Hitler: A Chronology of his Life & Time - Milan Hauner

Milan Hauner – Hitler: A Chronology of his Life and Time (2008)
History – 220 pages – my copy borrowed from the University of Plymouth Library and read during November 2011
- 3 nods out of 5 -



Another book on Hitler? The author, Milan Hauner, is the first to put his hands up, commenting: ‘Thousands of books have been written about Adolf Hitler, and yet more will be written.’ But why outpouring after outpouring? Hauner is keen to point to another author’s statement that: ‘We are not finished with Hitler yet.’ Yes, not finished by a long chalk.

The Worm, like many others out there in Book-Reading-Land, has done more than his fair share of Hitler-reading, including the good, the bad and the ugly. But something always draws us back for more. An explanation of how it came to be, analysis of Hitler as a man and a leader. It is the great human quest to continue to ask: WHY?

Hauner is one of many thousands of other authors who have attempted such explanation. However, where this book deviates is its complete lack of descriptive narrative and analysis; but rather a mere chronology of events and facts. At first, the reader may ask what is the point in such a task? In the words of W.G. Hoskins, it is the mere meat and potatoes of History; and not the finalised cooked meal. But the Worm argues that it is just this reason that makes Hauner’s book so readable and worthy. It is down to the reader to analyse, to investigate, and see the woods for the trees.

And to be fair, it is not a mere, drab recording of Hitler’s life (from day one as a baby to the cyanide death in the Berlin bunker), but rather a fantastic collection of quotes and events. We, the reader, are with Hitler, day by day, as he jets off to campaign for more votes across Germany, as he calls in the generals for the invasion of Soviet Russia, and in his manic, rabble of an end as he spits against those who have conspired against him.

For example, here a couple of selected quotes from the mind of Hitler that Hauner sees fit to place in the book:

23 May 1939
Hitler tells Raeder he recognises three kinds of secrets:
‘The first is between you and me, the second I keep secret to myself, and the third concerns problems of the future which even I have not completely thought through to their logical conclusion.’

3 September 1939
Britain and France declare war on Germany. Paul Schmidt describes Hitler’s reaction:
‘Hitler sat immobile, gazing before him. He was not at a loss, as was afterwards stated, nor did he rage as others allege. He sat completely silent and unmoving. After an interval, which seemed an age, he turned to Ribbentrop… “What now?”’

11 August 1941
‘I shall no longer be there to see it, but I rejoice on behalf of the German people that one day we will see England and Germany marching together against America… They have an exampled cheek, these English! It doesn’t prevent me from admiring them. In this sphere, they still have a lot to teach us.’


And perhaps the most ghastly and horrifying of all:

17 October 1941
‘We’ll take away its character of an Asiatic steppe, we’ll Europeanise it. With this object, we have undertaken the construction of roads that will lead to the southernmost point of the Crimea and to the Caucasus. These roads will be studded along their whole length with German towns, and around these towns our colonists will settle… I shall no longer be here to see all that, but in twenty years the Ukraine will already be home for 20,000,000 inhabitants besides the natives. In 300 years the country will be one of the loveliest gardens in the world. As for the natives, we’ll have to screen them carefully. The Jew, the destroyer, we shall drive out… We shan’t settle in the Russian towns, and we’ll let them fall to pieces without interrupting. And, above all, no remorse on the subject! We’ll confine ourselves, perhaps, to setting up a radio transmitter under our control. For the rest, let them know just enough to understand our highway signs, so that they won’t get themselves run over by our vehicles! For them the word “liberty” means the right to wash on feast days. If we arrive bringing soft soap, we’ll obtain no sympathy.. There’s only one duty: to Germanise this country by the immigration of Germans and to look upon the natives as Redskins. If these people had defeated us, Heaven have mercy! All those who have the feeling for Europe can join us in our work. In this business I shall go straight ahead, cold-bloodedly. What they may think about me, at this juncture, is to me a matter of complete indifference. I don’t see why a German who eats a piece of bread should torment himself with the idea that the soil that produces this bread has been won by the sword. When we eat wheat from Canada, we don’t think about the despoiled Indians.’


These quotes and events – the entirety of Hitler’s life summed up into two hundred pages – gives a fresh insight into the mind of the man; its development and its projection on the entire world. Hauner’s selection is terse to the point, but yet it opens a window of discussion, of debate, and reflection that is expansive and wide.

For those who cannot get enough of the Nazi period and cannot resist asking the question: WHY, Hauner’s chronology is a must-buy for the book shelves. An enjoyable and worthwhile read; if not the cooked meal of Hoskins’ statement, then a well arranged and colourful plate of informed and seasoned salad.


Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.ca/Hitler-Chronology-his-Life-Time/dp/0230202845

Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons – Watchmen (1987)
Graphic Novel – 420 pages – borrowed from the Comic Library of Colin Channon, read during November 2011
- 5 nods out of 5 -




‘Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face.’

And so begins an except from Rorschach’s journal in the first panel of Watchmen. Never heard of this book before? Allow the Worm to enlighten you. Watchmen was a twelve issue comic book in the mid-1980s, cryptically and hauntingly written by Alan Moore (yes, he of V for Vendetta) and wonderfully illustrated by Dave Gibbons (and how about a shout out for the colourist, John Higgins). It is set in an alternate 1985: Nixon is still president of the United States, costumed heroes once patrolled the streets of the cities, and nuclear war with the Soviet Union is close on the horizon.

The writing is indepth and intellectually challenging, and the art-work can make the reader gawp at the page for minutes on end. A thriller and film-noir in comic form, Moore and Gibbons take the reader on a page turner of a mystery centring on a group of former costumed heroes. One of them, The Comedian (a neo-Nazi of a man, yet intriguingly intimate) has been killed and Rorschach is out to find out who is behind it.

The gang includes the spectatclar (Dr Manhatten) and the not so sublime (Nite Owl and Silk Spectre); with a great range of back-stories and flashblack utlisied. As Rorscach - by far the most interesting and disturbed character of Moore’s creations – treads deeper and deeper, a frightening plot is revealed. The ending is one to test the reader’s own moral view-point: what price is peace? And do the means ever justify the end?



The combined issue graphic novel format has a great attention to detail, including fictionalised excerpts of autobiographies, pages from toy catalogues, and interviews with some of the main characters. All in all, it makes this edition a treasure trove of a read; and after borrowing this read, the Worm is intent on buying his own copy for the vaults.

Watchmen is not a read to be missed. Not a fan of comic books? (or “graphic novels”, as us snobs wish to call them) - then the Worm orders you now to forget any previous reading inhibitions and pick up a copy today. It won’t save your life, but it might make you a better person.





Buy it here today:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Watchmen-Alan-Moore/dp/1852860243

The Course of German History - A.J.P. Taylor

A.J.P. Taylor – The Course of German History (1945)
History – 270 pages – my copy (paperback; 2007) borrowed from University of Plymouth library
- 4 nods out of 5 -



Written during the end of the bloody and shattering Second World War, A.J.P. Taylor’s The Course of German History is a polemical condemnation of the German nation. Condemnation of its militaristic need to seize land and expand; condemnation of its leaders; and condemnation of its very own people. Hitler, Taylor controversially argues, is a natural progression from Bismarck in the 1800s.The falling bombs and advance of the Soviet army into Nazi Germany is almost predestined; as Taylor states eloquently in the book’s final sentence:

‘The “many great nations”, whom Bismarck had dismissed with scorn, now sat in the seats of Frederick the Great, of Hitler, and of Bismarck himself. German history had run its course.’

Such a viewpoint was reconfirmed in the first paragraph of the preface from 1961:

‘…it shows that it was no more a mistake for the German people to end up with Hitler than it is an accident when a river flows into the sea, though the process is, I daresay, unpleasant for the fresh water.’

Much of Taylor’s work has now been discredited. But the author excels in stirring up a debate, on adding new interpretations, and entertaining his readership. The writing style is lively and engaging; Taylor truly has the novelist’s touch for drama. For example, read his description on the murder of the socialist leaders in 1919:

‘…the “Free Corps”, organisations of out-of-work officers, who would fight against anyone – at first against the Spartacists and Independents, later against any democratic movement, true condottieri, without any principle or belief other than that of the bullet in the back. These gentlemen, deprived of the pleasures of foreign domination, asked nothing better than to slaughter German workers and liberals; and it was officers of the Guards who murdered Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg brutally and without excuse, and also without protest from the Social Democratic government. The Sparticists were broken; but broken too was the life of the German republic.’

Taylor takes the read from the end of the 1700s, through Bonapartist Germany, the rise of Prussia and the forging of the Second Reich, of the burning defeat in the First World War and the uncertainty that came from the Weimar years.

Typical of Taylor, he has divided the past two centuries into emphasised dates (such as chapter 10 the rule of the German Army, 1916-19); whilst the reoccurring divide is that of the “two Germanies”: the past of princes and paupers; of Hohenzollern Prussia and Habsburg Austria; of the Catholic south and the Protestant north. It is almost fitting – in a somewhat morbid sense – that at the book’s close the two Germanies theme continues with the split between West and East.

But had German history run its course in 1945? No, of course not. The river would keep flowing, through the pain and suffering of the Cold War to a reunion once more in 1990. The united Germany is now a pillar of the European Union, a potential force of good in the coming uncertainty of the twenty-first century. Such a reunion was beyond Taylor’s knowledge and remit; but the historian is never positive about Germany’s future, being more in the camp of dividing and weakening this colossus rather than endure the pain of a potential World War Three.


Buy it here and pick your side of the argument!:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Course-German-History-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415254051

Read more about Taylor here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._P._Taylor

Henry VI: Part Two - William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare – Henry VI: Part Two (1591)
Play – read on the wonderful Shakespeare iPhone app during October 2011
- 4 nods out of 5 -

Everything comes in ‘a trilogy’ these days: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, X-Men and even (sigh) Transformers. It seems that Hollywood isn’t content to bore us with just one instalment; the “fun” must be spread over a series of years to keep us entertained (and also keep toy manufacturers in business during the Christmas season).

But here is a trilogy before George Lucas, before Frodo set out on his journey across Middle Earth, before film was invented and before crappy merchandise was utilised to its awful full potential; a trilogy written by the man, the genius, the writer himself: William Shakespeare. Regular readers of the blog may have glanced an eye across the review of the first part of this series, on which Henry comes to the throne and squanders his father’s inheritance of the French lands. Tensions are bubbling beneath, between the rival houses of Lancaster and York. Part Two is where the shedding of blood begins.

The second part of a trilogy can sometimes bring greater rewards than the original (notably Godfather Part II), and Shakespeare himself pulls off a similar trick here. After laying the ground work of potential friction, he gets to town in this play in destroying and laying havoc to the hefty character list (the largest in any Shakespeare play). The house of York are on the rise, and intrigue against Henry’s closest advisors; the first to feel the force of York is Henry’s trusted uncle, Gloucester. Facing trumped up charges, the moral compass of Part One is isolated and victimised, before being murdered to remove him from the picture all completely.

‘Ah, thus King Henry throws away his crutch
Before his legs be firm to bear his body.
Thus the shepherd is beaten from thy side,
And wolves are gnarling who shall gnaw thee first.’

Rivalries continue from Part One – such as that between York and Somerset – before being settled in York’s favour; all while Shakespeare demonstrates the flair and ability that illuminates his later masterworks. In ridding the king of his companions, York goes further to stirring up rebellion in the person of Jack Cade, who he hopes will set the match alight to provide his triumph over Lancaster. The comedy element of the play comes in the form of the rise of the rebellion of Jack Cade, and in his stirring cries to his rabble:

CADE:
My father was a Mortimer –

DICK (aside):
He was an honest man, and a good bricklayer.

CADE:
My mother a Plantagenet –

DICK (aside):
I knew her well, she was a midwife.

CADE:
My wife descended of the Lacies –

DICK (aside):
She was indeed a pedlar’s daughter, and sold many laces.

CADE:
Therefore I am of an honourable house.

DICK (aside):
Ay, by my faith, the field is honourable, and there was he born, under a hedge; for his father had never a house but the cage.

CADE:
Valiant I am.

DICK (aside):
‘A must needs, for beggary is valiant.

Cade leads a bloody rampage in London, yelling out to his rebels: ‘Up Fish Street! Down Saint Magnus’ Corner! Kill and knock down! Throw them into the Thames!’ All before being put to flight and ignominious death after a rousing speech delivering by Henry’s confidant, Clifford; reminiscent of the fate suffered by Brutus after the murder of Julius Caesar.

All of the mayhem, the killings and murders finds it climax when the royal families take sides at the battle of St Albans. York returns from Ireland to claim what he believes his rightful inheritance, and all “kicks off” in true, bloody Shakespearian style.

York and Clifford - the saviour of the rebellion – come to fisticuffs in a fight. York tells him: ‘I am resolved for death or dignity.’ Clifford responds: ‘The first I warrant thee, if dreams prove true.’ But yet York retorts: ‘You were best to go to bed and dream again…’ The fight ends in Clifford’s death; whilst elsewhere on the field of battle York’s son – the future Richard III – kills York’s bête noir, the Duke of Somerset under the sign of the Castle Inn.

Fearing all is lost, Henry flees with his remaining troops back to London. The victorious York calls on his support and asks the Duke of Warwick: ‘What says Lord Warwick? Shall we after them?’ Warwick concludes on a cliff-hanger:

‘After them! Nay, before them, if we can.
Now, by my faith, lords ‘twas a glorious day.
Saint Albons battle won by famous York
Shall be eterniz’d in all age to come.
Sound drum and trumpets, and to London all,
And more such days as these to us befall!’

Such an ending beautifully sets up the scene for the third and final part of Shakespeare’s Henry VI. The sides have formed, the Wars of the Roses has begun. And what is to become of King Henry and the Duke of York? Stay tuned to future editions of the Four Eyed Book Worm to find out.

Killer Contract: Blood Bowl - Matt Forbeck & Lads Helloven

Matt Forbeck & Lads Helloven - Killer Contract: Blood Bowl (2009)
Comic Book – 130 pages – my copy read whilst staying at the Channon residence, October 2011
- 2 nods out of 5 -



For those readers who have been with the Worm since Day One (now, now; don’t be shy – raise a glass to many a pompous book review over the past two years), then you may have read the review on the novel based on Blood Bowl in 2009. And just what is Blood Bowl? A quick recap for other readers of this blog in recent months: Blood Bowl is a dice-game produced by the Games Workshop, in which the player is a coach of a football team with the aim of scoring touch-downs, and perhaps more importantly: killing the entire opposition. Sound like your cup of tea? Well, read on…

Matt Forbeck was hounded in the previous review of his debut novel (simply titled Blood Bowl). The Worm gave the book a meagre 1 nod out of 5, thus entering the sin-bin of reading and winning that book-reading season’s Shredder Award for Crime’s Against Literature. Poor Mr Forbeck, the Worm hears you muttering. But his latest dabbling in a graphical representation of the unique fictional universe strikes an immediate nod with the reader. Blood, guts, grass and grime: all of these things are brought to life on the page by the efforts of the artist, the wonderfully named: Lads Helloven. The reader is able to feel involved in the progress of the Bad Bay Hackers team as they set off to win the Blood Bowl Championship.

But the spanner in the works? (For there is always a spanner in the works, dear reader): Matt Forbeck himself. The plot is tired and predictable, the dialogue is terrible and clichéd. This is the fifth or sixth story containing the Hackers, and this team always seems to win, becoming the James Bond of fantasy football teams. Each turn of the page brings the inevitable result; with the reader turning ever closer to a sadist in wishing the demise of the book’s “hero”, Dunk Hoffnung.

The formula has gone wrong somewhere. Here we have an interesting idea about psychotic sporting players who chainsaw one another to death, and yet the writer appears settled to make the reader pay for this interest in terms of a stale plot and pointless padding. What if we were to see a different team, away from Mr Hoffnung and the fortunate Bad Bay Hackers: of the Orcs, of the Dwarves, of Elves, of Vampires, and, well, the reader gets the point. A different side to shake up the action.

As the Worm expressed in the earlier review on Forbeck’s novel, he will return for more. A glutton for punishment: oh no! But rather a dedicated fan of the game of Blood Bowl. Yes, he will be back – hoping Mr Forbeck has got his act together in order to produce a real work of interest.


Read my review of Matt Forbeck’s initial novel right here:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2009/07/blood-guts-blood-bowl-by-matt-forbeck.html

Buy Killer Contract here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killer-Contract-Blood-Matt-Forbeck/dp/1934506346

British History to the Protectorate - New Joy of Knowledge Encyclopaedia

New Joy of Knowledge Encyclopaedia – British History to the Protectorate (1990)
History – 70 pages – my copy (hardback; 1990) read during September 2011
- 2 nods out of 5 -

Many years ago, gentle folk would seek out on their pursuit of knowledge by ordering large volumes of books – let us call them encyclopaedias – which in many cases were delivered direct to the front door. They promised new windows into the worlds of art, of history, of science, of geography, of all that humankind had to offer. One encyclopaedia a month, at ten pounds a turn, for fifty to one hundred months; bit by bit the collection and, not forgetting, the knowledge of the owner would grow…until one day (normally when the cash balance was significantly lowered) the owner would compete with Einstein-like intelligence.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century. Now all of this knowledge – art, history, science, geography – is condensed on one tiny website: Wikipedia. And what’s more, it is regularly updated. And what’s more and more: its articles range way beyond anything the previous encyclopaedias could ever dare dream about. And what’s more and more and more: this information is free. O, how strange the times are a-changing.

This book on British History to the Protectorate – from The New Joy of Knowledge Encyclopaedia – takes the reader on a journey from ‘Bronze and Iron Age Britain’ right through the chopping off of the head of Charles I in the 1600s. In-between are over twenty chapters on periods and events such as ‘Norman and Angevin England’, ‘The origins of Parliament’ and ‘Elizabeth and the Armada’. As expected with any history claiming to be “British”, the rest of the Isles are given scant coverage, with a couple of their own chapters thrown in for good measure (‘Wales to the Act of Union’, anyone?).

The text is succinct and to the point, covering the major topics and debate. The real surprising feature of this book is its great use of illustration: every chapter has portraits, diagrams, and maps set out in a wonderful and accessible style. Furthermore, the chapters are interspersed with ‘Panorama’ pages detailing the likes of the Bayeux tapestry and a painting on Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales; with the larger A3 paper adding to the allure and detail.

But let us not get too carried away, dear reader. Despite its advantages this book cannot escape what it intrinsically is: an encyclopaedia. As such, it remains stunted in its form and time period; its future looks grim, but when placed alongside its fellow encyclopaedia siblings, the overall picture can be impressive. Wikipedia has expansiveness and elasticity; but even in this digital age nothing beats a colourful and triumphant book shelf.

Richard III: King of England - James Gairdner

James Gairdner – Richard III: King of England
Biography – read on the Kindle for free during September 2011
- 1 nod out of 5 -

We all love a villain in history. Check out the shelves of a nearby bookshop and what we’ll find are books on the likes of Hitler and Stalin. Closer to home, in British history, we place a great emphasis on the failures of our own monarchy: of the losses of Bad King John, on the madness of King George III, and on the monstrous myth that is Richard III.

The worm uses the word ‘myth’, as much of what is commonly known about Richard was the invention of good old Bill Shakespeare. James Gairdner – one of the eminent voices on Tudor history in the Victorian age – conforms to this stereotype in this short biography of the hunchbacked villain who sought power at all costs. True to Shakespeare’s portrayal, Richard is seen butchering all who stand in his way, friend or foe.

Such is the venting of the spleen, Gairdner has been labelled “the Victorian Anti-Richard” for such severe views. Later revisionist works have rebuffed such ideas, with more expressive and expansive conclusions now being deduced about Richard’s reign. Was he the murderer of the princes in the tower, out to grab all the power he could muster; or was he trying to steer England away from ruin? Such questions have no home in Gairdner’s prose, and it is all the poorer without them.

Gairdner wrote a whole stack of biographies on some of the key figures of the Tudor age: Henry VIII, Edward IV, Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon, Edward V, and more and more and more. Some of his works maintained a strong currency until the middle of the twentieth century; but his short biographies – of which this read is one – contain none of the debate and analysis that his longer books became known for.

Richard III will continue to attract critics and supporters; he is a monarch best viewed in a different format. Gairdner’s short rendition of his life is a blunt and tired one best reserved for Victorian historian enthusiasts (wherever they might live!). It might have sufficed in the Victorian age, but unfortunately for the author’s legacy, it simply doesn’t suffice today.

Interzone - William S Burroughs

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The Basement - Stephen Leather

Stephen Leather - The Basement (2010)
Novella – read on the Kindle during September 2011
- 2 nods out of 5 -

Stephen Leather is one smart cookie. That might not be the technical term, but that statement is a good assessment of his business know-how. His publishers refused to print a few shorter novels that didn’t fit in with his own back catalogue, so rather than hide the manuscripts away in a drawer to gather dust they found a home electronically. Released on the Kindle they sold like a hot cakes; and, it would seem, Mr Leather has been laughing himself silly ever since.

The Worm stumbled across Leather’s success story in a writing magazine feature, and feeling ready to purchase a few texts to christen a new Kindle, The Basement was bought for the small sum of less than one pound.

So, we know the price; we know the back story: but what about the book, the Worm hears you asking! The Basement is a short novel comprised of two concurrent running stories. The first follows a wannabe screenwriter who is targeted as a murder suspect by two police officers; while the second – and more sinister of the two – follows the perspective of an unnamed person who has a woman tied up in the titular basement, used as a sex slave during the novella.

Of course, the suspense – of which Leather excels – leads us, the reader, to believe the two story lines are entwined. And indeed, they are; but with the suspected storyline twist not failing to serve its purpose and stun. The central (first) narrator is genuinely interesting: never bothered by the police officers knocking at his door, his energy is spent on dreaming up new movie ideas, with each of them equally as uninspiring as the last. His life perspective is egotistically centred, as shown nowhere more clearly than in the ransacking of his opponent’s apartment:

‘...in big capital letters I write ‘HOW DO YOU LIKE IT, NIGGER?’ across the mirrored closet. It’s a nice touch, the Nigger bit. Just in case he thinks it might be a couple of homeboys out to feed their habit. That and the fact that nothing as been stolen should point in my direction. I mean, he is a detective and all. I actually feel guilty as I stand and look at the word nigger written in red. It’s not that I’m a racist, I pretty much treat everyone as inferior, but I’ll make Turner mad. Real mad, which is the way I want him.’

However, the limited space of this novella means the plot descends into a simple routine, switching from the action in the basement to that of the screenwriter, from screenwriter back to the basement, and well, you get the drift. A tad monotonous, to say the least. And while Leather may keep the kettle pot of suspense boiling to the brim (along with truly sinister descriptions from the basement), the dialogue is close to shambolic. With such things considered, The Basement never threatens to leave the realms of ‘Quick Read’ to become a ‘Recommend to a Friend’.


Read more about the author here:
http://stephenleather.blogspot.com/2010/10/basement-on-kindle.html

Notes From Underground - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Notes From Underground (1864)
Novel – read on Kindle during August 2011, a free download
- 5 nods out of 5 -

‘Gentlemen, you must excuse me for being over-philosophical; it’s the result of forty years underground!’

Here are the words of the man from underground, the narrator in Dostoyevsky’s revered and renowned short novel from 1864. In the English language it is popularly referred to as Notes from THE Underground; but the Worm feels its more literal translation from Russian befits the writer and the mood much more. After all, just where is THE underground? A place, or perhaps better yet, a mood within us.

Existentialists in coffee shops have spilt much breath upon the merits of this novel. Narrated by an unnamed man, the first part of the story is a collection of rants and rambling observations. Topics are covered, ranging from suffering to theories of reason and logic. While the second part (Apropos of the Wet Snow) follows more of a traditional story pattern, as the narrator seeks off to prove a point to a circle of acquaintances, before making contact with a prostitute, who like himself, is in search of approval (and, perhaps, love). Much is attacked throughout the book: aspirations of love, western philosophy, the bureaucracy of work, manners, social norms, and on and on. Whilst riddles abound on every page.

The novel’s chief selling point is the unnamed narrator himself. Pathetic but scathing, pitiful yet insightful; he is not a man to be trusted. The use of the ‘unreliable narrator’ has come in and out of fashion with every generation, but very rarely is it accomplished to such an art. The reader must question at every turn just what is being said, the subtext, the hidden meaning. Dostoyevsky doesn’t make it easy for us:

‘I believe I made a mistake in beginning to write them, anyway I have felt ashamed all the time I’ve been writing this story; so it’s hardly literature so much as a corrective punishment.’

With the vast amount of thought within these pages, it is easy to assume a vision of Dostoyevsky smugly gazing down upon the reader. But despite the somewhat heavy discussion of free will and of the modern world, there is also a great deal of emotion to sway us. The narrator’s two scenes with the prostitute are intriguing and, aside from philosophical discussion, the strongest in the novel: here we get to see the chief character in action amongst others. After at first berating the prostitute, he tries making amends by giving his address; only to regret this when she threatens to call days later.

Make what you will of the narrator: to trust or not to trust. But the art of Dostoyevsky’s writing cannot be in doubt. Pick up a copy, grab a cup of coffee, fling on a beret, and let your heart sing about existentialist ideas! Notes from Underground is a classic to be enjoyed.