Notes From Underground (Bantam Classics) Paperback – November 1, 1983

Perfect.This man could be any man, in any place, today. And these qualities are the ones that define universal literature. Being my first book of Dostoyevsky I can declare unabashedly this book the work of a genius. This is the testimony of a man that cheats himself into thinking his self-exile and poverty is the product of a despised society that doesn't recognize his genius (and this made me recall Oscar Wilde's short tale "The Remarkable Rocket"). His life is so minuscule, so devoid of true life, that the petty and forgettable events that occur to him are in his mind are epic battles. He is afraid to live and his mind is rot in bookish fantasies; but he doesn't cross the threshold of his home and work, rendering himself a prisoner. This is a quite spectacular portrait, nobody, not even the lower beings in the social scale, can feel offense from him due to his miserable life; and the end, without spoiling it, is a so complete insult against the anonymous man, that I couldn't avoid to think in the end of (again) Oscar Wilde's (again) short story "The Devoted Friend." I enjoyed it from beginning to end without knowing what to expect.This book applies to our times too. Social networks, especially Twitter, have armies of persons that spend the time there, making tragedies of forgettable trivialities, commenting them as if each word uttered by them were the most important declaration ever, for a public that barely can register (if they do at all) a fraction of a second before passing to the next post. As in "Notes from the Underground" the modern life is harming the humanity of so many. Is the paradox to have potential of more real and diverse human connections but being shy and get stuck only in the written word of books or internet, and unrealistic dreams for the mere fact that they will not move physically to the door to make them real, and they will blame others, victimizing themselves, because in their mind they are geniuses. The irony of writing here, in the loneliness of a borrowed laptop, as if I were writing to an eager audience certainly doesn't escape me x^PThis is another beautiful edition of AmazonClassics. Clean from errors, nice typography, X-Ray, in excellent formatting. The translation is a public domain one, around the end of 19th century I think, but it doesn't feel antiquated, it is a good translation. Amazing book to get.

The first part of the book is phenomenal and timeless. It speaks about how resentment is a part of human nature or maybe how humans will never be satisfied, that it is perhaps ontologically necessary that we cannot experience satiety or fulfillment. I’m not quite sure how to word it, but if you read it for yourself that would be cool, and then you could tell me what it is that I read. I thought the first part was an absolutely brilliant nsight into human natureThe second part is about an angry Russian guy being an angry (and especially miserable) Russian guy. It feels uniquely Russian. I found the second part hard to relate to—probably because I’m not a Russian from the 19th century. But the texture was vivid: I could feel like the spite and the cold wind. Dostoevsky does an amazing job of carefully invoking a vivid image (of something Russian.)

Notes from UndergroundEveryman’s Library, 8th Printing (US)Pevear and Volokhonsky (P&V) TranslationThe Brief:-discounted price-many other books in series (matching jacket styles)-P&V translationThe Publisher (see pics):Everyman’s Library novels appear to come in either a black and white styled jacket spine or a red and black one. This came in the black and white style. These editions have a ribbon bookmark and a bibliography and chronology are included along with the introduction. This one also came with a set of (End) notes. The book is roughly 8”x5”, with relatively thick paper, wide margins, and smaller font. I find that this makes a nice appearance. Everyman’s Library doesn't always have the “best” translation, but they use the more agreeable P&V translation here. If you are looking to start a collection, Everyman’s Library can provide you with a nice looking book shelf of classic novels. Most of them are also heavily discounted on Amazon, I paid $14 instead of the list $21.The Basics of the Novel:The underlying theme is the “…the evolution of the Russian intelligentsia: the sentimental, literary 1840s and the rational and utilitarian 1860s…” (As per the introduction, very helpful!).The style of the book has some uniqueness. It is written as if we found and are reading the writings of this underground man. Part I is written as if he is addressing a reader while Part II is a more typical recollection of events from the underground man’s life.A Little More Detail-14 page Introduction-2 page Select Bibliography-6 page Chronology of Author’s Life, Literary Context and Historical Events-119 pages for the text-6 pages (End) NotesThe introduction provides helpful information for understanding the text (see example quoted earlier). Pevear also spends three pages discussing his choices in the translation and includes a bibliography. This is important as it reinforces the creditability of the translation and the analysis (I’ve read reviews of some editions where these aren’t included).The chronology helps in setting the time period, but you would need to know of the novels and historical events mentioned. The time line of Dostoevsky life allows some insight into his life.This edition uses endnotes instead of footnotes. They were infrequent enough as to not be annoying. I found that the notes were mostly analytical, and only a few were used to remind us that the Colossus of Rhodes was a 100ft statue. The French is translated in the endnotes. I didn’t mind because I took French in high school and I use it to test how much I remembered.I chose the Everyman’s edition because I like matching book sets and they publish a large amount of novels in only a couple different styles. The only case where I wouldn’t recommend them is if they don’t have an agreeable translation. For example, I believe their edition of Don Quixote is the generally disapproved “Anglicized” translation by Motteux.

Existentialism is in many ways one of the pillars of the religion of postmodernism. "Notes" is one of the keys to understanding this worldview.

I usually love Dostoevsky…but this one, not so much. I usually wait to write reviews after finishing 5-8 books so that I can do them all at once.It’s been a few weeks since I finished this one and I can’t remember a thing about it.That tells me all I need to know

Great!

I am not a native English speaker, nor a Russian speaker so I can't judge of the quality of the translation per se, but I found this version to be easy to read compared to other available Kindle editions.The book is separated in two parts. The first part is of shorter length and is a monologue which introduces the (unnamed) man who narrates the book. The man discusses his view of society with several references to nineteenth century philosophies. I learned a lot while reading the book because there are several references to historic facts, places, philosophies which I didn't know about and went to search on the internet. I was a bit apprehensive to read this book because of the monologue but it's well written and easy to follow. It's even more impressive considering that Dostoyevsky apparently wrote most of this book in one shot, without editing back. The second part of the book describes some events which took place in the man's life, when he was a young adult.This was my second Dostoyevsky. I started with [book:Crime and Punishment|7144] based on recommendations from people on the internet saying it's a good book to start. I think it's great to have read Crime and Punishment before this book because it helped me better grasp Dostoyevsky's style and appreciate more this book.

Reading. Arrival quick and got started on great novel.

Un libro trasformativo

The spiteful man from the underground was announcing the advent of nihilism and revealing in this book wha are the consequences of a man whose moral values had been lost track over the course of his life. 40 years before the soviet union takes place this man had in advance exposed the faliure of a system which is predicted upon no beliefs (structural one). A man (in the west) who tries to neglect all the belief system upon which our society was predicted on is obviously going to get himself left in miserable because no man can ever create his own values out of nothingness in the short course of his life. Amazing book.Disclaimer: Don't allow yourself to drift your soul into someone akin to the underground man.

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