Notes from Underground (Everyman's Library, 271) (ISBN 1857152719)

hard read:
There are two parts to these 'Notes'; the first (shorter) part is a philosophical diatribe which most interesting discussions revolve around the Underground man's challange to 'rational egoism' and defense of free will. The second part is a biographical account of the Underground man's relations between some old classmates and a prostitute named Liza. Ultimately, the Underground man is a complex, condtradictory, and fragmented character thoroughly alienated from society. His interactions with his classmates illustrates this well: simultananeously, he desires to become best chums with them but just as quickly would challenge one of them to a duel. He believes himself to be superior to them intellectually but never fails to utterly humiliate himself in front of them. The story climaxes with the Underground man's meeting with Liza who he at first shows some sort of kindness but then in the future refuses to treat her humanely or build any sort of decent relationship. He seems to be incapable of love or compassion. While not a long read, it is hard - especially the first part. It is a story that should probably be read more than once to be able to comprehend it.

Notes From Underground:
Notes From Underground is a difficult but immensely gratifying and important read. Critics tend to refer to the Underground Man as a 'Mad Genius'; I beg to differ. He is the epitome of the average thinking human albeit with a shocking amount of self awareness. The Underground Man seems to be aware of the delusions he brings upon himself and the the facade he puts on in front of society. In the end, it is that self awareness that makes him better than the rest of us; but only marginally. Compulsory reading for anyone who appreciates existentialist literature and despite what you think, the book is ultimately quite uplifting.

Brilliant:
Fortunately, I missed reading this in high school- after finally reading it in my twenties, I honestly couldn't imagine having gotten nearly this much out of it. It's a brilliant character study of a sublime anti-hero. If this was "put on you" in high school and you hated it, I would strongly recommend giving it another go.

Bracing expose of 19th century thinking:
This was a dark comedy exposing the vanity of liberal enlightenment thinking. The book is often grim, bracing, and anti-climactic. It is the story of some deranged lunatic who boasts of his inability to adapt to society. He is indeed sick, as the opening line, one of the most famous in all of literature, suggests. In many ways this book is a dark parallel to St Augustine's *Confessions.* But unlike Augustine, this is not a book of praise. The first part of the book he explains in a few thoughts what is wrong with him and society. IN the second part of the book he illustrates that by a dinner party with some worthless people who have happened to have found some money in their position in life. The most (anti) climactic part is at the end, in his conversation with the prostitute Liza. Does he save her? Or does she save him? At any rate, we soon see that it is not the narrator but society that is sick.

"I AM A SICK MAN...I am a wicked man.":
Brilliant... One of my favorite Dostoevsky books! It's a short tale that explores the neurotic mind. From the first line... "I AM A SICK MAN...I am a wicked man." This work is a painfully honest fictional exploration into the human heart. MikeG