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Home > Mere Mortals Book Reviews > Intellectual Yet Irrational | Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Podcast: Mere Mortals Book Reviews
Episode:

Intellectual Yet Irrational | Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:22:29
Publish Date: 2023-06-15 10:00:00
Description:

Gentlemen, I will fight against the stone wall of twice two is four!

'Notes From Underground' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky are the semi-insane rambling of an unnamed narrator in St Petersburg during the 19th century. It's split into two parts: a bitter monologue addressed to society and then his miserable life as a civil servant in his younger years. As typical of Russian novels (especially Dostoyevsky) it centres around suffering, morality, cold winters and reason.

I summarised the book as follows. "It takes time for this book to sink in. I was initially unimpressed in my reading but more appreciative with a bit reflection afterwards (although Part 2 is still meh in my opinion). The Underground Man is a rather sad blend of nihilism, anger, pity & insight. He's not to be emulated but was identifiable as someone who used their intellect in a way that wasn't that smart."

I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!

Timeline:
(0:00) - Intro
(0:37) - Synopsis
(2:21) - Nihilism: Why do anything?
(7:30) - Irrational Rationality: The outcome of trying to fight Nature's laws
(12:04) - Observations/Takeaways
(19:14) - Summary


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