Notes from Underground; The Double (Penguin Classics)

To commence, I am blown away by the scale of Dostoevsky. His characters are alive. His St. Petersburg is bustling and his words eloquent. As a first time Fyodor reader, I see no better place to start. This penguin classics edition contains expertly translated copies of "Notes from Underground", "The Double" and some extra history of the author (time line etc...). "Notes from Underground" starts with the rambling of an anonymous character who shares his sadness and angst of being oppressed by society. Albeit a tedious start, "Notes from Underground" continues to the second part, detailing his reappearance in society and the inherent problems. "The Double" (although I knew most of the plot because of some other reviews) was more chilling, with more drama and impact. It explores the life a man possessed by his twin double. A twin myself, although fraternal, imaginative thoughts added to the mysterious nature of the story. The themes of both stories are existentialist and further probe the human consciousness. If you have read my other reviews, this is a great follow-up or precursor to "The Stranger" by Albert Camus.
Thank you for reading,
C.K.

Penguin classic has included two of Fyodor Dostoevsky's greatest short pieces of fiction in one volume.
"Notes from Underground" was published in 1864 shortly before the novelist produced his classic novel "Crime and Punishment". This shorter work informs the characterization of Raskolnikov in "Crime and Punishment." The anonymous narrator presents himself in print as a person who is deeply disillusioned with his life. He is a failure in life, love and quest for meaning in a St. Petersburg fog of bureacracy and poverty. He meets a prostitute named Lisa but she disappears in a swirling St. Petersburg fog. He views himself as an "insect". The work is a precursor of such works as Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" in which the main charcter is turned into a beetle. Dostoevsky is not for those seeking a cheerful, sunlit read on a lovely beach! The narrator of the tale is very skeptical of human goodness. He is distrustful of everyone believing that life is a succession of troubles until the final chapter ends in the obscurity of the grave.
The early story "The Double" is the most interesting of the two included in this Penguin Classics Edition. The tale focuses on a nonentity named Golyadkin who is tortured by the appearance of a man who is his exact image! (He is called Goldyadkin Jr!). Golyadkin is a wretch of an individual. He reminds this reader of a character out of Gogol who specialized in portraying the lives of St. Petersburg's poor caught in the web of Tsarist governmental ministries. The tale ends in a macabre way as Golyadkin is taken away to what is, probably, a mental institution.
Does Golyadkin Jr. exist or is he a figment of the imagination of Golyadkin Sr? We not know. This tale is written as the fog of St. Petersburg wraps the main character in obscurity and despair.
These two tales are good introductions to Dostoevsky's shorter fiction. The themes evident in these tales are:
a. A feeling of despairing anomie
b. A person who believes he is trapped like an insect in the webs of modern society.
c. A belief that life is difficult, complex and often confusing to ordinary people.

Dostoyevsky's 'Notes from Underground,' is often called the first truly existential work of literature in the history of the west. Yet I think it is read today for the very seem reasons we always read Dostoevsky: for his command over intensity, his genuine and masterly sense of atmosphere, and his ability to psychologize those who are suffering. 'Notes from Underground,' is a true masterpiece in that it recreates the truth of genuine alienation and hatred. It laid the basis for all great works of existential art to follow, from the Stranger to Taxi Driver. Truly a dark gem of European literature.

I found the Double, by contrast, to be rather tired and uninteresting. Perhaps it is because Kakfa and Freud has handled the theme of the doppelganger far more interestingly. I found it difficult to get into this one. It seems to me that the translation rang a little flat in comparison to Notes. Nevertheless, its an entertaining read, though one could never put it in the same class as great Dostoyevsky.

Dostoyevski's underground man character, although conceived in 1864, presages by more than 50 years the alienation and disaffection that became so widespread in the 20th century, especially in the so-called "lost generation" that grew up between the two world wars. As such, it became the pattern for generations of other literary anti-heroes whose existential angst was to reverberate through literature for the next hundred years and beyond. Overall, still a great classic and one whose philosophical and literary influences still resonate today.

Dostoyevsky is of interest for another reason that has only recently come to the attention of medical science. Based on the notes in his diaries, Dostoyevsky may have had the very unusual neurological condition known as temporal-lobe epilepsy. This form of epilepsy produces no motor convulsions or seizures as in the classical Jacksonian epilepsy that is so well known. Rather, the effects are on the person's mental and emotional state.

In his notebooks Dostoyevsky reported experiencing visions and emotional states of such an intense nature, saying that that were so ecstatic that one would be willing give up one's life to experience it one more time, that it seems likely he did indeed have this rare neurological syndrome. It can produce intensely vivid imagery and visions, and ecstatic and euphoric emotional states. However, in some cases, it also produces uncontrollable rage and violence, but it appears that Dostoyevsky had the more pleasant and benign form of this disease.

Having studied the excerpts from his diaries describing these experiences and compared them to contemporary patients who have been diagnosed with the disease, the evidence seems compelling to me too that he did indeed have this condition. How it ultimately affected his writing I don't know, but perhaps this will be something that will enable us to gain further insight into his writings in the future.

"The Double" is a delightful tale written very much in the manner of Gogol. In his "Lectures on Russian Literature," Nabokov says, "The very best thing he [Dostoyevsky] ever wrote seems to me to be 'The Double.' It is the story -- told very elaborately, in great, almost Joycean detail ..., and in a style intensely saturated with phonetic and rhythmical expressiveness -- of a government clerk who goes mad, obsessed by the idea that a fellow clerk has usurped his identity. It is a perfect work of art, that story ...." But Nabokov does not think so well of Dostoyevsky's other works. He finds his work wanting both in art and in genius. Dostoyevsky was too much influenced by mystery and sentimental novels.

Perhaps Nabokov's dismissal of "Notes from Underground" is appropriate from a purely literary point of view, but the novel is of interest from a philosophical point of view. In the first part of the novel, the narrator is speaking to an imaginary audience. The narrator is obsessed with free will and is at pains to argue against the Enlightenment view that freedom and happiness are complementary. He is spiteful, not from some personality disorder, but rather from his philosophy. The second part involves detailed, and at times humorous, remembered humiliations. And then the noble prostitute. As Nabokov says at this point, "The conversations are very garrulous and very poor, but please go on to the bitter end. Some of you may like it more than I do."