by R. D. Kori
First published 2020
Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin works as a government clerk, meek and eager to please everyone around him. His quiet life turns upside down when he encounters a man who looks exactly like him but acts nothing like him. This other Golyadkin displays confidence where Yakov shows timidity, aggression where Yakov offers submission, and boldness where Yakov retreats. The two men are physical twins but psychological opposites. As encounters with his double multiply, Yakov's grip on reality begins to slip. The confident doppelganger seems to mock everything Yakov lacks in himself. What starts as an unsettling coincidence becomes a psychological battle that pushes Yakov toward madness. The story explores how confronting our opposite selves can shatter our sense of identity and mental stability.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, psychological-thriller, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: doppelganger, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Russia
Period: 19th-century
144 pages · Paperback · Independently Published
Content warnings: mental-illness