Dostoevsky's The Double a so-so read?

[redfox1111]

Before I start, for anyone not familiar with Dostoevsky, his first novel was called Poor Folk and was greatly praised by a well known name in literature at the time Vissarion Belinksy. Dostevsoky was a big deal at the time however his next work, The Double did not do so well for him and he would sort of fall into obscurity until after he was released from prison years later.

My question is does this still hold true today? Is the novel not that great and simply held in a higher regard because of who wrote it? Now just because some fourierists or whatever socialists did not like it in the 1840's may not mean it's a poor novel I realize but what do you think?

[Iain Sparrow]

Let's put it this way... if an Englishman of some talent had written The Double, and all things being equal... it would have slipped through the cracks and seldom, or never read again. Personally, I find Dostoevsky overrated at the best of times, and The Double isn't near his best work. But that said, you can read The Double in one sitting so even if you don't like it, you haven't wasted an entire day.:)

[WyattGwyon]

I think The Double is fascinating and maddening and well worth the read. Not really novel length, of course. It would have been noticed no matter who had written it at that time because of the way the author fails to resolve ambiguities raised by the unreliable perceptions of its subject. The comic elements are wonderful.

[loe]

I also enjoyed reading The Double, even if it's unusually short for a russian writer. ;)
Maybe it was the plot that didn't please people then, because it was relatively new and not that overused like today...?