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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
What if Dostoevsky had written Fight Club? Or, possibly, American Psycho? It is a story about a villainous double who perhaps exists, perhaps doesn’t, but at any rate makes the protagonists’ life a living hell, or more of one than it already is.
Golyadkin has a horrific experience at a ball at the beginning of the story. He is a minor official, someone who should not be at the ball at all, yet he sneaks in and causes a scene. Once kicked out he has a psychotic break, which maybe was already stirring as he disgraced himself at the ball. He then meets with his exact double, who goes back to his house, and then to work with him the next day. The double seems to be having success, whereas everything goes wrong for Golyadkin, who is one of the least sympathetic protagonists in literature. He is constantly speaking in formalities and banalities, unable to make his point, insisting upon talking with people, but forever interrupting his speech and his thoughts. I know people who are afflicted in this way, and they are very difficult to speak with.
Golyadkin senior appears to be the man’s persona - the false public face he presents to the world. Golyadkin junior appears to be his shadow self, the parts of himself that Golyadkin considers shameful and vile and would like to hide from the world. Ironically, it is his shadow self that is far more able to interact socially with others and has great success, while his persona utterly fails in its attempt to impress and present itself well. In the end it is this persona which is sent away, possibly to some type of hell or purgatory environment.
This was not a popular book for Dostoevsky, and he actually re-wrote it after his time in prison. It is good, but very strange, and not one of his greatest works.
Golyadkin has a horrific experience at a ball at the beginning of the story. He is a minor official, someone who should not be at the ball at all, yet he sneaks in and causes a scene. Once kicked out he has a psychotic break, which maybe was already stirring as he disgraced himself at the ball. He then meets with his exact double, who goes back to his house, and then to work with him the next day. The double seems to be having success, whereas everything goes wrong for Golyadkin, who is one of the least sympathetic protagonists in literature. He is constantly speaking in formalities and banalities, unable to make his point, insisting upon talking with people, but forever interrupting his speech and his thoughts. I know people who are afflicted in this way, and they are very difficult to speak with.
Golyadkin senior appears to be the man’s persona - the false public face he presents to the world. Golyadkin junior appears to be his shadow self, the parts of himself that Golyadkin considers shameful and vile and would like to hide from the world. Ironically, it is his shadow self that is far more able to interact socially with others and has great success, while his persona utterly fails in its attempt to impress and present itself well. In the end it is this persona which is sent away, possibly to some type of hell or purgatory environment.
This was not a popular book for Dostoevsky, and he actually re-wrote it after his time in prison. It is good, but very strange, and not one of his greatest works.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another banger from Fyodor
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
I find "The Double" to be one of Dostoevsky's weaker works, depending on what you want to get out of this book. From a narrative point of view, I'd say the plot is rather weak. However, I do think the book is an excellent choice if you're interested in psychology and want to see how one's personality can change over time, or more specifically how paranoia gets progressively worse if left untreated.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i was initially gonna give this 3.5 stars but then i remembered that i too am an individual struck by my inability to fully merge with the expectations of our industrial society and therefore felt i should pump the rating up.
#BringBackTheAgeOfRousseau
#BringBackTheAgeOfRousseau
Estudo da loucura e da dualidade do homem como algo perturbador e enlouquecedor. É impossível tomar uma decisão. A incapacidade comunicativa, os pensamentos inconclusos, é algo extremamente marcante no livro. Golyádkin tenta fazer as pazes "consigo mesmo" várias vezes. Mas seu duplo não permite.
O duplo surge de uma absoluta impossibilidade de se expressar, de se decidir, de existir e cria mais uma dualidade entre a visão própria e a visão dos outros sobre si. E esse duplo passa a perseguir Golyádkin, a aterrorizá-lo, a tomar seu lugar nas coisas que ele almeja - a aceitação dos superiores, o pertencimento.
Golyádkin desde o começo tem dificuldades para discernir o mundo. É interessante a análise de Paulo Bezerra de que há um elemento patológico e um elemento gerado pela situação do baixo funcionário burocrático, nesse universo aprisionador. E desse estado inicial de solidão e dificuldade comunicativa e compreensiva, ele passa a loucura total, quando é retirado do convívio social pelo médico, ao final.
Muito bom o texto "O Laboratório do Gênio", do Paulo Bezerra. E Golyádkin realmente é um personagem maravilhoso, que suscita pena e simpatia, ao mesmo tempo em que gera incompreensão.
O duplo surge de uma absoluta impossibilidade de se expressar, de se decidir, de existir e cria mais uma dualidade entre a visão própria e a visão dos outros sobre si. E esse duplo passa a perseguir Golyádkin, a aterrorizá-lo, a tomar seu lugar nas coisas que ele almeja - a aceitação dos superiores, o pertencimento.
Golyádkin desde o começo tem dificuldades para discernir o mundo. É interessante a análise de Paulo Bezerra de que há um elemento patológico e um elemento gerado pela situação do baixo funcionário burocrático, nesse universo aprisionador. E desse estado inicial de solidão e dificuldade comunicativa e compreensiva, ele passa a loucura total, quando é retirado do convívio social pelo médico, ao final.
Muito bom o texto "O Laboratório do Gênio", do Paulo Bezerra. E Golyádkin realmente é um personagem maravilhoso, que suscita pena e simpatia, ao mesmo tempo em que gera incompreensão.
