, but his humor is always laced with a dark undercurrent of despair. Dostoevsky's prose mirrors the narrator's fragmented and chaotic mind, creating a sense of unease and disorientation. The novella is a relentless assault on the reader's sensibilities, forcing us to confront the uncomfortable truths about human nature.

Reading Notes from Underground, I'd like to imagine myself sitting in a shadowy, back-alley pub, where a mysterious man suddenly sits in front of me and, with no preamble, starts to make fun of himself, of me, and of society. Listening to this man is a disconcerting spectacle—sometimes I'd laugh with him, sometimes I want to shake him by the shoulders, it's a maelstrom of mixed emotions. But after all pints are down to the dregs and patrons are slowly leaving the place, I realize listening to this mysterious man is no wasted time at all—for I have been forced to confront the unsettling depths of my own inner contradictions.

To conclude, Dostoevsky's exploration of free will, alienation, and the search for meaning resonates with readers today as much as it did in the 19th century. Notes from Underground leaves the reader with a lingering sense of unease, an understanding of the complexities of human nature, and a haunting question: how much of the underground man resides within us all?

This book reminded me of why I love reading. After years of struggling to get back into reading, “notes from the underground” was a painfully relatable book, with a pathetic MC that you do not want to relate to. Incredibly funny while, at the same time, instigating questioning the deepest parts of your mind. This is for people looking for something dark, that will make you laugh and question your life choices. A perfect book if I have ever read one.

Brunella

Notes from the Underground is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is considered by many to be the world's first existentialist novel. It presents itself as an excerpt from the rambling memoirs of a bitter, isolated, unnamed narrator (generally referred to by critics as the Underground Man) who is a retired civil servant living in St. Petersburg. The first part of the story is told in monologue form, or the underground man's diary, and attacks emerging Western philosophy, especially Nikolay Chernyshevsky's What Is to Be Done?. The second part of the book is called "Apropos of the Wet Snow," and describes certain events that, it seems, are destroying, and sometimes renewing the underground man, who acts as a first person, omniscient narrator.

Notes from Underground is an insightful exploration of the human condition, often overlooked for its complexity and rawness. The protagonist, the Underground Man, serves as a vessel for thoughts and emotions we typically suppress: vanity, self-loathing, and an almost nihilistic awareness of his own flaws. He boldly proclaims that he has taken his actions to extremes that others would never dare to, exposing the cowardice often disguised as prudence in society. In his eyes, his defiance is a form of authenticity, a vitality born from living on the fringes, and perhaps he isn’t entirely wrong. Dostoevsky’s creation of the Underground Man as an anti-hero is nothing short of masterful. The character is deliberately unlikable, blending traits of arrogance, self-pity, and bitterness that make him almost unbearable to read at times. This unflinching characterization drives the novel’s central theme: the estrangement of humanity from the essence of life. Each of us, in a sense, is a metaphorical cripple—crippled by our own doubts, fears, and contradictions. The Underground Man’s shame and internal conflict infuse the narrative with a sense of brutal honesty, transforming the story from a mere account of events into a painful form of self-punishment.

🏹

sani

❝to love meant to tyrannize and hold the upper hand morally. all my life i have been unable to conceive of any other love, and i have reached the stage when i sometimes think now that the whole of love consists in the right, freely given to the lover, to tyrannize over the beloved.❞

my first dostoevsky book and it certainly didn't disappoint. the underground man is bitter, intellectual and hateful. he thinks he's superior to the rest of the stupid faced men but at the same time, he is wary of them. he is so complex. at some point, you'd want to hate him, to like him, to laugh at him, to slap him as well as to sympathize with him.

thanks for getting me out of my reading slump. here are a few quotes that i loved a lot :

❝i love you very much, i torment you out of love, and i want you to feel that.❞

❝destroy my desire, blot out my ideals, show me something better, and i will follow you. perhaps you will say it is not worth while to get.❞

❝after all, perhaps prosperity isn’t the only thing that pleases mankind, perhaps he is just as attracted to suffering. perhaps suffering is just as good for him as prosperity. sometimes a man is intensely, even passionately, attached to suffering – that is a fact.❞

Molly M

oh boy oh boy that was cool :) thanks for lending me ur book, veronica! i’ve never read smth with a narrator Like That before

Atlas

Kendime acıdım yeraltındaki adama acıdım hak verdim üzüldüm ve günümüzle karşılaştırdım. Kendimi fark etmeme yardımcı olduğu gibi zaten bildiklerimin kağıda dökülmesi gibiydi. Bu yüzden okumak kendime ve yeraltındaki adama üçüncü bir kişi olarak bakmamı sağladı. Dediği gibi insanlar doğaya karşı gelemeyip gelecekte de aynı geçmişte de aynı oldular ve olmaya devam edecekler. Güzeldi okumaya değer.

Notes from Underground and the Grand Inquisitor

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