Let's be clear from the start: Notes from the Underground is not a book you read for a relaxing escape. It’s more like being trapped in a room with the smartest, angriest person you’ve ever met, and he won’t let you leave until he’s explained exactly why everything—including himself—is terrible.

The Story

The book is split into two parts. First, we get the ‘thesis.’ Our unnamed narrator, the Underground Man, rants directly at us. He’s a retired, isolated man in 1860s Russia, and he’s furious with the popular idea that if people just understood their own self-interest, they’d act rationally and create a perfect society. He calls that nonsense. He believes our greatest desire is to prove we have free will, even if we use that will to act against our own happiness. To prove his point, the second part flashes back twenty years. He shows us his younger self: insecure, desperate for respect, but pathologically unable to connect. We see him humiliate himself trying to get revenge on an officer who ignored him, and we painfully watch him invite himself to a farewell dinner for a former schoolmate where he is clearly not wanted, making everyone (including himself) miserable.

Why You Should Read It

This book is a gut punch of self-awareness. Dostoyevsky isn’t just creating a sad character; he’s pointing a mirror at a part of ourselves we usually ignore. The Underground Man’s spite, his overthinking, his need to feel superior even in his own degradation—it’s all uncomfortably recognizable. Reading it feels like listening to your own worst internal monologue given a voice of terrifying eloquence. It’s also surprisingly funny, in a very dark, ‘I-can’t-believe-he-just-did-that’ way. You’ll cringe, you’ll groan, and you’ll probably see a bit of his stubborn, contradictory spirit in the modern world, from online arguments to our own self-sabotaging habits.

Final Verdict

This is the book for you if you love psychology over action, and characters who feel painfully real over ones who are simply likable. It’s perfect for anyone who’s ever questioned why people (themselves included) make such baffling, irrational choices. If you enjoyed the intense inner worlds of characters like Hamlet or the brutal honesty of a modern memoir, you’ll find a strange, brilliant companion here. Fair warning: it’s a short book, but it’s dense. It demands your attention and isn’t afraid to leave you unsettled. But if you’re up for the challenge, it’s a reading experience you won’t forget.