The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Constance Garnett

The Double centers on a government clerk who goes mad. It deals with the internal psychological struggle of its main character, Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, who repeatedly encounters someone who is his exact double in appearance but confident, aggressive, and extroverted, characteristics that are the polar opposites to those of the toadying "pushover" protagonist.

Not sure what to say about this one. I forced myself to a little over the halfway mark, then stepped away from it for about half a year. After that it was okay. It's hard to tell if I just started to enjoy it more after being more familiar with Dostoevsky when I picked it up again, or if it just got better. Either way, this novella left me feeling like it could have been half its already short length. Wading through Mr. Goliadkin's thought and speech was my greatest difficulty, even in light of trying to evaluate what Dostoevsky was doing with the story. Really, say, that aspect was, if you please, truly nightmarish, sir or madam. It was difficult, but definitely had a cool interplay of ideas. Self, society, perception, guilt, and I'm sure many more things–I won't pretend to understand it–are explored through our hero, Mr. Goliadkin, and his friend in The Double. If nothing else its strange composition and plot makes the reader think.