Notes from Underground, The Double, and Other Stories

Often considered a prologue to Dostoevsky's brilliant novels, the story Notes from Underground" introduces one of the great anti-heroes in literature: the underground man, who lives on the fringes of society. In an impassioned, manic monologue this character--plagued by shame, guilt, and alienation--argues that reason is merely a flimsy construction built upon humanity's essentially irrational core. Internal conflict is also explored in The Double," a surreal tale of a government clerk who meets a more unpleasant version of himself and is changed as a result. In addition to these two existential classics, this collection also includes the psychologically probing stories The Meek One," The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," and White Nights."