The Double Hardcover – 6 October 2021

Multiple spelling errors on each page. Reading it feels like someone is having a joke on you. Not sure why this is still allowed in print books that cost money. Famous books are always correct in their spelling, but less famous old books think they can charge you for an incorrect book.

In The Double Yakov Petrovitch Golyadkin, a titular councillor finds that his double – who also has the same name as him - has started at his organisation as a junior clerk. After his initial surprise he befriends the double only to then realise that his double is plotting against him. The junior Golyadkin ingratiates himself with his colleagues and the senior Golyadkin spends most of the book worrying and going from place to place trying to decide how and even if he should confront his double or out him to his bosses as an unworthy person.Reading the book I came to the conclusion that the junior Golyadkin could be in the senior Golyadkins’ mind and this book was a study of mental illness. This though was continuously challenged though by the juniors’ interaction with other colleagues. As a study of mental health I felt that the book was ahead of its time only to find that this was not the case at all.The ending of the book is bizarre and left me wondering what the whole book was about. Clearly I an missing something because having just finished it I have no idea what this story was about. It seems there really was a double but the ending is nonsense.I have decided to read all of Dostoyevskys’ books in the order they were written but I really would not recommend this.

They did the bare minimum, paper is a bit big and awkward to hold. No introduction or additional information

Weird typos. There's one on page 5. "Expanse" is used, instead of "expense". It just totally takes you out of the experience. Print is also really low quality; it's totally faded and jagged. It looks like someone printed it with a laserjet, consumer printer. Shame, because the paper in my copy is of decent quality, and it seems to be bound properly. It's a shame Constance Garnett's name is associated with this nonsense.

This "book" is a sham. Upon opening it the first page started to tear out. It's full of typos. They take an unedited free PDF online and put it into the whiz-kid express bookmaker. Because of the typos I couldn't read it, had to read a real scanned copy of the Constance Garnett edition online. Pay another $7 for a REAL edition.