Thursday, 20 December 2012

Review of Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Notes from the UndergroundNotes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclosure:
I would admit that I get this edition free of charge translated in English with a nice quality of writing. Actually from Planet eBooks.

My Plot:
The whole story would be freak but I ensure the dear readers that it was all about a Collegiate Assessor whose name was not stated inside the story and also was ill by some sort of Liver disease, This Collegiate Assessor was resigning from his work to live underground with the expense of some of his family who left him voluntarily 6000 Ruble. Forty Years underground was like a best example for the writer to express his Idea. he begin with some explanation of why he was so spiteful and how all his friends hated him because he was despicable. as his narration goes, he starts to address the reader of what is meant by consciousness and the nature laws and how society should be built upon Logic and mind, adding that inside the society there should be a place for God and love. Sometimes the writer recollect some incidents that happens to him during his days of work, including the incident of the officer who ignores him inside the Tavern, the self invitation of the Far-well party of the officer Zherkov that he takes part in, which turns to be a likely riot against him due to his despicable nature. In the last chapters of his notes he narrates his incident with the Tavern maid called Liza, that poor maid whom the writer changed her mind to flee from the bar and to look for a nice life elsewhere better than being a slave for those drunkards, Liza's spirit was so weak that she comes to his underground seeking salvation but he turns out again to be despicable with her. After this incident the writer tell he never hear anything about her and that he continues to rote inside his stinking whole. and thus the writer finishes his notes saying that people should be bound to the society admitting that if we gave society so much freedom they would destroy themselves.

Positive and Negative Aspects:
Speaking of Positive aspects I would say that this book is new brand of the Russian treasure, it is mostly a philosophical account of the writer during the 18 century crisis, in fact the book is bound to be some recommendations for how to build a nice society without social diseases. In addition the Book is tend to be a combination of events and Psychological depiction of its characters. It is a new genre of Literature that comes out from the Russian lands.
Concerning the Negative aspects I would say that this account is so much philosophic, so much that it makes a headache when reading it, especially when the writer in the first chapters plays with the mind of the reader to make a combination between consciousness and logic and nature laws, those three elements were hard to combine them in one example and that's what happens in the Second chapter when the notes writer said that long nerves people won't understand what I am trying to say. In addition to that I would say that the writer is somehow defending the social position of of such despicable persons starting from himself actually.

My Personal Reaction:
I would admit that I mostly gave five stars to this work since it was a Russian heritage of a well-known writer among the eastern hemisphere. In fact it was lesson that I grasp on how to be deal with society and how socialize with all kinds of it. In fact it was philosophical textbook that made me thinking how the 19th century society was like. But I admit that the most devastating punch that breaks my head was the story of that woman who were working in the bar at Haymarket in Petersburg, the writer that It was tortured with the drunkards just for being crying, the description of her state was so shameful, bearing a salted fish and beating the floor with it from its pity and bad lack for being a woman inside these worst beasts. I admit I hate every creature in this world that treats women badly and that's what I am against it all the time.

Recommendations:
I would recommend this book only for those who are fond of the Eastern philosophy and of the works of Dostoevsky in General, the Book is so much philosophic so there is no need to wait for surprise inside its events.

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