Notes from Underground is widely considered the forerunner of modernist literature and one of Dostoevsky’s greatest literary achievements. The novel recounts the thoughts and encounters of a civil servant known only as The Underground Man who has quit his job and lives in a basement flat on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, surviving on a small inheritance. His humiliation turns to an inward-turning aggression that further reinforces his alienation from mainstream society.
Includes a contribution by Patrick Maxwell, the letter that Dostoevsky wrote to his brother on the day he was to be executed, a biographical timeline, and suggested reading.
Cuprins
Notes from Underground1
Author’s Note3
Part 15
Part 235
Letter from Dostoevsky to His Brother102
Notes from Underground and Dostoevsky’s Existentialism by Patrick Maxwell107
Biographical Timeline111
Suggested Reading117
Despre autor
Patrick Maxwell is an English writer and journalist. He writes on literature for The Big Issue and The London Magazine, and is a regular commentator for The Article magazine and Classical Music Daily. He lives near Oxford.