The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Book Review)
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- I'm on a roll with Russian literature. Why haven't I read it from years ago? Why did I have to wait until 2023 to read it? After reading Tolstoy's War & Peace, I then started with another Russian author, Dostoyevsky and now can't get enough. In this video, I talk about my own thoughts of reading The Double - one of his earlier works.
I also make some long links to Sylvia Plath (I'm currently reading Ariel, a collection of her poems) and found out that her dissertation was on The Double! How freaky is that?
The Double made me think long and hard about how at times, we can be two people at once. The person when you are by yourself and the person who (you think you have to be) when facing society. However, in this video I focused on another aspect. The aspect of not a 'double per se' but instead people who may steal your ideas, claim your work as their own simply because they are seen to be more friendly, approachable - and then how this impacts your own identity (gaslighting) and how to reclaim that attention back to your work as the original person. Okay, deep.
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If Golyadkin had seen himself as perfect; there would have been no Junior to begin with.
Trying to make sense of The Double after having just finished it. Loved you're take, puts a great perspective on the book.
Thank you. There are some books that just leave me with a “huh?” and scratching my head. Then I just let my mind wander and think about how parts of the book made me feel. Then, why they may have made me feel that way (the brain trying to make sense or align with any similar situations in my life where I had similar feelings or emotions). I guess that’s the life lesson bit I share in this channel knowing full well that others would have totally different experiences of the same book.
That’s why I love books.
Thats exactly how I felt throughout reading this book, and my immediate reaction when finishing was to look up how other people felt. I'm about to start Master And Margarita today so when I finish that one I think I'll let it sit for awhile before looking up reviews. Have you reviewed that one on your channel yet? Would love to hear your take on it. @@LifeLessonsFromBooks
@ExistencePod I recently bought this book but as yet haven't read it. I'm looking forward to reading it soon!
The Double, The Gambler, The Eternal Husband and "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man", and, Notes From Underground are my preferred pieces by F.D. I think this one must have had a big influence on Kafka.
I’ve not read Kafka even though I have a couple of books on my shelves. I must get to them soon!
Thank you very much dear Helen for guiding me in reading... You become my guide-star.
Thank you! I’m so glad and I appreciate you taking the time to watch and share your comments here. Happy reading!
I loved your thoughts about the two connecting 📚 and your analysis of Galatkin's personality. I read the Gambler - excellent book, and also the Belle de Jar (sp?) By Sylvia Plath - great read as well, highly recommended.
Thank you for watching and sharing that. Yeah it was really interesting to find that when I researched Sylvia Plath as I was also reading her poems at the same time to stumble upon her dissertation topic on The Double. I like how sometimes things all link up. It tells me that there are and were others who were also making connections with - or trying out to find out more - about the life lessons in books. (I have the Bell Jar and read it years ago. Might be time for a reread).
Nice review. I loved the book though it was leaving me delirious towards the end. I was enjoying the genius of Dostoevsky’s writing but was suffering with Golyadkin and couldn’t wait for the nightmare to end. To say “farewell”. The encounter with Golyadkin Jr. never seemed to make any sense. My take is that I find that Dostoevsky wanted us to feel that way. My personal feeling is that Golyadkin was a troubled man suffering from psychosis and the book was a journey through that experience. Certain experiences may have been real. Some may have been real but completely misinterpreted by Golyadkin as he has lost sense of his rational and reality. And some aspects may simply be all in his head. He is perplexed and has a completely abstract sense of reality and has lost himself in his mind entirely. He may even be misinterpreting what other characters think of him. We will never know the truth. Golyadkin himself does not even know what reality is, but we are living his reality. We most definitely know what his experience is like and most importantly - his mental state. It is a beautiful exploration of psychology and people do suffer from such mental illnesses. I sympathized with the character and felt his delirium.
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing your thoughts here and how you felt about the book. I appreciate it.
thank you for all the amazing book reviews ❤️
Thank YOU for watching!
@@LifeLessonsFromBooks you're my favourite book review channel on youtube! 🥰
I'd be very interested to hear a review, summary, or analysis of your interpretation of the film adaptation by Richard Ayoade. This movie was my introduction into the world of Dostoyevsky and I've been hooked ever since.
Thanks for this. I have to hunt again for this film as it seems to be on subscription services (that I don’t have). I’m a big fan of Richard Ayoade so it’ll be something that would intrigue me.
@@LifeLessonsFromBooks I rented it last night and it was so worth it.
Nice one! Thank you.
Thanks for your thoughts on this book!
It is heavily hinted at that Golyadkin's breakdown is precipitated by a disgraceful event that happened prior to the opening of the story. This is why he was not invited to the ball.
Thank you for watching and sharing this. Yeah it did feel that there was a back story there!
This book brought me to Dostoyevski! I think it's a very modern book.
That’s an excellent point you make here. It could easily align to who we are and claim to be in this modern world of being online. Or even, how we change depending on our environment and circumstances. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for this, i just read the book and didn't quite understand the ending. Is it the death of one of the doubles? Or what does happen there? I know you said you don't want to spoil it for everyone, but i'm just curious about that last chapter.
Oooh yes. I won’t say here in case I’ll spoil it for others but if you Google this, let’s just say that I’m in agreement with what the Google search says. Ultimately the ending gave me a start but then a sadness for the character for his demise.
I was seeing the double more as a version of societal standards Jawok Petrowitch rejected. The double being a fake person that lies constantly and puts on a mask. Jawok Petrowitch constantly tries to speak to people from different social hierarchies on a very personal level but gets rejected and frown upon.
Oooh i like this. Yes that makes total sense. Thank you!