No. 104 - Notes from Underground

During last night's episode of Lost, one of the characters (Hurley, if you are a Lostie like me) picked up a copy of a book which the camera took an extra second to focus on. I replayed the scene to try and read the title of the book. I could not and concluded that it must be written in a foreign language, of which I am fluent in none.

Indeed it was. This morning I learned that the Russian book, Zapiski iz podpol’ya, is translated in English as Notes from Underground. It is a short novel written in 1864 by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I recall that another novel by Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, was also referenced in Lost. I recall this because that book is still sitting unread in my library. It taunts me every now and then as I walk by. I stop, pick it up, read a passage, and then put it back on the shelf.

I learned that Notes from Underground is considered by many to be the world's first existentialist novel.

Allaboutphilosophy.com had this to say about Existentialism:

Existentialism is a 20th century philosophy concerned with human existence, finding self, and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. The belief that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook without the help of laws, ethnic rules, or traditions.

Notes from Underground is available as a free Kindle book at Amazon so I downloaded it. Will it taunt me to read it? Sure it will. Along with dozens and dozens of other books that regularly try to persuade me to read them too.