The Double is Dostoyevsky’s second published work and is a definite precursor to much of his later work. Following the life of a low-level bureaucrat named Golyadkin for a couple chaotic days. Golyadkin is a weak and flakey person with crippling anxiety and bordering on psychotic. After attending a party and committing some embarrassing party fouls he is thrown out into the snowy night in St. Petersburg. It is in this state that Golyadkin literally bumps into his double a person that looks just like him and even shares his name. The rest of the book follows the relationship of these two characters as the double is the inverse of the real Golyadkin and has everything the original lacks. This book was also adapted into a movie with Jesse Eisenburg who is a great match for this character. The style is very surreal and also satirical it is much different from anything else I’ve read from Dostoyevsky. It was also the worst book I’ve read from him, in fact I think he says it best
“Most decidedly, I did not succeed with that novel; however, its idea was rather lucid, and I have never expressed in my writings anything more serious. Still, as far as form was concerned, I failed utterly.”
Totally agree, the idea was fantastic and improved upon in the later works by him. The main theme of this book was the fight for individuality and the destructive lengths someone will go if denied this desire. It is also a commentary on the destruction of individuality that accompanies bureaucracy. This is shown when no one reacts at his office when his double applies at the same place. The main character questions a co-worker about the lack of reaction and upon questioning the co-worker realizes for the first time that Golyadkin and his double look identical but then writes it off as not too important because after all “he is a good clerk.” Overall, I would say only the biggest fans of Dostoyevsky would find this one worth reading as similar ideas are better presented in his later books.
Fyodor Dostoevsky