Michael’s Reviews > Notes from Underground > Status Update

An incredible density of observations about the human psyche can be found in a mere 20 pages or so. The underground man points out that humans, while suffering from pain, also derive pleasure out of it. That we nurse our wounds and flaunt them at the same time. He lambasts utopianism, determinism and the idea that our purpose (if such a thing exists) would be rational. Clear to see how he influenced existentialism.

"How can a man of consciousness have the slightest respect for himself?"

"But all the same I am firmly convinced that not only too much consciousness but even any consciousness at all is a sickness. I stand on it."

Oh good I get to see the worst version of my inner monologue mirrored and amplified onto the page! Very clear this heavily influenced both Camus' "The Fall" and Sartre's Nausea.