Notes from Underground | Supersônica

Este site é acessível para leitor de tela.

Notes from Underground

of Fyodor Dostoyevsky

translated by Boris Schnaiderman

available here

Synopsis

Notes from Underground is one of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s best-known works. In this short novel, the unnamed narrator, isolated from society and deeply embittered, composes an existential and philosophical reflection while presenting a tortuous, scathing, and ironic confession about his past. A former St. Petersburg civil servant, the “underground man” — as the narrator-character became known — explores themes such as freedom, conscience, and irrationality in a story that is both distressing and irresistible.

Genres

why we recorded it

Since its publication in 1864, this short novel has been widely regarded as one of Dostoyevsky's finest works and a masterpiece of Western literature. The self-contradictory narrative of this unforgettable character has fascinated countless readers, with many considering it to be a precursor to 20^(th)-century schools of thought such as existentialism. In this audiobook edition, translated by Boris Schnaiderman — one of the greatest thinkers and translators of Russian literature — the anti-hero's restless and disturbing reflections resonate in the voice of Emilio de Mello.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky read by Emilio de Mello

Emilio de Mello is an actor who graduated from the São Paulo School of Dramatic Arts and the USP School of Communications and Arts. He began his career at the São Paulo-Brasil Theater Company in 1987. In 1989, he moved to Rio de Janeiro to play Juliano in Mauro Rasi's play A estrela do lar (The Star of the Home). Throughout his career, he has received several awards, including the Kikito, Qualidade Brasil, and APTR. In 2015, he was nominated for an International Emmy for his work in Contardo Calligaris' series PSI. As an actor, he has participated in 21 professional shows, including: In On It, Ensaio. Hamlet, A gaivota, Baque, Os realistas, O avarento, and A prova e pérola. As a director, he has made two short films and five plays, notably the play Deus da carnificina. In cinema, he has worked with directors such as Ruy Guerra, Hugo Giorgetti, Cacá Diegues, Sandra Werneck, Walter Carvalho, Vinicius Reis, Gabriel Mascaro, Karin Aïnouz, Felipe Sholl, Luiz Pinheiro, among others. He has appeared in 23 feature films: Cazuza - O tempo não para; Aos pedaços; Cara ou coroa; Fala comigo, Raquel 1:1, among others. On television, he has appeared in five soap operas and eight series, notably PSI, O rei da TV, O negociador, and Irmandade.

other works read by Emilio de Mello

author Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821 and made his literary debut with the novel Poor Folk (1846), followed by The Double (1846) and White Nights (1847). After being arrested and sentenced to death by the Tsarist regime, his sentence was commuted to four years of hard labor in Siberia, an experience he recounted in The House of the Dead. After this period, he wrote Notes from Underground (1864), The Gambler (1867), The Eternal Husband (1870), and a series of great novels: Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), The Demons (1872), and The Adolescent (1875), culminating in the publication of The Brothers Karamazov in 1880. From 1873 until the year of his death, he also published Diary of a Writer, which brings together journalistic and fictional pieces. Recognized as one of the greatest authors of all time, Dostoyevsky died in St. Petersburg in 1881.

hear an excerpt