Notes from Underground/Poor People/The Friend of the Family

by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett (Translator), Ernest J. Simmons (introduction)

1846–Bednye lyudi/Бедные люди/Poor Folk
1859–Selo Stepanchikovo i ego obitateli/Село Степанчиково и его обитатели/The Village of Stepanchikovo/The Friend of the Family/The Friend of Stepanchikovo
1864–Zapiski iz podpolya/Записки из подполья/Notes from Underground

Genres: Fiction, Russia, Classics, Russian Literature, Literature

511 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1864

About the author

Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский (Russian)

Works, such as the novels Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), of Russian writer Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky or Dostoevski combine religious mysticism with profound psychological insight.

Very influential writings of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin included Problems of Dostoyevsky's Works (1929),

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky composed short stories, essays, and journals. His literature explores humans in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century and engages with a variety of philosophies and themes. People most acclaimed his Demons(1872) .

Many literary critics rate him among the greatest authors of world literature and consider multiple books written by him to be highly influential masterpieces. They consider his Notes from Underground of the first existentialist literature. He is also well regarded as a philosopher and theologian.

(Russian: Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (see also Fiodor Dostoïevski)

Reviews

[Breanna (Zumhof) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still reading this paired with Sartre. I'm kinda tired these days. Imagine that!

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two short novels, Notes from Underground and Poor People were exceedingly depressing. The third novel, The Friend of the Family was a confusing, energetic, and very interesting account of a most dysfunctional family with a manipulative and vain Fomo, a sentimental and weak-willed Colonel and a host of characters whose exact disposition and character seemed to change as the wind. I was set on despising several of them, but Dostoyevsky made me sympathetic to almost all of them. If it were just this novel, I would have given this 4 stars.

[Stephen Kozeniewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY is a comic masterpiece. I couldn't stop laughing, except I kept waiting for Foma Fomitch to get his comeuppance. The other two were all right, you know, Dostoevsky is always superior.

[Sarah Hall Steiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Notes" is a story I'd read over and over again. Must be the Constance Garnett translation though.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I do love Dostoevsky there are some works that are best read in a group or literature class.
Notes from the underground-a civil servant reviewing his life and views on "consciousness" vs. "intelligence" sort of like one long soliloquy to the "reader" with the "underground man" pouring through his thoughts and philosophy on free will, suffering, principles, hate, isolation, society and class

poor people-epistolary novel where two cousins write to eachother-themes of money, wealth, suffering, and fate. It was an interesting account of how one can find appreciation for things even when they have so little, the fleeting nature of money, and how easy it is to be lured into something you don't really love when promised a rich and easy life.

The friend of the family-was the more enjoyable of the 3 to read-mostly because it followed a typical novel/narrative form. I was surprised I appreciated it so much-I am not typically one for comedy. There is a ridiculousness to how manipulative and yet loved foma is by all the characters, and how each character is hiding something or acting for their own volition. I was so happy when foma ran away and fell into a ditch, only to come and be welcomed back! I think the narrator was truly the only semi-sane person in the whole thing.

[Gary Ruiz]

he's angry

[Joey From the Block · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh brother, this guy STINKS

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first short story "The double" was truly hilarious. I couldn't finish the rest due to poor mental state unfortunately. I would love to revisit this if I can ever get back on my ADHD meds.

[Michael Buchanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dostoyevsky writes with a wonderful sense of self awareness. His character in Notes from the Underground is a self possessed buffoon who makes the most petty arguments because of his own sense of pride. I laughed and cringed as I read it.
The other two stories were less interesting. The Friend of the Family was a long winded tale of a house full of idiots allowing another idiot to boss them around. I got frustrated with the lack of sense, and maybe that was the point. The real problem came from the indistinct characters and the boring dialogue. So much repetition!
I couldn't even finish Poor People. It was basically two people writing letters back and forth and the guy was sending her grapes and linens and she was saying "you can't afford it" and he was saying "I'll do anything for you my love" and pages and pages of that. I couldn't relate to any of it. The times they have a'changed.

[Fatma Adel · Rating 2 out of 5]

there is no doubt that this book was different,strange ,creative somehow but i didnot like it, it made me depressed by mixing feelings and trying to explain it
u can not estimate if the feelings of the narrator was anger ,peace,love or hatred all what ifeel when i read that book is a miss

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this modestly priced paperback up new for its translation of Friend of the Family, having read Notes from Underground and Poor People previously.

[Arman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good social novel.