this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2026
63 points (98.5% liked)
Books
7099 readers
103 users here now
A community for all things related to Books.
Rules
- Be Nice. No personal attacks or hate speech.
- No spam. All posts should be related to books.
- No self promotion.
Official Bingo Posts:
Related Communities
Community icon by IconsBox (from freepik.com)
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
How are the Notes from the Underground? I am thinking or reading them or Karamazovs.
I’m mostly reading it in order to follow Bakhtin’s Problems in Dostoevsky’s Poetics, so I’m kind of viewing it through that lens... I wouldn’t say it’s a compelling read on its own, but it’s interesting to see how Dostoevsky can create a character that engages in its own autonomous dialog with the reader.
I read Notes about 25 years ago and don't remember anything about. I read it recently after Crime and Punishment (which I liked) and some short stories including White Nights (I loved it at the time but feel very differently about it later in my life). I still can't get through Karamazovs, though. I've tried multiple times, but it is so unbelievably boring for me.
As I recall, Notes is a pretty short read, and also pretty good. May I suggest reading it first, and then Karamazovs, which is a much longer book?