quigonchuy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
3.0
Classic literature is not my thing, so I knew going in that a Russian book from the 1800s was not my usual fare. And at first, this book read like a philosophy book written by a person that just had gotten angry at someone. But it eventually morphed into a novel about a man that has fallen out of favor in his social groups, and how that came to be. Learning that this is one of the first "anti-hero" stories helps me understand it a bit better.
carlyroth10's review against another edition
4.0
Part 1: what the fuck? I got Lowkey bullied in my Global Lit class for not understanding the first part fully. My teacher said “you must have rushed the reading you need to digest it very slowly”. Okay, but you assigned it as hw expecting me not to read it the night before? Seems like that’s on you. Anyways: she explained it and now I get it and now I appreciate it and now I can laugh with it, because it really was quite funny.
Part 2: I understood it! Woo hoo! Don’t quite know if I agree that the narrators an “anti-hero” I’d just say he’s a dick, but who am I to contradict the words of Dostoyevsky.
Anyways: enjoyed it and all its quirks.
Part 2: I understood it! Woo hoo! Don’t quite know if I agree that the narrators an “anti-hero” I’d just say he’s a dick, but who am I to contradict the words of Dostoyevsky.
Anyways: enjoyed it and all its quirks.
melaniereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
mollyxmiller's review against another edition
4.0
"I consider myself an intelligent man, only because all my life I have been able neither to begin nor to finish anything. Granted I am a babbler, like all of us. 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?" ~p. 221
"In short, one may say anything about the history of the world--anything that might enter the most disordered imagination. The only thing one can't say is that it's rational." ~p. 230
"Notes from Underground" is the first work by Dostoevsky that I have picked up since high school and I LOVED it. It is a novella in two parts. In the first part, the narrator/main character addresses a group of "gentlemen," with an attack on Western romanticism and philosophy, particularly on the idea of humans being rational creatures. Dostoevsky argues through the main character that human beings do not always act in their best interests, in other words, they act irrationally, simply to prove their existence, their independence, and to exert their free will. Even if it is harmful to themselves and/or others. He attacks Rousseau as well as the Russian voices that were the beginnings of what will become Marxism/communism.
In the second part of the novella, the unnamed main character tells his tale of woe--the one time he stopped "dreaming" and wanted to live in the real world, to take part in real life. First he embarrasses himself by inserting himself into a dinner of former school friends that he did not particularly care for, and tries to insult the guest of honor. Then, he visits a brothel, where he tries to "save" the prostitute from her degrading lifestyle by giving her a long, encouraging speech, giving her his address and telling her to come to him. When she does actually show up he is in despair--he is embarrassed by his poverty and the fact that he cannot "save" her and really had no intention to in the first place. This man of books and ideas and intelligence cannot even help himself...how is he to help others? In many ways, we see the ideas that he "babbles" in the first part of the novella come in to play in the second part. I also think that some of Dostoevsky's insecurities about being in the career of arts and letters, of being a journalist and a novelist also show a bit more in the second part. I also like that this character is "underground" in the darkness and in direct opposition to the "age of enlightenment" and transcendentalism.
"In short, one may say anything about the history of the world--anything that might enter the most disordered imagination. The only thing one can't say is that it's rational." ~p. 230
"Notes from Underground" is the first work by Dostoevsky that I have picked up since high school and I LOVED it. It is a novella in two parts. In the first part, the narrator/main character addresses a group of "gentlemen," with an attack on Western romanticism and philosophy, particularly on the idea of humans being rational creatures. Dostoevsky argues through the main character that human beings do not always act in their best interests, in other words, they act irrationally, simply to prove their existence, their independence, and to exert their free will. Even if it is harmful to themselves and/or others. He attacks Rousseau as well as the Russian voices that were the beginnings of what will become Marxism/communism.
In the second part of the novella, the unnamed main character tells his tale of woe--the one time he stopped "dreaming" and wanted to live in the real world, to take part in real life. First he embarrasses himself by inserting himself into a dinner of former school friends that he did not particularly care for, and tries to insult the guest of honor. Then, he visits a brothel, where he tries to "save" the prostitute from her degrading lifestyle by giving her a long, encouraging speech, giving her his address and telling her to come to him. When she does actually show up he is in despair--he is embarrassed by his poverty and the fact that he cannot "save" her and really had no intention to in the first place. This man of books and ideas and intelligence cannot even help himself...how is he to help others? In many ways, we see the ideas that he "babbles" in the first part of the novella come in to play in the second part. I also think that some of Dostoevsky's insecurities about being in the career of arts and letters, of being a journalist and a novelist also show a bit more in the second part. I also like that this character is "underground" in the darkness and in direct opposition to the "age of enlightenment" and transcendentalism.
rafamar's review against another edition
5.0
"O que será melhor: uma felicidade barata ou um sofrimento sublime?"
hopdot's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.25
mirandra_'s review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Notes from underground is packed with good quotes, and has insightful observations but its a heavy read. Its not much plot and there isn't much structure to the different parts, at least to me it felt messy. Regardless I feel this is a book one would reread over and over again, and it has a lot points to reflect on.
This book did send me in to a reading slump because some of the parts I didn't understand, and towards the end he had some misogynistic notes which were unnecessary but what can you expect from a book written in 1864.
This book did send me in to a reading slump because some of the parts I didn't understand, and towards the end he had some misogynistic notes which were unnecessary but what can you expect from a book written in 1864.
seforana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
l19's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
3.5
Hard to get through the beginning of the book just by following the protagonists' endless thoughts and musings. Plot isn't super interesting but it's crazy to follow a man's thought process in this way.