Name: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Rating: 4.730769230769231 (13 reviews)
ISBN: 9798594001114

Fyodor Dostoevsky

One of the greatest books ever written. A splendid masterpiece...

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Sydney plitt

There is so much to love about this novel, but I think my favorite thing is how complete all of the characters are. Even the characters with very little page time and small roles like Semyonovich, characters we never actually meet, like Martha Patrovna, and characters like Porfiry, who have few scenes but a major impact. Every single character in this book could be a main character. 

At first I thought the main theme of the book was predictable and a little boring. Very McBeth with how murder stains the soul, and the blood doesn’t wash off their hands. It ended up being so much more complex than that though. Raskolnikov’s descent into madness as he copes with not only the guilt of being a murderer,  but the confrontation that either his theory about man was incorrect, or he is just like everybody else, or more likely, both. 
While Raskolnikov is consciously testing his theory and is aware of his thought process, it is not necessary for one be aware of their subconscious reasonings in order to repeat the same behavior. We see this with Svidrigailov. 

One of my favorite scenes was Raskolnikov speaking with Porfiry at the police station. His conversations with Porfiry had me questioning if the conversation was really happening as it was relayed to us, or if Raskolnikov’s evolving madness was causing him to hear and see things that weren’t really happening. I’m still not sure. I was under the impression that all of the winking he kept seeing was a sign that he was not fully rooted in reality at that moment.  But I was still unsure whether Porfiry just knew exactly how to push his buttons, or if Raskolnikov was pushing his own buttons and was only imaging that Porfiry was doing it.

“and when, moreover, there was not only no clear evidence against the real criminal, but hardly even any suspicion (Porfiry Petrovich had fully kept his word)”

Based on the epilogue I believe that nobody had ever suspected him, and he had imagined all of it. 

“He sensed all at once that there was finally no point in asking himself questions.”

Though it’s probably not a great thing to relate to Raskolnikov, I deeply related to his constant inner monologuing and analyzing everything, including himself. 

“Existence alone had never been enough for him; he had always wanted more. Perhaps it was only from the force of his desires that he had regarded himself as a man to whom more was permitted than to others.”

I can’t wait to reread this book.

Amanda Oakley

A book that explores the physiology of a man as he struggles with life and his own actions, Crime and Punishment was very engaging and thought provoking. 

Very well written book, especially considering that it’s translated! I’d love to be able to read this in it originally language. 

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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