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Average Customer Rating:

hard read

Customer Rating:

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.

Brilliant	Customer Rating:
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.

Notes From Underground

Customer Rating:

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.

Superb character development	Customer Rating:
The underground man is the best-developed character I have come across. A reader can take what they want from this book. Everyone's reaction will vary. I'm sure there are people who won't enjoy it but I can not imagine anyone not finding it thought-provoking

"I AM A SICK MAN...I am a wicked man."	Customer Rating:
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