Notes from The Underground

By: Fyodor Fostoyevsky

A must read! The central character is worthy of praise and disgust. The story is narrated in first person by an ambiguous and mysterious Underground man who revels in the misery of others and delights in his own lack of self worth. He's a low, sickly creature, inhabiting the depths of a mind plagued by consciousness, philosophizing at odd instances about life, love and the nature of freedom.

There is no actual plot in the first half of the book. An awful, self-pitying rant about the pain and disgust he feels filters through his mind and find its way to us, the proposed subject of his monologue, the hypocritical and vile reader. There is no redemption; no catharsis; no sense of purpose, meaning or direction, merely a menacing account of his own sense of self, being and crippled pride.

A fascinating study about the human psyche and the moral degradation that follows from years of stifling the spirit and torturing the consciousness. It's a great read and will change the way you think yo!