Notes From Underground

"...what is man without desire, without will, and without wishes if not a stop in an organ pipe?"

An 1863 novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky about an unnamed social outcast living in St. Petersburg. Depressed by the city and his own inadequacy, this mysterious Underground Man begins to write a rambling, philosophical journal -- the Notes From Underground.

The novel's divided into two parts: first, the notes ("Underground"), and second, an account of the humiliating events which led to his self-imposed seclusion ("Apropos to Wet Snow").

Deals with themes of existentialism (though it predates the actual movement), free will, and the modern disconnect from others.

Tropes used in Notes From Underground include:

• Author Tract Noticeably averted -- the author's opinions fell just about opposite of the Underground Man's. Dostoevsky was actually using the character as an example of what he saw as the degradation of the human condition.
• Downer Ending
• Foregone Conclusion A minor case, since the second half of the book is a flashback.
• Hikikomori
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold Liza.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold Debatable on the "heart of gold" part, but he does seem to regret everything he's done.
• Large Ham: The thing with a lot of Dostoevsky's characters is that they work on extremes. They not always be in your face bombastic and they may not be loud, but they take whatever trait they have to (or past)its logical extreme to the point of ridiculous, but it serves a purpose.
• Loners Are Freaks The narrator is really terrible at making friends, partly because he's abrasive and rude, and partly because he has major social anxiety.
• Mind Screw
• Nietzsche Wannabe
• No Name Given The narrator.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism Played straight and then invoked. The Underground Man is quite cynical, but works himself up to an idealistic zeal when lecturing the prostitute (whom he's just slept with) on family.
• Unreliable Narrator