Notes from the Underground is a novel published by Dostoevsky in 1864. It remains as one of the most important works of existentialist literature. In this work Dostoevsky attempts to justify the existence of individual freedom as a necessary part of humankind.  

The novel consists of two parts. The first one, titled simply “Underground” is told through an unnamed narrator, known as the Underground Man. This part serves as an introduction into the mind of the Underground Man. The second part of the novel is called "Apropos of the Wet Snow”, where he begins to recount his troubled past experiences when he was 24 years old. His inability to interact with other people causes his attempts to form relationships and participate in life to end in disaster and drives him deeper underground.  

Notes from the Underground launches an attack on all ideologies of social progress which aspire to the elimination of suffering (which cannot be eradicated), solving one problem and directing our nature to become unhappy in other ways. It is a novel against Utilitarianism, Utopianism & Rational Egoism.

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