Notes from Underground (Vintage Classics)

absolutely loved this book. Might be my fave Dostoevsky one I've read so far. My husband and I refer to it all the time. We are all the man from the underground, and we should all strive to be better.

Great book. Paper back in great condition.

Wonderful book, of course not the easiest read but it’s Dostoevsky, come on now. Good quality. Took off a star because it did come with a smudge mark on the cover.

My first encounter with Notes From the Underground was in college, when I wasn't doing well psychologically. I saw a lot of myself in the Underground Man, who is never properly named in this bleak novel. It's difficult to say what the Underground Man's chief problem is. He's neurotic, a little narcissistic, a little vain, a little cowardly, stuck in his ways, and so aware of his flaws that he's filled with self-loathing. Yet, at the same time, he has people he looks down upon, such as Apollon, those he sees as his equals, such as Liza for a bit, and those above him, whom he despises. Unable to live a more, say, *heroic* real life, he's become bookish, imagining a world and life that cannot be, leading him to humiliate himself at every turn. His neuroses and vanity have prevented him from connecting with others. His bookishness gets him into trouble again and again. Instead of taking responsibility for all of this, the Underground Man assumes that he's better than others (while also insisting, perhaps a little unconvincingly, that he's trash), has a more developed consciousness, that of course people want to make themselves miserable if that means they have a choice, etc. Notes From Underground follows the narrator through a dinner party and a illicit winter visit to a millner's at night. He also details his head-in-the-cloud dreams of duels, of honor, of being the hero, being lauded, and as he does, it becomes obvious why something as prosaic as a dinner party or a visit with a lady of the night would be such major events in his forty years of life. Coming back to this book almost twenty years (making me almost the same age as the narrator) after I first read it was a weird experience. It's been more than a few years since I was anywhere near the headspace, though at times I still sense glimmers of it. For those who see themselves in the narrator, Notes From the Underground is a warning against vanity, narcissism, and protecting your ego by sticking your head in the clouds. For everyone else, it's a view into someone beaten down by their own flaws (and no doubt helped there by poverty), unable to take responsibility, unable to change, and unable to *really* be honest with himself. The translation is pretty good. It needed a lot more paragraphs, but the story gets across just fine.

Near the end, after so much madness and insanity, Dostoevsky breaks above it for a moment and gives a beautiful, insightful, precious description of a father, mother and child: "The first married love will pass, true, but then an even better love will come. Then their souls will grow close; they'll decide all their doings together; they’ll have no secrets from each other. And when children arrive, then all of it, even the hardest times, will look like happiness; one need only love and have courage. Now even work brings joy, now even if you must occasionally deny yourself bread for the children's sake, still there is joy. For they will love you for it later; so you're laying aside for yourself. The children are growing - you feel you're an example to them, a support for them; that even when you die, they’ll bear your thoughts and feelings upon themselves as they received them from you, they'll take on your image and likeness. So it is a great duty. How can a father and mother fail to grow closer? People say it's hard having children. Who says so? It's a heavenly happiness! Do you love little children, Liza? I love them terribly. You know - there's this rosy little boy sucking at your breast, now what husband's heart could turn against his wife, looking at her sitting with his child! The baby is rosy, plump, pampered, sprawling; his little hands and feet are pudgy, his nails are so clean and small, so small it's funny to see; his eyes seem to understand everything already. He's sucking and clutching at your breast with his little hand, The father comes up - he'll tear himself away from the breast, bend back, look at his father, laughing - as if it really were God knows how funny - and then again, again start sucking. Or else he’ll up and bite his mother’s breast, if he’s already cutting teeth, while giving her a sidelong look: ‘See how I bit you!’ Isn’t this the whole of happiness, when they’re all three together, husband, wife, and child? A lot can be forgiven for those moments. No, Liza, one must first learn how to live, and only then accuse others!"

Excellent

Fine

book came dirty, but the book itself is in good condition.

Book came in perfect condition. Loved it

An astonishing insight into the darkest corners of the human psyche. The narrator represents the duality and paradoxical nature of being human, and his underground musings, polemic and reflections hit deep. Every interaction, from characters to the ideas of the time, act as a mirror to the face of the Underground Man, drawing up his fears, resentments - both sustaining him and tempting him to wield power over it. At times darkly comic, and terrifying, this is quite incredible - but not an easy read.

Fram sidan av boken fick lite böj men tror de har med leveransen att göra med, annars helt perfekt!

I read this for my book club: this excellent translation is sending me back to all of the Russian greats, as long as they're translated by these two!

Top