Notes from Underground (Vintage Classics)

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.

Good version of the book.

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.

Book came in perfect condition. Loved it

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!

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