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136
Novel • Fiction
St. Petersburg, Russia • 1860s
1864
Vintage Classics
Adult
18+ years
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky is an 1864 novella divided into two parts: Part 1 is a philosophical monologue by the 40-year-old Underground Man, who is disillusioned with society and explores ideas like determinism and human nature; Part 2 recounts events from his early adulthood, highlighting his interactions with coworkers, classmates, and a woman named Liza, ultimately revealing the roots of his nihilistic outlook. The novella references sex trafficking.
Contemplative
Mysterious
Melancholic
Dark
Challenging
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Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky is both celebrated and critiqued. Admirers praise its deep psychological exploration and the raw, introspective portrayal of the human condition. Detractors, however, find its narrative style fragmented and the protagonist excessively nihilistic. Overall, it remains a seminal work in existential literature. Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground.
Readers who enjoy introspective, philosophical, and psychologically complex narratives akin to Albert Camus' The Stranger or Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis will find Notes from Underground engaging. Such readers usually appreciate existential themes, moral dilemmas, and the exploration of the human psyche.
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Liza
A young woman working in a brothel whom the Underground Man meets, notable for her initial resignation to her situation and her interactions with the narrator.
Notes from Underground is considered by many to be one of the first existentialist novels, setting the stage for a genre that would explore the complexities of human free will and irrationality.
The novella introduces a "hyperconscious" protagonist, reflecting Dostoevsky's deep interest in psychology and foreshadowing themes he would later expand upon in works like Crime and Punishment.
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The philosophical ideas presented in Notes from Underground heavily influenced 20th-century existential thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.
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136
Novel • Fiction
St. Petersburg, Russia • 1860s
1864
Vintage Classics
Adult
18+ years
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