Dvojník
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Czech • Public Domain • Free to stream
Dvojník (The Double, 1846) is one of Fyodor Dostoevsky's early masterworks — a psychological novella that anticipates the great themes of his later career. Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin is a modest St. Petersburg government clerk, unremarkable in every way, until the day he meets a man who is his exact physical double.
Where Golyadkin is timid and self-effacing, his double is bold, charming and ruthless — slowly insinuating himself into Golyadkin's professional and social life. As the encounters multiply, reality and paranoid delusion become impossible to separate. Dostoevsky charts the disintegration of a man's identity with terrifying precision.
A pioneering study of psychological breakdown and social anxiety — stream free in Czech, no account required.
About the book: Dvojník
The novel was written by Fyodor Dostoevsky as his second novel. It was first published on 30 January 1846 in Otechestvennye zapiski and was subsequently revised and republished by Dostoevsky in 1866.
The story follows Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, a low-level bureaucrat in Saint Petersburg who struggles to succeed as a titular councillor. After a series of faux pas at a birthday party, Golyadkin encounters a man who looks exactly like him on his way home through a snowstorm. While they are initially friends, the double attempts to take over Golyadkin's life and they become bitter enemies because the double has all the charm and social skills that Golyadkin lacks. The book matters as it is positioned at a critical juncture in Dostoevsky's writing, switching the focus to a psychological context that gives characters more emotional depth.
Regarding the author, Dostoevsky wrote in A Writer's Diary that most decidedly he did not succeed with that novel, stating that its idea was rather lucid and that he had never expressed anything more serious, but that as far as form was concerned he failed utterly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dvojník free to listen to?
Yes, completely free to stream. No account, no subscription, no ads. It is in the public domain.
Who wrote Dvojník?
Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1846. This audiobook streams the Czech translation.
What is Dvojník about?
A government clerk who meets his own physical double — a chilling psychological portrait of identity, paranoia and madness.