Natalie's Tuesday Post

I think that Notes From the Underground was my favorite book we have read this year. Despite being short (which was really great, especially compared to Atlas Shrugged) it was very dense. Dostoyevsky manages to bring up many interesting points about human nature. I enjoyed this book mostly because I thought it was easy to relate to. I think that he points out many things that people feel and think about on the inside, but that not many people sit down to write about. Unlike many other books, Dostoyevsky gives the reader this information in a very straight forward way (especially in Part 1) which is why it was also a difficult read. Dostoyevsky points out specifics of human nature, and basically shows how bizarre humans are. His constant contradiction also shows the strange ways in which people work. I really liked at the end when he basically says that he does not even believe the stuff he has written, and that it’s all just a lie. It reminded me of when someone is asked to describe themselves. They will start listing their characteristics and the way that they act, and how they feel about certain things and about their emotions. But then when you finish you look back and you realize that half of it is not true, even though it feels true. (I have no idea how to describe this feeling) In the end I think it’s that it is hard to label any aspect of who you are because as soon as you label them you are confined. I think it was worth reading, because it was very different from other stuff I have read and even if you don’t believe in what Dostoyevsky says I think the exposure to NFTU is valuable. I definitely believe that the discussion helped, because at times I either did not see the same things as other people or I simply missed the idea. I also liked discussing it because I liked hearing everyone’s feedback.