- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (26 Jun 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140442529
- ISBN-13: 978-0140442526
- Product Dimensions: 13.7 x 1.9 x 19.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 337,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Notes from Underground and the Double (Penguin Classics)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
'Notes from Underground' (1864) is a study of a single character, 'the real man of the Russian majority', and a revelation of Dostoyevsky's own deepest beliefs. One of his best critics has said of the first part that it forms his 'most utterly nakedpages.Never afterwards was he so fully and openly to reveal the inmost recesses, unmeant for display, of his heart.' 'The Double' (1846) is the nightmarish story of Mr Golyadkin, a amn who is haunted or possessed by his own double. Is 'Mr Golyadkinjunior' really a double or simply a earful side of his own nature? This uncertainty is what gives urgency and horror to a tale which may be read as a classic study of human breakdown.
About the Author
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821. His first story 'Poor Folk' was published in 1846 and was a great success. He was exiled to Siberia for five years for his participation in the 'Petrashevsky Circle'. He returned to Moscow to begin the review 'Vremya' (Time). Later in life he fell deeply in debt but his second marriage to Anna Snitkina helped him to put his affairs in order. He died in 1881, six months after delivering his famous speech for the unveiling of Pushkin's memorial.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I AM a sick man. ... I am an angry man. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I AM a sick man. ... I am an angry man. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The pain and beauty of paradox in the brutal depictions of shallowness of the unnamed character in Notes and the tortured figure of Golyadkin in The Double. Worth reminding that these are commentaries on a brutal Russian society whose dysfunctions are revealed in the comical servility of the middle class. Dostoyevsky reveals the unspoken worship of Reason with its social attachments that rob people of their own minds.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You get two short novels for the price of one in this fantastic book. Spanning eighteen years you can also see here how Dostoyevsky's writing developed over the years. I know some people don't like reading his stuff, but really it is well worth doing so as he shows some great psychological insight and you can always gain new insights in re-reading his work. Indeed I have been reading and re-reading all his works ever since I was commuting to and from work in my late teens.
Notes From the Underground
Although this is the later of the two pieces this appears first in this book, and it was published shortly before Dostoyevsky started his wonderful 'Crime and Punishment'. The tale has an anonymous narrator who sees himself as cleverer and better than the normal person. Slowly becoming more alienated and lonely he can't seem to understand how others can get on in life, whilst he still stays in the same job with no prospects, indeed he believes people are exaggerating or lying. Being hyper-sensitve he feels every insult - however minor, and tries to provoke arguments that others just simply ignore. Being felt put upon he tries to take it out on those in a lower strata. He does come to some type of epiphany about himself, and his self doubts and self questioning, but he never changes who he is. Quite bleak but also with a trace of deeply black humour running through it, this shows why Dostoyevsky is one of the world's greatest writers.
The Double
This is an early work by Dostoyevsky and is sometimes overlooked in this country as it isn't considered to be one of his later great masterpieces, but don't ignore it because of that. Building upon the German tradition of the Doppelganger, our hapless hero comes face to face with himself. Is this new person a seperate identity, or is our hero's alter ego come to life? Our hero Mr Golyadkin has been hmiliated and been having a bad time of it, so when his double appears he fixates upon him. The new double Golyadkin slowly starts to insinuate himself into places, taking credit for the originals work etc., but does the double really exist? If you liked 'Fight Club' you will probably enjoy this story.
Both tales show Dostoyevsky's masterful grasp of psychology and the roots of fears that underlie modern living. These two tales aren't just pieces of nineteenth century literature, they breathe and are just as relevant today as they were then, indeed whilst man still lives these two tales will always be relevant. Also underlying both these tales is a deep strain of black humour, after all this greatest of great writers could see what what is darkly black and humourous in normal day to day living. This is well worth a read and you will want to keep coming back to both these stories throughout the years.
Notes From the Underground
Although this is the later of the two pieces this appears first in this book, and it was published shortly before Dostoyevsky started his wonderful 'Crime and Punishment'. The tale has an anonymous narrator who sees himself as cleverer and better than the normal person. Slowly becoming more alienated and lonely he can't seem to understand how others can get on in life, whilst he still stays in the same job with no prospects, indeed he believes people are exaggerating or lying. Being hyper-sensitve he feels every insult - however minor, and tries to provoke arguments that others just simply ignore. Being felt put upon he tries to take it out on those in a lower strata. He does come to some type of epiphany about himself, and his self doubts and self questioning, but he never changes who he is. Quite bleak but also with a trace of deeply black humour running through it, this shows why Dostoyevsky is one of the world's greatest writers.
The Double
This is an early work by Dostoyevsky and is sometimes overlooked in this country as it isn't considered to be one of his later great masterpieces, but don't ignore it because of that. Building upon the German tradition of the Doppelganger, our hapless hero comes face to face with himself. Is this new person a seperate identity, or is our hero's alter ego come to life? Our hero Mr Golyadkin has been hmiliated and been having a bad time of it, so when his double appears he fixates upon him. The new double Golyadkin slowly starts to insinuate himself into places, taking credit for the originals work etc., but does the double really exist? If you liked 'Fight Club' you will probably enjoy this story.
Both tales show Dostoyevsky's masterful grasp of psychology and the roots of fears that underlie modern living. These two tales aren't just pieces of nineteenth century literature, they breathe and are just as relevant today as they were then, indeed whilst man still lives these two tales will always be relevant. Also underlying both these tales is a deep strain of black humour, after all this greatest of great writers could see what what is darkly black and humourous in normal day to day living. This is well worth a read and you will want to keep coming back to both these stories throughout the years.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dostoyevsky is a ruthless observer of human nature, most of which he appears to have learned from brutal examination of himself. These two novellas, from different periods of his output, have at least this in common. The truth he offers is that one is more concerned about what other people think than any other factor in living a life, and both of Dostoyevsky's heroes are miserable vicitms in this regard. The conduct of the self in public is executed in a tense, brittle and cruel framework, with neither forgiveness nor respite offered in the harsh reality his characters inhabit. Dostoyevsky's world is a disturbing one, and makes for compelling, if uncomfortable, reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
notes from underground and the double
After reading several of Dostoyevsky's novels I decided to take on Notes from Underground + The Double. Read more
Published 2 months ago by LOLittlehero
Notes From Underground and The Double
For anyone who likes Dostoevsky, these are good and well known stories. I did not prefer them to his novels, although they were still very well written and the kind of literature... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Alex
they don't do em like this anymore
it's a real pleasure to read literature with guts and invention and vision. it doesn't matter how old it is or which country it comes from. it makes me feel there's hope yet. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2005 by Bogdan Tiganov
Funny........... but oh so true
Brilliant, he moves you without seeming to move himself. Of all the emotions he puts across, and there are many, the strongest is not despair or hatred, but mere (read not-so-mere... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 1999
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