Fyodor Dostoevsky

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

Jiya

Love is a holy mystery and ought to be hidden from all other eyes, whatever happens.

Besides, with love one can love even without happiness. 

Even at sixteen I wondered at them morosely; even then I was struck by the pettiness of their thoughts, the stupidity of their pursuits, their games, their conversations.

I hated them from the first, and shut myself away from everyone in timid, wounded and disproportionate pride.

But what is to be done if the direct and sole vocation of every intelligent man is babble, that is, the intentional pouring of water through a sieve? 

To be too conscious is an illness- a real thoroughgoing illness.

Conor Murphy

For we've reached a point where we regard real “living life" almost as labor, almost as service, and we all agree in ourselves that it's better from a book.

And what I'm confessing to you now, I will also never forgive you! Yes—you, you alone must answer for all this, because you turned up here, because I'm a scoundrel, because I'm the most vile, the most ridiculous, the most petty, the most stupid, the most envious of all worms on earth, who are in no way better than I, but who, devil knows why, are never embarrassed; while I will just go on being flicked all my life by every nit—that's my trait!

At nine o'clock in the morning she was already completely drunk, disheveled, half-naked, all beaten up. Her face was powdered white, and her eves were black-and-blue; blood was flowing from her nose and teeth: some coachman had just given her a pasting. She sat down on the stone stairs, holding some kind of salted fish; she was howling and wailing something about her 'miserble lot,' beating her fish against the steps. And coachmen and drunken soldiers crowded around the steps, teasing her. You don't believe you'll be the same?

A developed and decent man cannot be vain without a boundless exactingness towards himself and without despising himself at moments to the point of hatred.

And who knows (one cannot vouch for it), perhaps the whole goal mankind strives for on earth consists just in this ceaselessness of the process of achievement alone, that is to say, in life itself, and not at all in the goal, which, of course, is bound to be nothing other than two times two is four—that is, a formula; and two times two is four is no longer life, gentlemen, but the beginning of death.

What is to be done with the millions of facts testifying to how people knowingly, that is, fully understanding their real profit, would put it in second place and throw themselves into another path, a risk, a perchance, not compelled by anyone or anything, but precisely as if they simply did not want the designated path, and stubbornly, will fully pushed off into another one, difficult, absurd, searching for it all but in the dark.

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

a. 💫

The key phrase is, “Love others as you love yourself.” And that's all there is to it. Nothing else is required. That would settle everything. Yes, of course it's nothing but an old truth that has been repeated and reread millions of times and still hasn't taken root. “Awareness of life is of a higher order than knowledge of the laws of happiness.” That's an adage that we must fight. 

Abhishek Singh

 Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone, but only to his friends. He has other matters in his mind which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind. The more decent he is, the greater the number of such things in his mind. 

jana 

Though, after all, everyone does do that; people do pride themselves on their diseases, and I do, maybe, more than anyone.

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. 

eHm!" you decide. "Our choice is usually mistaken from a false view of our advantage. We sometimes choose absolute nonsense because in our foolishness we see in that nonsense the easiest means for attaining a supposed advantage. But when all that

believing either in its own right to vengeance, or in the success of its revenge, knowing that from all its efforts at revenge it will suffer a hundred times more than he on whom it revenges itself, while he,

Notes from the underground

Aren B.

“Why must you invariably be the first to move aside?”

Alienated from society and paralysed by a sense of his own insignificance, the anonymous narrator of Dostoyevsky's groundbreaking Notes from Underground tells the story of his tortured life. With bitter irony, he describes his refusal to become a worker in the 'anthill' of society and his gradual withdrawal to an existence 'underground'.

Santa

And secretely, in my heart, I would gnaw and nibble and probe and suck away at myself until the bitter taste turned at last into a kind of shameful, devilish sweetness and finally, downright definite pleasure. Yes, pleasure, pleasure! I stand by that. The reason I have spoken of it is that I want to know for certain whether other people feel that kind of pleasure. Let me explain: the pleasure came precisely from being too clearly aware of your own degradation; from the feeling of having gone to the uttermost limits; that it was vile, but it could not have been otherwise; that you could not escape, you could never make yourself into a different person; that even if enough faith and time remained for you to make yourself into something different, you probably wouldn't want to change yourself; and even if you did want to, you wouldn't do anything because, after all, perhaps it wasn't worth while to change. 

mionne

a great deal of consciousness, every sort of consciousness, in fact, is a disease.

Dostoevsky's Psychological Exploration “To love is to suffer and there can be no love otherwise.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground Notes from the Underground is the diary of an unnamed narrator who has completely withdrawn from society. One of Fyodor Dostoevsky's masterpiece novels, Notes from the Underground combines elements of fiction and philosophy in a psychological novel that explores the existential angst of one man in nineteenth-century Russia. This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

Notes from the Underground

🍁

But when you are dying, all will abandon you, all will turn away from you, for then there will be nothing to get from you. What's more, they will reproach you for cumbering the place, for being so long over dying.

my takeaway is that sometimes it is good to think less and do more

brian yi-kun li

Riya

“Ведь я, например, нисколько не удивлюсь, если вдруг ни с того ни с сего среди всеобщего будущего благоразумия возникнет какой-нибудь джентльмен с неблагородной или, лучше сказать, с ретроградной и насмешливою физиономией, упрет руки в боки и скажет нам всем: а что, господа, не столкнуть ли нам все это благоразумие с одного разу, ногой, прахом, единственно с тою целью, чтоб все эти логарифмы отправились к черту и чтоб нам опять по своей глупой воле пожить! Это бы еще ничего, но обидно то, что ведь непременно последователей найдет: так человек устроен. И все это от самой пустейшей причины, об которой бы, кажется, и упоминать не стоит: именно оттого, что человек, всегда и везде, кто бы он ни был, любил действовать так, как хотел, а вовсе не так, как повелевали ему разум и выгода; хотеть же можно и против собственной выгоды, а иногда и положительно должно (это уж моя идея).”

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

Memorias del Subsuelo - 660 -

Espectacular. Dostoyevski creó a los incels

luca

A raw, chaotic dive into the mind of a man who rejects everything-even himself. Uncomfortable, brilliant, and unlike anything else I’ve read.

Tanishq Khandelwal

mr. underground sure is one pessimistic yapper

mint

nihilism final boss, but he's a frequent yapper

ᓚᘏᗢ

“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?

perfect book for being a miserable university student. hilarious and depressing in equal measures, cannot be overstated how ridiculous the narrator is.

lauren amitirigala

Notes from the Underground is Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1864 masterpiece following the ranting, slightly unhinged memoir of an isolated, anonymous civil servant. A dramatic monologue in which the narrator leaves himself open to ridicule and reveals more of his weaknesses than he intends, this influential short novel lays the ground work for the political, religious, moral and political ideas that are explored in Dostoevsky's later works.

emmy 

** spoiler alert **
           Notes from underground is like that book you stumble upon and suddenly everything clicks. Dostoevsky's portrayal of the unnamed narrator, the "underground man," delves into the complexities of existential angst and societal alienation with remarkable depth and insight. 
What struck me most about the novel is Dostoevsky's ability to capture the internal turmoil of the underground man in such vivid detail. His relentless introspection and existential despair serve as a mirror reflecting the inherent contradictions and irrationalities within human nature.
I like how Dostoevsky confronts the reader with uncomfortable truths about the human condition, challenging conventional notions of morality and rationality.
Despite its philosophical depth, "Notes from Underground" maintains a sense of urgency and immediacy, as if Dostoevsky is engaging in a dialogue with the reader, probing the depths of their own psyche. 
I definitely found myself grappling with similar existential questions.

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

mila

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.

Însemnări din subterană

Khatliyn

maybe im just not a cynic, maybe im just not used to the writing, maybe i just dont enjoy constant pessimistic yapping

Lettuce Wrapped Cabbage Cat

Weird to read a book where the protagonist 

Doesn’t have a helpful perspective. It’s how not to behave. 

Adam Scharf

Weird to read a book where the protagonist 

Doesn’t have a helpful perspective. It’s how not to behave. 

it was an honor to read the thoughts of a professional yapper such as yourself mr. underground man

Ziggy

jack

underneath a veil of absolute moral filth, dostoevsky is able to hide truth concerning both life as we all live it and the perspective of a “””failson””” (i can’t think of a better word at the moment). the rampant sexism is disgusting to read but fits with the rest of the character and works as an attack on the type of person that the narrator is - a type of person that is ever-prevalent today. 

*****

my biggest problem with this book (apart from the shaming of sex workers) can be summed up by this quote from CS Lewis, 
“You can’t go on “seeing through” things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. To “see through” all things is the same as not to see.”
i think dostoevsky does a lot of notable “seeing through” in this book, and reading from a 2019 perspective that seeing through just doesn’t hit as hard as it probably has for most of the time this book has existed. my problem is dostoevsky (in this short story at least) fails to act or offer any insight beyond this simple vision.

2.5 stars*

the underground man is as he described himself, an “acutely conscious” man who’s extremely self-aware. he notes multiple times how the reader must be laughing at his musings throughout the chapters. he also contradicts his words and shows masochistic tendencies. his great opposition to modern society is amusing as it is thought-provoking. it actually scared me every time i came across a passage and thought, “i mean, he has a point.”

the first part of the novella shows the psychological complexity of the character with depth and awareness that was previously less tackled in the preceding literature. the second part solidifies the underground man being an unreliable narrator, with his views and opinions mostly coming from contempt. he’s a remarkably horrible character, but i believe that he’s a characterization of what humans can be when brought upon by an extent of societal problems. we are not the underground man, but the underground man can come from any of us.

this is my first russian literature and to be honest, i was only able to pick up a few things from the book itself and found the literary analyses more enthralling than the narration of the underground man. you can only accept so much from an angry man full of bs.

Alec Karlen

gut-wrenching, nausea-inducing writing aimed right where it hurts as always, thank you Dostoevsky

Francesca

Memórias do Subsolo

renni

Me desafiei a ouvir um audiobook pela primeira vez e por alguma razão achei que esse seria um livro interessante para experiência. E tava certa!!

O personagem-narrador é tão cínico que chega a ser engraçado. A interpretação das falas pelo narrador do audiobook estava no ponto. Me pegava rindo toda vez que o personagem voltava atrás do que havia falado e começava falando "Mas meus senhores...".

Assim, eu simplesmente não vou me adentrar a nenhuma vertente filosófica ou política, porque não tenho propriedade, mas, rapaz, quando Nietzsche leu esse livro ele deve ter começado a levitar.

Mas sério, muito engraçado o personagem toda hora "longe de mim falar mal da aristocracia russa patriarcal mas..." e seguia falando mal da aristocracia russa patriarcal. Toda jornada existencialista dele é bem insana. Ele precisava de uma aprovação ou de uma redenção a todo custo. E o meio era pela culpa. 

Essa história me deixou irritada, frustrada, me fez rir, com dó, intrigada, enfim, extremamente pensativa com as memórias desse homem do subsolo. Não estamos mais no século 19 mas seguimos em uma sociedade bem insegura e egomaníaca ao mesmo tempo, chegando a ser lamentável e perigosa.

Enfim, muito bom!!!

Joe Ross

This book is painful at times but I love every moment of it, not unlike my life. The literary embodiment of paranoid eccentricity.

Notes from Underground

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