Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian author and journalist regarded as one of the greatest novelists in all of literature whose rich exploration of human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia and penetrating analyses of philosophical and religious themes at large had an immeasurable influence on 20th-century fiction, with many of his works now considered unparalleled masterpieces. His revolutionary 1864 novella Notes from the Underground, featuring one of the most remarkable characters in literature, is considered one of the first works of literary existentialism whose brooding, unnamed narrator defiantly retreats from the "anthill" of society into an underground existence to document his discursive memories and probe the savage truth of the torment he is suffering. Angry and alienated, his obsessive, self-contradictory narrative is one of the most provocative works of literature ever written.
