The Double by Dostoevsky

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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?