Two brilliant existential novels from one of the titans of Russian literature. Notes from Underground is the dystopian tale of the Underground Man, a retired civil servant living in St Petersburg, who criticises western philosophy and contemporary society. The Double is the story of Golyadkin, who on a bitter snowy night encounters a stranger who looks exactly like him. They become friends, but Golyadkin gradually realises that, unlike himself, his double is socially successful, and he finds himself caught up in a psychological battle that can only end in tragedy. At the heart of both novels lie Dostoevsky's ruminations on the need to establish one's true identity and how society can distort the perception of who one truly is.
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