A review by thechaliceofaries
The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky

4.0

This was disorientating, to say the least. I think Dostoyevsky was really clever here in leaving a lot to be mulled over, by presenting various ideas and then contradicting them soon after. Was this novella a clever social commentary on the state of Russian society in the 19th century, an examination of identity and self in the industrial age, or an unnerving journey into the psyche of a paranoid schizophrenic? Is it none or all of the above? I love how much there is to be interpreted here, and how every interpretation is a unique and thought-provoking one. While this short novella explores some big and sometimes downright terrifying ideas, it’s told in a wry, detached author’s voice that made me laugh out loud several times. I can’t help but empathise with poor Golyadkin, who is so neurotic and anxiety-ridden and discordant to the world around him that he actually reminds me of a more extreme and pathetic version of myself.