The Double

The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This is one of Dosteovsky's earliest works and it is a little more straightforward than some of his later ones. It is also comparatively short. In it he explores mental illness, probably paranoid schizophrenia although there are elements of dissociative personality disorder. He seems to suggest the formality and pretentiousness of society at the time with it's grades of civil servants, aristocratic classes and peasants contribute to mental aberrations. The book is interesting, and, compared to some of his later works, reasonably well paced but modern readers are still likely to find it moving painfully slowly. If you like his works in general, I think you will enjoy this one as a bit of light reading.



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