Dual Personality

Name: Dual Personality
ISBN: 9787580701138

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky / 李春雨Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaAug 2026

4.4

Word count: 123K words
Chapters: 17
ISBN: 9787580701138

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Summary

The Double is one of Dostoevsky's most important novellas. It centers on the civil servant Golyadkin, a man who endlessly fantasizes but never dares to act, thereby giving rise to a "little Golyadkin" identical to himself. This double not only dares to do what Golyadkin dares not, realizing all of Golyadkin's fantasies, but even drives Golyadkin entirely out of real life. Through this novella, Dostoevsky displays the contradictions of human nature and the fragmentation of personality in the most vivid and direct way, embodying his most characteristic artistic features; at the same time, the concept of the "double" became a core pillar of Dostoevsky's artistic world.

Editor's review

Dostoevsky's The Double is often regarded as a laboratory for the ideas in his later masterpieces: Golyadkin, a minor civil servant full of fantasy but short on action, is eventually squeezed out of real life by a "little Golyadkin" who shares his appearance but dares to act. The novel externalizes the split personality into two concrete figures through an almost absurd style, turning inner conflict into dramatic conflict that can be seen, followed, and usurped. Its value lies not only in the story itself but in the motif of the "double," which runs through Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and other later works, becoming a key to understanding Dostoevsky's artistic world. Li Chunyu's translation captures the original's neurotic rhythm, and the Shanghai Translation Publishing House edition is accessible to general readers. While reading, note the shifting narrative perspective and the oppressive Petersburg street scenes; together they create an atmosphere in which reality and hallucination are hard to distinguish. Best read in a single concentrated sitting during a quiet period, to experience that suffocating sense of being pursued by oneself.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who want a systematic understanding of Dostoevsky's creative development
Psychological fiction fans interested in split personality and self-identity
Chinese literature students who need close-reading material from nineteenth-century Russian literature
Readers who prefer classics that are short in length but high in intellectual density

Not a good fit for

Readers of popular fiction who expect brisk plots and happy endings
Readers impatient with neurotic narration and repeated psychological description
Readers looking for light, casual reading

Reading tips

Read through once following Golyadkin's perspective, then revisit the passages where little Golyadkin appears, noting changes in narrative reliability.
While reading, record every moment when the protagonist "wants but does not act," and observe how fantasy gradually replaces action.
Consult brief background material on Dostoevsky's life and the Petersburg bureaucratic system to understand the real roots of the minor civil servant's predicament.
After finishing, compare it with Crime and Punishment and consider how the "double" motif is transformed in later works.

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
Digital Lab简介
陀思妥耶夫斯基的《双重人格》
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
第十一章
第十二章
第十三章
译后记：人格分裂的镜鉴

FAQ

Can I read this directly without having read other works by Dostoevsky?

Yes. This is a novella, relatively short, with a concentrated cast, making it a suitable entry point into Dostoevsky's world. The absurd and psychological passages are dense; a basic understanding of the nineteenth-century Russian civil service system will make it smoother. After finishing, moving on to long works such as Crime and Punishment will make the continuation of the "double" theme clearer.

Does "double personality" mean schizophrenia in the medical sense?

The novel borrows the intuitive image of a split personality, but its focus is not clinical diagnosis; rather, it shows a person torn between fantasy and action, abjection and ambition. Little Golyadkin is more like an externalized projection of the protagonist's desires and courage. Readers need not match it to medical criteria; understanding it as an artistic psychological allegory is closer to the text.

Is this translation suitable for study and research?

The Shanghai Translation Publishing House edition is translated by Li Chunyu; its language stays close to the original's rhythm and is suitable for general reading and preliminary research. For in-depth textual analysis, it is advisable to consult different translations of key passages and note differences in handling narrative perspective and Petersburg scene descriptions. Specific academic citations still require checking the print copyright page information.

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About the author

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky Author · Russian · 1821–1881

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a nineteenth-century Russian writer born in Moscow. In 1849 he was arrested for joining a radical group and later served hard labor in Siberia. This experience deeply shaped his writing, which consistently explores the spiritual struggles of people in extreme circumstances. His major works include Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov, and they reach Chinese readers chiefly as foreign literature and world classics. His novels are known for probing characters' inner lives and, through tense plots and clashes of ideas, examining faith, freedom, guilt, and redemption; his psychological insight is especially profound and has had a lasting influence on modernist literature. This site holds 106 of his works, including several editions of The Brothers Karamazov and a collected works set, reflecting his enduring presence among Chinese readers.

李春雨 Author

Li Chunyu is an author about whom limited public information is available. The library holds eleven of his works, which span a notably wide range of subjects. Judging from his representative titles, he is involved in foreign literature, including The Master and Margarita, The Double, and A Remarkable Life, and has also compiled several medical books, such as Clinical Anorectal Surgery and guidebooks on seeking medical care for conditions including colitis, anal fissure, perianal abscess, and hemorrhoids. His works are commonly classified under foreign literature, inspirational growth, and medicine, suggesting a writing profile that combines literary translation and introduction, personal-growth reading, and clinical popular science. The medical works lean toward the practical, focusing on guidance for specific conditions and offering reference for general readers, while the literary works mostly present selections from foreign classics. Because reliable records of his birth and death dates, nationality, education, and professional career are unavailable, no inferences are made here; this profile is based solely on the works held in the library.