Poverty-stricken and cut off from society, former law student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov leads a desolate life in a dreary little room in St Petersburg. Having abandoned all hopes of sustaining himself through work, he now obsesses over the idea of changing his fortunes through an extreme act of violence: the killing of an elderly pawnbroker. His mind baulks at the horror of his plan, but when he hears that his sister Dunya is about to agree to a loveless marriage in order to escape the advances of her employer, his ...
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Poverty-stricken and cut off from society, former law student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov leads a desolate life in a dreary little room in St Petersburg. Having abandoned all hopes of sustaining himself through work, he now obsesses over the idea of changing his fortunes through an extreme act of violence: the killing of an elderly pawnbroker. His mind baulks at the horror of his plan, but when he hears that his sister Dunya is about to agree to a loveless marriage in order to escape the advances of her employer, his disgust for the world becomes unbounded, and his feelings of rebellion and revenge push him closer and closer to the edge of the precipice. A masterpiece of psychological insight, Dostoevsky's 1866 novel features some of its author's most memorable characters - from the temperamental protagonist Raskolnikov to the amoral sensualist Svidrigailov and the immoral lawyer Luzhin. Presented here in a sparkling new translation by Roger Cockerell, Crime and Punishment is a towering work in Russian nineteenth-century fiction and a landmark of world literature.
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This novel is at once honest and complex, disenchanting and sympathetic! It carries you away to Russia, St. Petersburg to meet a defunct college student who struggles with the thin line between natural morality and that imposed on human-kind through religion and society. The streets and man made structures of st. Petersburg are used to reflect the decisions and ideas put forth in the novel and by the charicture Raskolnikov. Excellent reading!
bevans605
Feb 21, 2009
Intriguing Classic
I, too, read this novel for my high school English class. While I did not enjoy it as much as some of my peers, it is definitely a book that I am glad to have read. Dostoevsky manages not only to delve into the mind of a criminal, he also provides an intriguing social commentary. I would not suggest this novel unless you are truly committed to reading it.
mallorysusan
May 22, 2007
I admit I only read this book because it was assigned to us in my high school English class. I was instantly put off by the length and language of the book. Slowly though, as I pushed on through this psychologically prodding book, I began to understand Dostoevsky's views on the human mind. I really can't say much that the book review hasn't already said without giving away the entire plot of the book, but if you are willing to swim through long narratives and complicated descriptions, you will find that this book has wonderful pictures of how the mind reacts to stress and exactly what the consequences of actions are.
