Notes From Underground & Other Stories (Wordsworth Classics)

Fyodor Dostoevsky

ISBN 10: 1840225777 / ISBN 13: 9781840225778

Published by Wordsworth Editions Ltd, United Kingdom, Herts, 2015

With an Introduction and Notes by David Rampton, Department of English, University of Ottowa. Notes from Underground and Other Stories is a comprehensive collection of Dostoevskys short fiction. Many of these stories, like his great novels, reveal his special sympathy for the solitary and dispossessed, explore the same complex psychological issues and subtly combine rich characterization and philosophical meditations on the (often) dark areas of the human psyche, all conveyed in an idiosyncratic blend of deadly seriousness and wild humour. In Notes from Underground, the Underground Man casually dismantles utilitarianism and celebrates in its stead a perverse but vibrant masochism. A Christmas Tree and a Wedding recounts the successful pursuit of a young girl by a lecherous old man. In Bobok, one Ivan Ivanovitch listens in on corpses gossiping in a cemetery and ends up deploring their depravity. In A Gentle Spirit, the narrator describes his dawning recognition that he is responsible for his wifes suicide. In short, as a commentator on spiritual stagnation, Dostoevsky has no equal. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR008336039

Synopsis:

With an Introduction and Notes by David Rampton, Department of English, University of Ottowa. Notes from Underground and Other Stories is a comprehensive collection of Dostoevsky’s short fiction. Many of these stories, like his great novels, reveal his special sympathy for the solitary and dispossessed, explore the same complex psychological issues and subtly combine rich characterization and philosophical meditations on the (often) dark areas of the human psyche, all conveyed in an idiosyncratic blend of deadly seriousness and wild humour. In Notes from Underground, the Underground Man casually dismantles utilitarianism and celebrates in its stead a perverse but vibrant masochism. A Christmas Tree and a Wedding recounts the successful pursuit of a young girl by a lecherous old man. In Bobok, one Ivan Ivanovitch listens in on corpses gossiping in a cemetery and ends up deploring their depravity. In A Gentle Spirit, the narrator describes his dawning recognition that he is responsible for his wife’s suicide. In short, as a commentator on spiritual stagnation, Dostoevsky has no equal.

Review: '...a rant against natural laws and a scream of defiance form the man who lives underground. This book, superbly presented as always by Hesperus, is essential reading for the twenty-first century. Warning: not for the faint-hearted!' --The Use of English

'a canny work of literature... "Notes" is still a work of modern literature; it still can kick' --The New Yorker

Bibliographic Details

Title: Notes From Underground & Other Stories (...
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, United Kingdom, Herts
Publication Date: 2015
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good