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A review by louiza_read2live
The Double and the Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky
5.0
Two Novellas by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in one volume. The Double (5 stars) and The Gambler (4 stars).
The Double was a reread for me. I loved it the first time I read it and I loved it now too. This novella surprised me the first time I read it because I felt a different Dostoyevsky than the one I knew from his other works. The Double is a psychological tale of descent to madness reminiscent of Nikolai Gogol's writing style and themes.
In this tale of madness, Goliadkin, an ordinary man, gives in to his delusion to be someone else, someone who is accepted in the higher strata of Russian society, someone who is respected, someone who is not himself. One particularly difficult day for our friend Goliadkin, a man who looks exactly like him (a doppelganger), speaks like him, acts like him, and has his name, appears to disrupt his ordinary life. This second self takes over every aspect of Goliadkin's life leaving the real Goliadkin confused on how to deal with this second self and with those around him who seem to prefer this other Goliadkin instead of him, his real self. The longer this split in Goliadkin's psyche thrives, the deeper Goliadkin sinks into the abyss of madness.
One of my favorite 19th century philosophers Soren Kierkegaard, in one of his books, The Sickness Unto Death, writes: "[...] and one may fail to notice that in a deeper sense he lacks a self. Such things cause little stir in the world; for in the world a self is what one least asks after [...]. The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. is bound to be noticed" (62-63).
I loved both novelas; however, I might be the minority in favoring the story of The Double over the story of The Gambler as it looks like most people rate and praise The Gambler more.
(Brief thoughts also on the second novella, The Gambler, soon...).
The Double was a reread for me. I loved it the first time I read it and I loved it now too. This novella surprised me the first time I read it because I felt a different Dostoyevsky than the one I knew from his other works. The Double is a psychological tale of descent to madness reminiscent of Nikolai Gogol's writing style and themes.
In this tale of madness, Goliadkin, an ordinary man, gives in to his delusion to be someone else, someone who is accepted in the higher strata of Russian society, someone who is respected, someone who is not himself. One particularly difficult day for our friend Goliadkin, a man who looks exactly like him (a doppelganger), speaks like him, acts like him, and has his name, appears to disrupt his ordinary life. This second self takes over every aspect of Goliadkin's life leaving the real Goliadkin confused on how to deal with this second self and with those around him who seem to prefer this other Goliadkin instead of him, his real self. The longer this split in Goliadkin's psyche thrives, the deeper Goliadkin sinks into the abyss of madness.
One of my favorite 19th century philosophers Soren Kierkegaard, in one of his books, The Sickness Unto Death, writes: "[...] and one may fail to notice that in a deeper sense he lacks a self. Such things cause little stir in the world; for in the world a self is what one least asks after [...]. The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. is bound to be noticed" (62-63).
I loved both novelas; however, I might be the minority in favoring the story of The Double over the story of The Gambler as it looks like most people rate and praise The Gambler more.
(Brief thoughts also on the second novella, The Gambler, soon...).