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whysoserious's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Whilst many have suspected The Double’s protagonist Mr Golyadkin as having a psychotic break or Schizophrenia type illness, one can also consider him as having strong traits of Borderline Personality Disorder. His tumultuous relationships with his colleagues (strong desires to be liked and well respected), his adoration and disavowing of others, his constant belief that people are against or judging him and his internal dialogue which screeches around his mind like some vehicle stuck on accelerate. The character is clearly suffering; a tortured soul, desperate to portray a sense of nobility and respectability. He runs chaotically around the streets, impulsively changing his mind on any course of action without an awareness for the consequences of his next move. He has difficulties in reflecting, taking stock and coming to a conclusion about the potential alternatives. All of these characteristics point toward BPD or at least a Bipolar type illness with which our alleged protagonist wrestles.
The novel produced a deep sense of unease from the opening and never lets up until the somewhat sinister conclusion. Golyadkin isn’t what you could call an endearing protagonist and I often found him intolerable in his role of the victim. His constant whining of being victimised by others in his life becomes grating at times and it is hard to feel much sympathy for him. At the same time, Dostoyevsky is masterful in his depiction of a person under a huge amount of stress and the faulty thinking that envelops a person who is anxious, depressed or paranoid. The author admitted later that the structure and style of the novel wasn’t up to his expectations and this is apparent with the huge amounts of repetition in the novel. For example, Golyadkin repeats himself frequently, often in the space of a single page or chapter. This can cause one to find the whole thing merges into one long, repetitious mess. That said, when one is depressed or anxious it is easy to slip into those patterns which makes sense for the author to highlight. I am unsure how much of Dostoyevsky’s intention was for this effect though.
There are themes of self-identity here and I often feel an affinity for Golyadkin in terms of his desire to be unrestricted by the bureaucratic chamber of horrors which permeates many industries today. The need to conform to the expectations of others is a key feature here as Golyadkin tries to prove to others that he is upstanding, moral and not one to gossip or judge others. At the same time this may appear pretentious to the reader; the character having a sense of superiority whilst simultaneously feeling inferior when faced with possible criticisms.
There has been many comparisons to Gogol’s The Nose and some view this as a rip off or parody of that piece of work. In fact, Lolita author Vladamir Nabokov goes so far as to say it is outright duplication but then he didn’t have much time for Dostoyevsky as an author – claiming the latter as mediocre as a writer… Ouch!
In summary, this is a fairly enjoyable novella though the structure often leads to page after page of monotonous droning on which isn’t spaced out. This can feel a struggle at times but the way the author depicts a madman in the throws of his illness is clinically accurate. Tofugirl's review notes that the narrative is irritating and frustrating, with many dropped moments that lead nowhere. This is precisely the experience of a person with a severe mental illness and I believe the author is masterful at bringing this (albeit frustration inducing) aspect of the character to life.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts