The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Book Review) 

If Golyadkin had seen himself as perfect; there would have been no Junior to begin with.

Trying to make sense of The Double after having just finished it. Loved you're take, puts a great perspective on the book.

Thank you very much dear Helen for guiding me in reading... You become my guide-star.

The Double, The Gambler, The Eternal Husband and "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man", and, Notes From Underground are my preferred pieces by F.D. I think this one must have had a big influence on Kafka.

thank you for all the amazing book reviews ❤️

Thanks for your thoughts on this book!

Nice one! Thank you.

I loved your thoughts about the two connecting 📚 and your analysis of Galatkin's personality. I read the Gambler - excellent book, and also the Belle de Jar (sp?) By Sylvia Plath - great read as well, highly recommended.

This book brought me to Dostoyevski! I think it's a very modern book.

Nice review. I loved the book though it was leaving me delirious towards the end. I was enjoying the genius of Dostoevsky’s writing but was suffering with Golyadkin and couldn’t wait for the nightmare to end. To say “farewell”. The encounter with Golyadkin Jr. never seemed to make any sense. My take is that I find that Dostoevsky wanted us to feel that way. My personal feeling is that Golyadkin was a troubled man suffering from psychosis and the book was a journey through that experience. Certain experiences may have been real. Some may have been real but completely misinterpreted by Golyadkin as he has lost sense of his rational and reality. And some aspects may simply be all in his head. He is perplexed and has a completely abstract sense of reality and has lost himself in his mind entirely. He may even be misinterpreting what other characters think of him. We will never know the truth. Golyadkin himself does not even know what reality is, but we are living his reality. We most definitely know what his experience is like and most importantly - his mental state. It is a beautiful exploration of psychology and people do suffer from such mental illnesses. I sympathized with the character and felt his delirium.

I'd be very interested to hear a review, summary, or analysis of your interpretation of the film adaptation by Richard Ayoade. This movie was my introduction into the world of Dostoyevsky and I've been hooked ever since.

Thank you for this, i just read the book and didn't quite understand the ending. Is it the death of one of the doubles? Or what does happen there? I know you said you don't want to spoil it for everyone, but i'm just curious about that last chapter.

It is heavily hinted at that Golyadkin's breakdown is precipitated by a disgraceful event that happened prior to the opening of the story. This is why he was not invited to the ball.

I was seeing the double more as a version of societal standards Jawok Petrowitch rejected. The double being a fake person that lies constantly and puts on a mask. Jawok Petrowitch constantly tries to speak to people from different social hierarchies on a very personal level but gets rejected and frown upon.