Notes from Underground: SeaWolf Press Classic

Notes from Underground: SeaWolf Press Classic

A nice edition of this 1864 classic. Translated text formatted to be easy-to-read. - A cover based on a painting of the Saint Isaac's Bridge in St. Petersburg, the setting of the book. SeaWolf Press does not use AI-generated images for their covers or illustrations. - Printed locally, not overseas. - Printed on cream-colored paper to better give the feel of reading old classics. - Be sure to use Amazon's 'Read sample' feature to compare our edition with others. Notes from Underground is told in two parts through the voice of a bitter, isolated former civil servant living in St. Petersburg. In the first part, the unnamed narrator—often called the Underground Man—delivers a caustic philosophical monologue from his shabby apartment, railing against rationalism, utopianism, and the idea that humans act in their own self-interest. He insists that people often choose suffering and irrationality simply to assert their free will. The second part recounts humiliating episodes from his past, including his cruel treatment of a young prostitute named Liza, which reveals the self-destructive spite and social alienation that define his character. The book is considered one of the first existentialist novels and a profound exploration of consciousness, freedom, and the paradoxes of human nature. Its confessional style and psychological depth influenced countless later writers and established many themes Dostoevsky would develop in his major novels.