An Apple Books Classic edition.

Widely considered the first modern psychological novel, Notes from the Underground introduces one of literature’s most unforgettable narrators: a lonely, self-destructive civil servant determined to justify his refusal to fit into society. Smart, embittered, and painfully self-aware, he lashes out at the world even as he longs for the connection he insists he doesn’t need.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky crafts a fearless portrait of a mind at war with itself, in language that’s darkly funny and disarmingly vulnerable. As the underground man’s arguments twist themselves into knots, the story becomes a sharp examination of the parts of ourselves we try hardest to hide. Unsettling in its emotional honesty, Notes from the Underground remains a groundbreaking exploration of the contradictions that shape the human soul.