The Double

By: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

First published in 1846, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella The Double is a classic doppelganger story and the second major work published by the author. It is the story of Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, a government clerk who believes that a fellow clerk has taken over his identity and is determined to bring about his ruin. Considered the most Gogolesque of Dostoyevsky's works, the novella brilliantly depicts Golyadkin's descent into madness in a way that is hauntingly poetic. The Double illustrates Dostoyevsky's uncanny ability at capturing the complexity of human emotion, especially the darker side of the human psyche.

Public Domain (P)2012 AudioGO

Is it better than the movie?

Honestly I'd say no, but it's certainly worth the listen. Even if only because you know Dostoyevsky is a great writer.

very Kafka inspired

My impression of this darkly comedic, absurdist, existential piece of madness is how similar to Kafka it is. I do wonder how intentional that is.

Otherwise, this is an excellent story from a masterclass of Russian lit

Great writing but a painful cringy story

Mr golayadkin is a turd and had no gonads, hard to imagine a person like that.

The hero.

Downtrodden Hero! He’s not capable of getting ahead of most disgruntled
Days. Sorrowful , but funny story by F. D.

Excellent narration

The narrator possesses an absolutely vivid voice that brings this short, psychological thriller to life.

Powerful

The power of proper behavior is in the admiration it creates across the board.

The Double

This story was a fine beginning for Dostoevsky, although the critics didn’t like it. Subsequently he ended up getting mixed up with a revolutionary group and being sent to Siberia, where he got a real education! This story was written before all that, but already shows his preoccupation with the psychological.

Complex and Surreal

As with most of Dostoyevsky there are many characters and many difficult names. Some characters have two names. A good mystery that will remain a mystery until I find some notes online

Phenomenal Narration

I read The Double in two idioms, watched a play and the movie, all different experiences for sure, but somehow, marked by anguish. Surprisingly, listening to narration of Mr Nick Sullivan I sensed more the comic rather than the dramatic charge and actually caught myself smiling several times while imagining those fantastic scenes Dostoiévski delivers with such mastery.

Wish I could have read it in the original Russian

Dostoevsky's 'The Double' is one of those novellas/novels where I REALLY wish I could have read it in the original Russian. His Gogol-inspired novella plays with language, poetry, puns and double entendres are hard to translate adequately (go with Pevear and Volokhonsky for the poetry and avoid Constance Garnett). While patterns still do emerge in translations, they are fragmented and seem often like poor reflections of what the original must be.

After reading this short, early piece of Dostoevsky it is nice to start recognizing its influence on other authors and their work. I finished reading 'the Double' and immediately started seeing how Dostoevsky fits and flips right into the whole bizarre family tree of madness literature. Dostoevsky's double/doppelgänger/unreliable narrator idea inspired a whole fugue of Nabokov novels ('Despair', 'Pale Fire', etc), entire Kafkaesque worlds, Solaris, the Riplad, etc.

Anyway, if you love Russian novels and love Dostoevsky, this is a must (especially if you also love Nabokov). If you haven't read Dostoevsky yet, I'd probably start with 'Crime & Punishment', 'Brothers Karamazov', and/or 'the Idiot' first