What it do playa? This week on Thug Notes we diggin deep with Notes from
Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This book’s nameless narrator say
he one sick mothafu**a. But he ain’t got the clap or anything like dat. The only thing
wrong with this fool is he decked out with too much consciousness.
And cuz o dat, this fool miserable and lonely as hell. After philosophozing about
man, freedom, rationality and other real talk, our 40 year old recluse start reminiscing
bout some sh** that went down when he was in his 20s.
Back in the day, the Underground Man decided to drop in on some old school
homie named Zvertov who bout to throw a bangin party. Thing is, ol Undie ain’t tight with
any of Zvertov’s crew no mo. In fact, when they see him lurkin
round the party sippin too much sizzurp and actin a fool, they start thinkin “What’s
this fool smokin?” They even try to shake him before bringing their sausage fest to
the local poon palace. But the narrator steps to these haters and tails em there anyway.
When he arrives, he peeps some rank lookin ho named Liza, takes her to a room,
and shows her his Russian Czar, know what I’m sayin?
After doin the nasty, he try to convince Liza not to be turn tricks no mo
by gettin all up in her head and messin with her heart.
Later, when the Underground Man kickin back at his spot, Liza rolls in all
unannounced. She wanna talk real with him, but all he wanna do is get uppity and preach
to her. But eventually, dis fool can’t keep his sh** together and starts weepin.
After tappin dat ass on mo time, he decide he gonna toss her a couple dolla billz
to prove that all dat real talk was bullsh** and that she ain’t nothin but a dirty skank.
But Liza shows this fool who really got class and tosses that paper before she leave.
Realizing he actin a serious fool, he runs after Liza to beg forgiveness. But
she loooong gone. This book right hur is widely
considered the world’s first existentialist novel. Years before Nietzche was jiving his
angsty sh**, Dostoevsky was keepin it OG with the creation of the Underground Man.
Ever since the Under-G hit the scene in 1864, righteous playas been using
the term “Underground” to spit in the face of the establishment and give all traditional
forms of thought a big “fu** you!” Cuz the Underground Man don’t think
like the rest of society. Errybody else is just fumble fu**in their way through life
and never askin the big questions. But for our boy, dat sh**’s the dank. And if that’s
the way you wanna roll, you gotta open your eyes so wide to the world around you that
it hurts. If you can do that, you playing a whole other
game, B. Dat pain you feel when you beefin with reality
and get yo sh** wrecked creates consciousness. Like our boy say “suffering is the sole
origin of consciousness.” (234) But barkin with the big dawgs comes
at a cost: hyperconsciounsness. When you can see every angle to a
question, you can get so overwhelmed that you don’t know whether to go left or right.
So instead of choosing a direction, our man doesn’t do a damn thing.
It ain’t that this fool lazy. He ain’t even that. Hyperconsciousness has
made this cat straight up NOTHING. Our boy calls dis “conscious inertia.”
The real joke up in here is that conciousness only comes from the
suffering you experience when tryin to connect with other peeps. But when the big C comes
creepin through your town, connecting with others becomed damn near impossible. There’s
the rub, blood. And if that seems like a whack
paradox to you, it’s all good cuz the Underground Man is a livin breathin paradox. Our unreliable
narrator say he love to be isolated, yet he jonesin for human contact. He envies yo erryday
playa, but he also proud not to be one. He suffers, yet he finds pleasure in it. All
this mess makin him so outta touch with society that lies and dreams are all he got:
So escape this life, dive in to a good book, and hit me up next week, homies.
Peace.