Reviews

Însemnări din subterană by Fyodor Dostoevsky

megan_c23's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

this is like if fleabag was a terrible little underground russian man in the 1800s

ismoothie's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

cmiller6's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

emilyvandenbroeck's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

solitary's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

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.

bookishnerd42's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

index75's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

linnlivesinbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective

3.0

lubaci's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bruinuclafan's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Slow start, but like pushing a boulder down a slope. Once it gets going...