Gabe's Final post

I definitely think that Notes from the Underground was worth reading. Although the fact that I read it probably won’t ever benefit me monetarily, the concepts presented by Dostoevsky impacted me greatly and I will probably be applying them for the rest of my life. Although reading it initially was not as enjoyable as I expected since it left me feeling gloomy and somewhat introspective, after the discussions in class I was glad I took the time to read it in its entirety. What really set Notes from the Underground apart from other novels I read in English classes was that it really made me think about myself as an individual. Discussing the walls that most men seek comfort from made me wonder what my wall was and asking questions I would have never thought to ask. Although the novel did not follow a traditional format, I felt like the two parts worked very well as the reader got a more abstract part where the ideas are presented and an entertaining narrative where the ideas are applied. For its length, Notes from the Underground was surprisingly deep. With every turn of the page in the first part another groundbreaking idea was being presented to you to think about and I found that remarkable. To compare it with another book we read, I feel like Notes from the Underground was able to prove more meaningful in the first 10 pages then Atlas Shrugged was able to prove meaningful in its entirety.

            I think that the discussions proved to be very helpful as I definitely would not have been able to catch all of Dostoevsky’s points if we hadn’t discussed them. Even without the discussions, I think the book proved to be very meaningful.  However, the discussions allowed for different opinions and point of views that let me see the book in different ways. They also helped me process my own thoughts as I was forced to give my opinion on certain ideas several times. The part that I most remembered from Notes from the Underground was discussing the walls many people put in front of them for their own comfort.  I also remember when we put our heads down to picture infinite space as it really put the idea of the wall in perspective.