Name: Notes from the Underground
ISBN: 9781434457394

Frank J. Morlock

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Based on the 1864 novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from the Underground features a highly charged encounter between the nameless narrator (the "Underground Man") and a prostitute named Lisa. A classic portrayal of the underbelly of Russian (and modern) society.

A Play in Two Acts

Notes from the Underground

Abhishek Singh

 Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone, but only to his friends. He has other matters in his mind which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind. The more decent he is, the greater the number of such things in his mind. 

jana 

Rebecca Moraglia

Roxan

Mike and his team have created a cultural zeitgeist with a loyal fan base through creative and comedic campaigns that rival SNL. They’ve leveraged social like no one else I’ve ever seen. Liquid Death is #1 most followed beverage brand on TikTok in the U.S., and their content has earned more than 21 billion media impressions in the past year with 2x the engagement of Red Bull, who previously held the crown

For our everyday sake, let’s call it heartfelt intensity. ‍

6. Put most simply, heartfelt intensity is a variety of intrinsic motivation. Not the thing a person is motivated to do but the drive underneath it all that makes them tick, so potent it puts a bit of magic behind the eyes. ‍

7. It is often more innate than taught. Not everyone you meet has got it and that’s perfectly alright, but we look for those people in which it’s undeniable.‍

8. To give a real-life example, so many of you talk about that irreplaceable ‘spirit’ with which your colleagues approach their work, particularly the ‘‘thoroughness’ and ‘thoughtfulness’ of it. And how it plays out in their attention to detail (not so much when the details are immaterial but when there’s joy to be had in them.) 

‍That thing that compels you all to obsess over the details others overlook, and do it with gusto —  that’s heartfelt intensity. 

 For us, for once, I think the answer is actually very prescriptive. Before you take on anything, you pause and ask what could be?

Create the space needed to break apart that everydayness and press on it for a while. Really press on it. Go on and dream a bit. Or as Toni Morrison says it “Dream, then think.” 

And go to different places with your dreaming. Pull from elsewhere, the objective being to bring a sense of multidimensionality to what we do and how we do it.

In some ways, asking what could be is a mindset. 

David Foster Wallace encapsulates it as well as any: “a huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded."

All of it predicated on the notion that just because something is, doesn’t mean it has to be and certainly doesn’t mean it’s right.

Try no, that will be good and you qill find epace

And that’s the liberating part, especially when it comes to our work. There are no right answers of where to go out of the gate because the real art is ‘course correcting’ along the way.

Think about it like this: “there are no mistakes, only new paths to explore.

I swear, gentlemen, that to be too conscious is an illness – a real, thoroughgoing illness.

It was as though it were my most normal condition, and not in the least desease or depravity, so that at last all desire in me to struggle against this depravity passed. It ended by my almost believing (perhaps actually believing) that this was perhaps my normal condition.

I want now to tell you, gentlemen, whether you care to hear it or not, why I could not even become an insect. I tell you solemnly, that I have many times tried to become an insect.

You laugh? Delighted. My jests, gentlemen, are of course in bad taste, jerky, involved, lacking self-confidence. But of course that is because I do not respect myself. Can a man of perception respect himself at all?

I invented adventures for myself and made up a life, so as at least to live in some way.

I should have snatched at every opportunity to drop a tear into my glass and then to drain it to all that is “good and beautiful." I should then have turned everything into the good and the beautiful; in the nastiest, unquestionable trash, I should have sought out the good and the beautiful.

You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there’s no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man’s nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses.

The road almost always does lead somewhere, and that the destination it leads to is less important than the process of making it.

I swear to you, gentlemen, there is not one thing, not one word of what I have written that I really believe.

At that time I was only twenty-four. My life was even then gloomy, ill-regulated, and as solitary as that of a savage. I made friends with no one and positively avoided talking, and buried myself more and more in my hole.

There was no one like me and I was unlike anyone else. "I am alone and they are 

As a rule, I was always alone. In the first place I spent most of my time at home, reading. I tried to stifle all that was continually seething within me by means of external impressions.

Written in 1864, this classic novel recounts the apology and confession of a minor nineteenth-century official, an almost comical account of the man's separation from society and his descent "underground"

Notes from Underground

What 0 pussy and some pussy does to a man

Heron 

"The novels of Dostoevsky are seething whirlpools, gyrating sandstorms, waterspouts that hiss and boil and suck us in. They are composed purely and wholly of the stuff of the soul. Against our wills we are drawn in, whirled round, blinded, suffocated, and at the same time filled with a giddy rapture. . . . Men are at the same time villains and saints; their acts are at once beautiful and despicable. . . . It is all the same to him whether you are noble or simple, a tramp or a great lady. Whoever you are, you are the vessel of this perplexed liquid, this cloudy, yeasty, precious stuff, the soul." --Virginia Woolf

conki

Angeline Bien

SONYA

It's like reading the diary of a Redditor who happened to live during 19th century Russia. 

Memorias del Subsuelo - 660 -

Espectacular. Dostoyevski creó a los incels

luca

A raw, chaotic dive into the mind of a man who rejects everything-even himself. Uncomfortable, brilliant, and unlike anything else I’ve read.

Tanishq Khandelwal

Notes from the underground

mr. underground sure is one pessimistic yapper

mint

nihilism final boss, but he's a frequent yapper

ᓚᘏᗢ

Notes from underground, White nights, The dream of a ridiculous man, and selections from The house of the dead

“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.”

Introducing: The Underground Man. He's not like the other guys. He's much superior in intelligence, a man of refined culture, and so acutely aware of his own supposed brilliance that he struggles to treat his fellow human beings as his equals, which leads to his alienation and bitter isolation. But here's the catch: he's also irrational and contradictory.

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground is a novella of bitter self-analysis and existential torment. It features the underground man, an unnamed narrator, a retired civil servant living in 19th-century St. Petersburg, who, from his "underground" perspective, delivers a scathing critique of society and the human condition.

"You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there’s no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man’s nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses. And although our life, in this manifestation of it, is often worthless, yet it is life and not simply extracting square roots."

To be human is to be irrational. One of the prominent themes of Notes from Underground is the absolute rejection of rationalism and utilitarianism. The Underground Man, in his vitriolic monologue, argues that human beings are not simply driven by logic and self-interest. He asserts that humans possess a fundamental desire for free will, even if that free will leads to self-destruction. He delights in acts of spite and contradiction, not because they are beneficial, but because they assert his individuality against the perceived tyranny of reason.

The novella is divided into two parts. The first, "Underground", is a philosophical diatribe, a furious and fragmented outpouring of the narrator's thoughts. He rails against the "crystal palace" of utopian ideals, a world where everything is predictable and harmonious. He argues that such a world would be a prison, devoid of the very essence of humanity: the ability to choose, even if those choices are absurd and harmful. He revels in his own "sick liver," which, I take, is a metaphor for his psychological and emotional decay—viewed as a reflection to his authentic, suffering humanity.

The second part, "Apropos of the Wet Snow," or "On the Occasion of the Wet Snow," (in other translations) shifts to a more narrative structure. It recounts specific incidents from the underground man's past, revealing the consequences of his philosophy. We witness his humiliating encounters with former schoolmates, his desperate attempts to assert dominance, and his ultimately pathetic failure to connect with others. His interactions with Liza, a young prostitute, are particularly pivotal. He attempts to "save" her, but his motives are tainted by his own need for validation and control (*coughs* mansplaining). His cruelty and self-loathing ultimately drive her away, leaving him alone with his festering resentment.

Dostoevsky powerfully devises a narrator who is both repulsive and utterly captivating. The Underground Man's self-awareness is his greatest torment. He recognizes his own failings, his pettiness, and his cruelty, yet he is unable to change—an internal conflict that creates a character of remarkable depth and complexity. He is a man trapped in a cycle of self-destruction, driven by a profound need to assert his individuality in a world that seems determined to erase it. The tone of the novella is relentlessly bleak and cynical. The narrator's voice is filled with bitterness, sarcasm, and self-pity. He is a master of self-deprecation, but his humor is always laced with a dark undercurrent of despair. Dostoevsky's prose mirrors the narrator's fragmented and chaotic mind, creating a sense of unease and disorientation. The novella is a relentless assault on the reader's sensibilities, forcing us to confront the uncomfortable truths about human nature.

Reading Notes from Underground, I'd like to imagine myself sitting in a shadowy, back-alley pub, where a mysterious man suddenly sits in front of me and, with no preamble, starts to make fun of himself, of me, and of society. Listening to this man is a disconcerting spectacle—sometimes I'd laugh with him, sometimes I want to shake him by the shoulders, it's a maelstrom of mixed emotions. But after all pints are down to the dregs and patrons are slowly leaving the place, I realize listening to this mysterious man is no wasted time at all—for I have been forced to confront the unsettling depths of my own inner contradictions.

To conclude, Dostoevsky's exploration of free will, alienation, and the search for meaning resonates with readers today as much as it did in the 19th century. Notes from Underground leaves the reader with a lingering sense of unease, an understanding of the complexities of human nature, and a haunting question: how much of the underground man resides within us all?

Rien

“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.”

Introducing: The Underground Man. He's not like the other guys. He's much superior in intelligence, a man of refined culture, and so acutely aware of his own supposed brilliance that he struggles to treat his fellow human beings as his equals, which leads to his alienation and bitter isolation. But here's the catch: he's also irrational and contradictory.

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground is a novella of bitter self-analysis and existential torment. It features the underground man, an unnamed narrator, a retired civil servant living in 19th-century St. Petersburg, who, from his "underground" perspective, delivers a scathing critique of society and the human condition.

"You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there’s no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man’s nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses. And although our life, in this manifestation of it, is often worthless, yet it is life and not simply extracting square roots."

To be human is to be irrational. One of the prominent themes of Notes from Underground is the absolute rejection of rationalism and utilitarianism. The Underground Man, in his vitriolic monologue, argues that human beings are not simply driven by logic and self-interest. He asserts that humans possess a fundamental desire for free will, even if that free will leads to self-destruction. He delights in acts of spite and contradiction, not because they are beneficial, but because they assert his individuality against the perceived tyranny of reason.

The novella is divided into two parts. The first, "Underground", is a philosophical diatribe, a furious and fragmented outpouring of the narrator's thoughts. He rails against the "crystal palace" of utopian ideals, a world where everything is predictable and harmonious. He argues that such a world would be a prison, devoid of the very essence of humanity: the ability to choose, even if those choices are absurd and harmful. He revels in his own "sick liver," which, I take, is a metaphor for his psychological and emotional decay—viewed as a reflection to his authentic, suffering humanity.

The second part, "Apropos of the Wet Snow," or "On the Occasion of the Wet Snow," (in other translations) shifts to a more narrative structure. It recounts specific incidents from the underground man's past, revealing the consequences of his philosophy. We witness his humiliating encounters with former schoolmates, his desperate attempts to assert dominance, and his ultimately pathetic failure to connect with others. His interactions with Liza, a young prostitute, are particularly pivotal. He attempts to "save" her, but his motives are tainted by his own need for validation and control (*coughs* mansplaining). His cruelty and self-loathing ultimately drive her away, leaving him alone with his festering resentment.

Dostoevsky powerfully devises a narrator who is both repulsive and utterly captivating. The Underground Man's self-awareness is his greatest torment. He recognizes his own failings, his pettiness, and his cruelty, yet he is unable to change—an internal conflict that creates a character of remarkable depth and complexity. He is a man trapped in a cycle of self-destruction, driven by a profound need to assert his individuality in a world that seems determined to erase it. The tone of the novella is relentlessly bleak and cynical. The narrator's voice is filled with bitterness, sarcasm, and self-pity. He is a master of self-deprecation, but his humor is always laced with a dark undercurrent of despair. Dostoevsky's prose mirrors the narrator's fragmented and chaotic mind, creating a sense of unease and disorientation. The novella is a relentless assault on the reader's sensibilities, forcing us to confront the uncomfortable truths about human nature.

Reading Notes from Underground, I'd like to imagine myself sitting in a shadowy, back-alley pub, where a mysterious man suddenly sits in front of me and, with no preamble, starts to make fun of himself, of me, and of society. Listening to this man is a disconcerting spectacle—sometimes I'd laugh with him, sometimes I want to shake him by the shoulders, it's a maelstrom of mixed emotions. But after all pints are down to the dregs and patrons are slowly leaving the place, I realize listening to this mysterious man is no wasted time at all—for I have been forced to confront the unsettling depths of my own inner contradictions.

To conclude, Dostoevsky's exploration of free will, alienation, and the search for meaning resonates with readers today as much as it did in the 19th century. Notes from Underground leaves the reader with a lingering sense of unease, an understanding of the complexities of human nature, and a haunting question: how much of the underground man resides within us all?

perfect book for being a miserable university student. hilarious and depressing in equal measures, cannot be overstated how ridiculous the narrator is.

lauren

Notes from the Underground is Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1864 masterpiece following the ranting, slightly unhinged memoir of an isolated, anonymous civil servant. A dramatic monologue in which the narrator leaves himself open to ridicule and reveals more of his weaknesses than he intends, this influential short novel lays the ground work for the political, religious, moral and political ideas that are explored in Dostoevsky's later works.

emmy 

** spoiler alert **
           Notes from underground is like that book you stumble upon and suddenly everything clicks. Dostoevsky's portrayal of the unnamed narrator, the "underground man," delves into the complexities of existential angst and societal alienation with remarkable depth and insight. 
What struck me most about the novel is Dostoevsky's ability to capture the internal turmoil of the underground man in such vivid detail. His relentless introspection and existential despair serve as a mirror reflecting the inherent contradictions and irrationalities within human nature.
I like how Dostoevsky confronts the reader with uncomfortable truths about the human condition, challenging conventional notions of morality and rationality.
Despite its philosophical depth, "Notes from Underground" maintains a sense of urgency and immediacy, as if Dostoevsky is engaging in a dialogue with the reader, probing the depths of their own psyche. 
I definitely found myself grappling with similar existential questions.

This book reminded me of why I love reading. After years of struggling to get back into reading, “notes from the underground” was a painfully relatable book, with a pathetic MC that you do not want to relate to. Incredibly funny while, at the same time, instigating questioning the deepest parts of your mind. This is for people looking for something dark, that will make you laugh and question your life choices. A perfect book if I have ever read one.

Brunella

Notes from the Underground is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is considered by many to be the world's first existentialist novel. It presents itself as an excerpt from the rambling memoirs of a bitter, isolated, unnamed narrator (generally referred to by critics as the Underground Man) who is a retired civil servant living in St. Petersburg. The first part of the story is told in monologue form, or the underground man's diary, and attacks emerging Western philosophy, especially Nikolay Chernyshevsky's What Is to Be Done?. The second part of the book is called "Apropos of the Wet Snow," and describes certain events that, it seems, are destroying, and sometimes renewing the underground man, who acts as a first person, omniscient narrator.

Notes from Underground is an insightful exploration of the human condition, often overlooked for its complexity and rawness. The protagonist, the Underground Man, serves as a vessel for thoughts and emotions we typically suppress: vanity, self-loathing, and an almost nihilistic awareness of his own flaws. He boldly proclaims that he has taken his actions to extremes that others would never dare to, exposing the cowardice often disguised as prudence in society. In his eyes, his defiance is a form of authenticity, a vitality born from living on the fringes, and perhaps he isn’t entirely wrong. Dostoevsky’s creation of the Underground Man as an anti-hero is nothing short of masterful. The character is deliberately unlikable, blending traits of arrogance, self-pity, and bitterness that make him almost unbearable to read at times. This unflinching characterization drives the novel’s central theme: the estrangement of humanity from the essence of life. Each of us, in a sense, is a metaphorical cripple—crippled by our own doubts, fears, and contradictions. The Underground Man’s shame and internal conflict infuse the narrative with a sense of brutal honesty, transforming the story from a mere account of events into a painful form of self-punishment.

🏹

sani

❝to love meant to tyrannize and hold the upper hand morally. all my life i have been unable to conceive of any other love, and i have reached the stage when i sometimes think now that the whole of love consists in the right, freely given to the lover, to tyrannize over the beloved.❞

my first dostoevsky book and it certainly didn't disappoint. the underground man is bitter, intellectual and hateful. he thinks he's superior to the rest of the stupid faced men but at the same time, he is wary of them. he is so complex. at some point, you'd want to hate him, to like him, to laugh at him, to slap him as well as to sympathize with him.

thanks for getting me out of my reading slump. here are a few quotes that i loved a lot :

❝i love you very much, i torment you out of love, and i want you to feel that.❞

❝destroy my desire, blot out my ideals, show me something better, and i will follow you. perhaps you will say it is not worth while to get.❞

❝after all, perhaps prosperity isn’t the only thing that pleases mankind, perhaps he is just as attracted to suffering. perhaps suffering is just as good for him as prosperity. sometimes a man is intensely, even passionately, attached to suffering – that is a fact.❞

Molly M

oh boy oh boy that was cool :) thanks for lending me ur book, veronica! i’ve never read smth with a narrator Like That before

mila

Atlas

Kendime acıdım yeraltındaki adama acıdım hak verdim üzüldüm ve günümüzle karşılaştırdım. Kendimi fark etmeme yardımcı olduğu gibi zaten bildiklerimin kağıda dökülmesi gibiydi. Bu yüzden okumak kendime ve yeraltındaki adama üçüncü bir kişi olarak bakmamı sağladı. Dediği gibi insanlar doğaya karşı gelemeyip gelecekte de aynı geçmişte de aynı oldular ve olmaya devam edecekler. Güzeldi okumaya değer.

Însemnări din subterană

Khatliyn

maybe im just not a cynic, maybe im just not used to the writing, maybe i just dont enjoy constant pessimistic yapping

Lettuce Wrapped Cabbage Cat

Weird to read a book where the protagonist 

Doesn’t have a helpful perspective. It’s how not to behave. 

Adam Scharf

Weird to read a book where the protagonist 

Doesn’t have a helpful perspective. It’s how not to behave. 

it was an honor to read the thoughts of a professional yapper such as yourself mr. underground man

Ziggy

jack

underneath a veil of absolute moral filth, dostoevsky is able to hide truth concerning both life as we all live it and the perspective of a “””failson””” (i can’t think of a better word at the moment). the rampant sexism is disgusting to read but fits with the rest of the character and works as an attack on the type of person that the narrator is - a type of person that is ever-prevalent today. 

*****

my biggest problem with this book (apart from the shaming of sex workers) can be summed up by this quote from CS Lewis, 
“You can’t go on “seeing through” things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. To “see through” all things is the same as not to see.”
i think dostoevsky does a lot of notable “seeing through” in this book, and reading from a 2019 perspective that seeing through just doesn’t hit as hard as it probably has for most of the time this book has existed. my problem is dostoevsky (in this short story at least) fails to act or offer any insight beyond this simple vision.

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.

Notes from the Underground A Play in Two Acts

Reviews

Popular highlights