Notes on "Notes"

I have recently finished reading Notes from the Underground by Fydor Dostoyevsky. The three best novels I have ever read, though I don't read many novels, are by Dost.--Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamozov, and Notes from the Underground. No other author can more effectively portray the inner man. As you read Dost., you feel as though you are looking at the world through the eyes of his characters. He is absolute genius. He is genius in total control of his art.
Notes is a fascinating look at a disgusting individual. I think the narrator of Notes is so disgusting because we are so much like him. At least, I am at times so much like him. Many of the narrator's thoughts are often my thoughts. Someone said the "I" in the story is all of us. I have a few diverse thoughts that came directly and indirectly from the book.

1. Consciousness v. intellegence--The narrator talks at times about being a conscious individual. He talks at others times about being an intellegent individual. Are these different words for the same state? Is being conscious the same as being intellegent? Is intellegence simply a more acute consciousness of yourself and your surroundings? I think it is. Most people we call intellegent are just aware of most everything. It is not capability. Some people are capable of retaining knowledge, but are not intellegent. It is not being knowledgeable. Many people are knowledgeable idiots. The narrator is very knowledeable. He is most likely very capable. But he is mostly just conscious. Understand, there is some irony in the novel here, because, though the narrator is "conscious", there are many things about himself he cannot see. That may be Dost.'s point. The question still strikes me as interesting. What does it mean to be intellegent?

2. Free will--In the first part of the book, the narrator strives to make the point that men do what they want to do. There is no overriding principle that makes men do what they do. He argues against the position that men do what is good for them. They merely do what they want. What is it that makes me do what they do? I believe that man has a completely free will, and that is chooses to do everything he does. He may do many things out of habit. He may do many things without being aware of the motivation. Yet he always to chooses to act. Now, what makes him choose what he chooses, which may be the real question? Jonathan Edwards said that the will always is as the greatest apparent good is. This seems to be the best description of the will. Seldom is what seems good for us truly good for us. We do stupid things frequently. This is one aspect of the novel. The narrator seems unable to do many of the things he wants to do. He wants to bump in to the soldier, and yet he doesn't. He wants to tell his friends what he really thinks, and yet he doesn't. What is it that determines our will? Unfortunately, I have no answer.

Hopefully, I will have more remarks as I ponder on the novel more. To be continued . . .