Set sixteen years earlier, it follows his disastrous social interactions, including a humiliating dinner with former schoolmates and a complex encounter with a prostitute named Liza.
Dostoevsky wrote the book as a rebuttal to Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s What Is to Be Done? , which argued that humans could be guided by rational self-interest. Notes From Underground
The first part is dense and philosophical; many readers find it easier to push through to Part II, where the narrative provides essential context. Set sixteen years earlier, it follows his disastrous