Not my kind of book - I can't stand neurotics like Woody Allen, for example - but somehow this just charmed me. I empathized just enough with the mad Duke's wild theories and his hypochondria to find him likable, even adorable. The funny bits were truly so, and the 'plot' was much more helpful than I've found to be the case in other Booker prize candidates.

Certainly not for everyone, but if you're interested enough to be reading these reviews, I recommend you give it a go. Otoh, I'm not sure whether or not I'm interested in more by the author (this is his debut). They'll probably be too *L*iterary for me. (We'll see.)

ETA: I must have gotten distracted - I forgot the book darts!

It is my opinion that the finest of threads connects the spirit with the vacated body, the latter acting as an anchor, and that down this line come the vibrations of the spirit's starry gallivanting, which the dormant body perceives as dreams. Thus when we sleep we go kite-flying, yet we are both flyer and the kite."

"The only thing to cast some light on an otherwise dismal day was the... map [which I had hung] on the wall right beside my bed. Now *there* is order, *there* is sense, *there* is reason. There is observation put to use."

And I like the idea of using a towel to give oneself a dry-rub, aka an 'Aberdeen bath.' Sounds like it would be invigorating and exfoliating." ( )

Portrait of an eccentric -- The Underground Man is an extended vignette of an exceedingly interesting and wealthy British Duke, William John Cavendish-Bentinck-Scott, fifth Duke of Portland, who is portrayed against a background dominated by his interest (obsession) with the contrasts between man and nature, order and disorder, and ultimately, the nature of the real versus the supernatural. He is a prodigious eccentric best known for the elaborate network of tunnels he built beneath his estate. The duke is portrayed as a repressed hypochondriac, an old man morbidly curious about the workings of his body and mind. During the months encompassed by the novel, he grows increasingly obsessed with the fleeting bits of memory that intrude upon his ruminations and hint at some horrific, long-buried secret. Above all there is his search for his own identity, haunted as he is by the specter of his alter ego. Whether the author succeeds or not depends upon his success in developing the Duke as a compelling and believable if complex character. I think he succeeds.
The Duke narrates almost the entire novel and is the only truly fully developed character. I found this character appealing and become engrossed in the Duke's search for a cure for his ills and an explanation for the wonder he found in the world about himself. Except for one trip to Edinburgh he spends the six months of the narrative in and about his massive estate. This does not limit his imagination and as the reader I was swept up in his journey of discovery and his attempts to explore the mysteries of man and nature.
The novel has no love story as a subplot, almost no female characters (only the housekeeper, Mrs. Pledger, and a couple of maids) and in this sense reminded me of some Victorian novels (think of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). This vacancy did not deter the author from developing suspense and a sense of mystery concerning the Duke's own wonder at the nature of his identity and the meaning of his existence. Whether journeying to the lower depths of an ancient cavern (Hades?) with the local Vicar or visiting an expert on phrenology at the University of Edinburgh, the Duke was always exploring the wonders and mysteries of life as he saw them. It is this that I think, ultimately, the novel encourages in the reader -- to reflect on his own life. ( )

I was very impressed with the written style of The Underground Man and I like an 'unusual' novel in contrast to the mundanities of 90% of what's available. This story certainly made an impact but I felt the Duke's ideas and plans when he was coherently scheming were more interesting than his later ravings. Very convincingly written and quite funny in places, but also very sad, ultimately I found the eccentricities of the Duke giving way to a Roald Dahl-esque horror ending a bit of a cliché. ( )

I love this book. If you want to read fiction but are sick to death of family-saga type stories, this is your antidote. Deeply strange and very entertaining, this book tells a story that you haven't heard before. ( )

A charming, strange and sad story, based on the life of the eccentric fifth Duke of Portland. ( )