basement notes

Notes from Underground is a novel written by Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. The book is narrated by the protagonist, the basement man, who is a retired civil servant in his forties. His heart is full of morbid inferiority complex, but he often analyzes himself. The whole book is mainly composed of two parts: the first part is a long monologue of the man in the basement, which discusses such philosophical issues as free will, human irrationality, and historical irrationality. The second part is about the man in the basement looking back on his own past and how he met a prostitute Lisa.

"Notes from Underground" is not only Dostoevsky's masterpiece, but also previews his five important novels: "Crime and Punishment", "Idiot", "Demons", "Youth", "Kara The Mazov Brothers. The book is also considered a turning point in Dostoevsky's creative process. Gide, the Nobel Laureate in Literature, said: "This novel is the culmination of his writing career, his masterpiece, or, if you prefer, the key to his thinking."