Notes From Underground by Dostoevsky

>>9026336
>Being overly conscious/cultivated is a sickness, leading to self loathing, anxiety and doubt.
I believe that he was fundamentally the same when he wrote his memoirs and when he was in school.

If you liked Notes from Underground then read his other short stories, especially White Nights and A Gentle Creature. They are very easy to read, and have more emotion from the romance angle than Notes from Underground has.

>>9026336
>Being overly conscious/cultivated is a sickness, leading to self loathing, anxiety and doubt.

Not necessarily. It's important to not the historical context of the novel and consider how society treats Zverkov and the narrator.

The narrator is undeniably a well-educated and smart man. Society, however, fully rejects the narrator who is forced to work a menial, miserable job and be entirely unhappy with his existence.

Zverkov, on the other hand, is a piece of shit, yet Zverkov is the type of person whom is lauded by Russian society at the time. Keep in mind the footnote at the beginning of the novel, where Dostoevsky indicated that this is a work of fiction, yet such men must exist, because these are the types of men that Russian society produces.

At the time Russia was still essentially operating under feudalism. Europe was moving towards democracies and republics, and their philosophy was influencing Russian society. So Russian society was extremely backwards compared to European society at the time, yet Russian citizens had access to revolutionary European philosophy. This is one of the many reasons that there are not many renowned Russian philosophers; Russian society stifled dissenting thought, but some authors (such as Dostoevsky) could get away with pseudo-philosophical novels.

>The man of heightened conscious is not a man of action. To act, one must be at ease and without doubt.

The man of action thing really boils down to the narrator's interaction with the officer that the narrator perceived as disrespecting him (note again, Russian society's dismissal of the narrator, and the narrator's awareness of this dismissal). The officer doesn't give two shits about the narrator, but the narrator becomes obsessed with earning some abstract respect.

When the narrator bumps the officer the narrator is elated, but only temporarily. This whole man of action thing is a result of the narrator's simultaneous inferiority/superiority complex.

I'm typing a lot and need to sleep. I love discussing this novel, so I'll check this thread tomorrow if there are responses. Have a good night, /lit/.

I love this book but it depresses the shit out of me. One of the most memorable parts for me is when he talks about how man is the master of ungratefulness. You can think everything you've ever wanted is X and once you achieve/get it you'll quickly lose interest and become depressed again.

>>9026642
>The best definition of a man is a being that goes on two legs and is ungrateful.

>>9026658

Also, is you guys enjoy this novel you MUST read Albert Camus "The Fall". I'm sure many /lit/ fucks have read it, but it's a must-read if you haven't yet.

>>9026336
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! i sincerely hope you didn't read the P+V translation for this. for other books, their translations are bulky and unnecessary—for this book, they completely fuck up the meaning!

the most egregious example i can think of is how they translate "spiteful" as "wicked". seriously? the protag is a "wicked" man, with no further context? unbelievable that they should miss out on one of the central themes—the human ability to sustain oneself on hate and disillusion, rather than love and hope.

apparently, if it weren't for my father-in-law, P would have never met V (or vice-versa) and the world would be a better place

>>9026782
Yes it was P&V in the Vintage edition. They are ubiquitous, though. I still got the idea he was a spiteful man from the rest of the book. On reflection, I might scribble out 'wicked' and restore 'spiteful' in my own copy.

For Crime And Punishment I enjoyed McDuff's translation.

>>9026547
I happen to have an Oxford volume with White Nights and A Gentle Creature (Myers trans) in my stack so I will get to them soon.

>>9026782
I'm pretty sure P ordered V off of some website.

>>9026782
>>9026822
When will people stop falling for the P&V meme? I also enjoyed McDuff's translation of C&P so I ordered his translation of Demons. I'm looking forward to it.

>>9026336
I have just read this book and I enjoyed it very much, but none of the above came to my mind.

>The man of heightened conscious is not a man of action. To act, one must be at ease and without doubt.
I think this is true.

I found the book as a wonderful description of Russia in the 19th century and a powerful and detailed observation of human interaction. After this book I know much more about the Russian soul.

File: 51C2wDROjLL._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg (52KB, 313x499px) Image search: [Google]

52KB, 313x499px

A truly amazing book.