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The Double by Dostoevsky 2017-09-12 02:15:27 Post No. 10013673
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The Double by Dostoevsky 2017-09-12 02:15:27 Post No. 10013673
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I finished The Double by Dostoevsky (Hugh Alpin trans) and I'd like to talk about it. This short novel, following the ostracism and breakdown of a St. Petersburg civil servant after the appearance of a lookalike in his office, was written before his exile to Siberia (1846), and slightly revised after his return.
The voice of the narrator mimics the (Underground Man-like) protagonist and uses a lot of repetitive phrases and verbal tics, as well as being anxious and feverish, but the amount of slapstick humor and farce humor (Dostoevsky is surprisingly funny), psychological depth, and ambiguity made me keep reading - the way we appreciate the gap between the protag's perception of himself and how he is perceived by others, and the blurring of realities where motivations, as well as the shape of past and current events gradually become clearer.
I enjoyed this a lot more than The Gambler, and Notes From The Underground, and this make me want to read other pre-exile Dostoevsky because it was surprisingly good, and more of an approachable read than his longer novels. Maybe I will read the Landlady, Poor Folk or The Village Of Stepanchikovo next? Any recommendations of these would be welcome.
What did everybody else think The Double?
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>>10013673
Damn this isn't reddit
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never read it lad
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Lol you accidentally made the same thread twice!!!
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This is the first one :^)
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>>10013821
>>10013822
OP here. I have honestly no part in the duplication of this topic elsewhere, but it's pretty funny as far as these things go, so to speak, and it's all for the best, and well, it's all right.
(no really, some other wag did it)
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>>10013859
It's also apt because the deeds of the protag and his double are mixed up.
>>10013821
>>10013822
I know it was you, villain!
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>>10013673
The Double was part of his Gogolyevsky phase.
I like Dostoyevsky's early and lesser known works. Some of them might not be at the level of his best works, but plenty of my favorite Dostoyevskiana is found in them.
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I didn't enjoy it.
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>>10013673
Enjoyed it, I consider it a sister novel to Notes from the Underground, personally. However, it's preoccupied with its narrative in comparison, but not necessarily to its detriment because the protagonist's fucked-up psyche is operative throughout. Consider the episode of him going to the doctor, or the party.
According to the introduction of the edition I read, part of Dostoevsky's impetus in writing the novel was exploring the feelings of fraudulence he experienced as a literary success, which explains why he's so fucking good at writing social scenes like parties.
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>>10013673
The Double was damn good, I also liked it a lot more than The Gambler.
Definitely read all three; Landlady, Poor Folk or The Village Of Stepanchikovo.
I recommend The Village Of Stepanchikovo first because it's very good and also very underrated.
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>>10013673
It's good, but not as good as his later work and a bit too obviously derivative of Gogol
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>>10016076
Dostoyevsky said "We all come from Gogol's 'Overcoat'". Anything very close to Gogol is just fine in my books.
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