Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Crime and Punishment
    Crime and Punishment
    Crime and Punishment
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    Crime and Punishment

    Written by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Narrated by Nigel Anthony

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Crime and Punishment is set in the claustrophobic slums of St Petersburg in the heat of the summer. The novel's setting mirrors the inner life of the main characters as they struggle with their problems of grinding poverty. Central to the plot are the thoughts and actions of Rodion Raskolnikoff, an embittered yet idealistic student who is disastrously influenced by new ideas on morality. He is finally redeemed through the love of Sonia, a prostitute who is also a devout Christian, and the cool wisdom of Porphyrius, a magistrate.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Copyright Group
    Release dateJan 1, 2014
    ISBN9781780003009
    Author

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in Moscow in 1821. Between 1838 and 1843 he studied at the St Petersburg Engineering Academy. His first work of fiction was the epistolary novel Poor Folk (1846), which met with a generally favourable response. However, his immediately subsequent works were less enthusiastically received. In 1849 Dostoevsky was arrested as a member of the socialist Petrashevsky circle, and subjected to a mock execution. He suffered four years in a Siberian penal settlement and then another four years of enforced military service. He returned to writing in the late 1850s and travelled abroad in the 1860s. It was during the last twenty years of his life that he wrote the iconic works, such as Notes from the Underground (1864), Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1868) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), which were to form the basis of his formidable reputation. He died in 1881.

    Related to Crime and Punishment

    Related audiobooks

    Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The 40 Greatest Books To Read Before You Die

      Apr 25, 2021

      Books, books, books. They will increase your lifespan, lower your stress and boost your intelligence. They will give you fuller, thicker hair. Whatever the breathless claims about reading, one thing is certain: losing yourself in a great novel is one

      14 min read

    • Article

      He Was Imprisoned And Losing His Mind. 'Anna Karenina' Saved Him

      Apr 5, 2019

      A man is trapped in prison for a made-up crime. He's overwhelmed by hopelessness and anger. That is until he hears a knock on the wall ... and words from another time and place.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Seven Books I’ll Never Read

      Aug 7, 2018

      Seven Books I’ll Never Read
      6 min read

    • Article

      Destined For Trouble

      Apr 4, 2021

      It’s easy, sometimes, to read too quickly, to be pulled along by plot or driven by dramatic action. What a pleasure to slow down, as you must when the novel you’re reading is by Marilynne Robinson. Jack is the last book in the quartet that began with

      2 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Chapman, Miller, Cásares, Auster, and More

      May 21, 2019

      Seven books hot off the presses this week, including new poetry, an Oprah pick, and Paul Auster's latest. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Chapman, Miller, Cásares, Auster, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Spoilt For Choice

      Oct 14, 2022

      Murder, vengeance, greed and the supernatural arrive in Portland, Maine, hometown of private investigator Charlie Parker. This, the 20th book in the series, is actually two short novels in one. The Sisters Strange, the first and longest, begins with

      3 min read

    • Article

      Not The Messiah

      Nov 19, 2021

      Not The Messiah
      3 min read

    • Article

      Lives Less Ordinary

      Jun 11, 2023

      Ex-detective Jake Jackson inherits an isolated old house in the country from his eccentric, hermit-like uncle. He leaves his job, his marriage and London for a new off-thegrid life where he goes skinny dipping – there is no shower until he builds one

      2 min read

    • Article

      Bret Easton Ellis Returns To Form

      Feb 10, 2023

      The Shards is the seductive and meaty new meta-fiction novel by Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho, his first new book in 13 years. Set in Los Angeles in 1981, the story is told through flashbacks by lead character Bret, a 17-year-old close

      2 min read

    • Article

      Sizzling Summer Book Reviews

      Dec 4, 2020

      by Malcolm Pryce Published by Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 978140889529 $29.99 It’s 1948 and Jack Wenlock’s young life appears to be following the unhappy trajectory of the British Empire which produced him, the latter never having been the same since

      4 min read

    • Article

      Bingeworthy Holiday Reads

      Dec 27, 2019

      When Harry Bosch was just a rookie detective, his mentor, John Jack Thompson, taught him to take his work personally and relentlessly seek the truth in every case. When Thompson dies, his widow gives Bosch a murder book that contains details about th

      2 min read

    • Article

      Untraceable

      Dec 17, 2020

      Not long ago, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was fighting for his life in a German hospital, following a poisoning attempt almost certainly ordered by Putin, the bargain basement Borgia. Poisoning as an assassination method has become the p

      1 min read

    • Article

      And When She Speaks: On ‘Fire Season’

      Jan 17, 2023

      Krow manages to write a novel that is both apocalyptic and optimistic. The post And When She Speaks: On ‘Fire Season’ appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Powerful Look at Women in Prison

      Jul 3, 2018

      A Powerful Look at Women in Prison
      3 min read

    • Article

      Reading Corner

      Dec 4, 2023

      This extraordinary novel marries magical thinking with gritty reality and quite a lot of disturbing violence. It’s not quite like anything I’ve read before and it took me a while to settle into the style of writing but, once I did, I was hooked. The

      3 min read

    • Article

      5 Crime Must-Reads for July

      Jun 29, 2017

      5 Crime Must-Reads for July
      2 min read

    • Article

      Make Summer Last Longer With The 10 Best Books Of August

      Aug 12, 2019

      The latest mystery from Louise Penny, a probing novel by Richard Russo, and Sarah M. Broom’s memoir of living in New Orleans, all made our list this month.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Michael Arditti

      Aug 3, 2023

      Novelist Michael Arditti’s award-winning work features a wide range of protagonists drawn from ancient and recent history, and also from contemporary life. His latest title is The Choice and is set in the present day. It introduces the reader to Clar

      4 min read

    • Article

      Pick Of The Crop: October’s 10 Best Books To Savor In Autumn

      Oct 20, 2021

      Spend the month reading new books by John le Carré, Jonathan Franzen, Amor Towles, and Mary Beard.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Body Tourists

      Dec 4, 2019

      Body Tourists
      2 min read

    • Article

      Russian Roulette

      Feb 1, 2021

      As a longterm fan of Dostoevsky (and yes, unusually for a 19th century literary novelist, he does have a kind of fan club, many of whom are adolescents high on the thrill of first encountering his freewheeling combo of philosophical pondering and jaz

      2 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Prose, Johnson, Sestanovich, and More

      Jun 29, 2021

      This week we're looking at new titles from Francine Prose, Diane Johnson, and Jason Mott. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Prose, Johnson, Sestanovich, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Crime and Punishment

    4.5/5

    8,701 ratings189 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      There is not much more I can say about this book that hasn't been said by hundreds of people throughout the years. On a personal note, I found this book to be outstanding and can easily see why it is considered one of the classics of literature. The way Dostoevsky gets into the mind of his character is as good writing as I have ever seen. The torment, guilt, hope, wonder, and range of dozens of emotions of the main character really hit home to the reader. I think everyone could connect in some way to the ideas in this story and although it is a slow read that takes some time, I think it is worth it for any avid reader.
    • 5/5
      Read and pieced together 3 different versions totaling about 621 pages (see wikipedia for explanations of why so many versions) Russian writing at its best. Written after Dostoevsky returned from Siberian gulag; although this is not what the book is about. The book attempts to both solidify and crumble notions that one has about philosophy and the nature of sin. Great read! 621 pages
    • 5/5
      Amazing, phenomenal, and well deserved to be called a masterpiece. For some reason, I had in my head that it would be about the Crime, of course, and then being in prison, with long pondering about guilt, remorse, etc. - and very dry. But I was completely wrong. It was exciting, suspenseful, with intriguing sub-plots and many layers to be uncovered. Wonderful, and I highly recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Veel minder gegrepen door de lectuur dan 24 jaar geleden. Wel sterk verhaal met hoogtepunten (droom in I 5, ruzie in IV 2, zelfmoord in VI 6 en slotscene), maar soms teveel nevenplots en te pathetische sc?nes. Indrukwekkend blijft de psychologie van de karaktertekeningen.
    • 5/5
      Read and pieced together 3 different versions totaling about 621 pages (see wikipedia for explanations of why so many versions) Russian writing at its best. Written after Dostoevsky returned from Siberian gulag; although this is not what the book is about. The book attempts to both solidify and crumble notions that one has about philosophy and the nature of sin. Great read! 621 pages
    • 4/5
      It took me a long time to read Crime and Punishment. Partly because I was moving away from home at the time, and partly because it's quite intense, and thoughtful, and, well, psychological. I found it interesting how realistic parts of it were, in terms of how people act: Dostoyevsky knew what he was writing about, certainly. At the same time, the people are quite strange -- the investigator, always talking and spilling out his thoughts; the main character, always talking to himself; Mrs Marmeladov with her strange delusions... They all seem a little bit larger than life. It certainly gives them a life of their own, anyway.

      In terms of the writing, the repetitions of things and the stating of the obvious and the sameness to the eccentricity of the characters somewhat bored me. Large chunks of it are just Raskolnikov dithering around and being delirious.

      I can see why this is considered a great book, but I can't quite give it a whole-hearted "it was amazing" rating. It's something I might read again to ponder over some more.
    • 5/5
      This is a must read classic. It explores the mind of the kind-hearted Raskolnikov and his psychological journey to hell amidst poverty and corruption. I found this book riveting and difficult to put down. Dostoevsky describes the emotions of his characters in such way, it makes the reader actually feel what the characters are going through. This is Dostoevsky's greatest masterpiece and definitely a book everyone should read.
    • 3/5
      The crime scene is amazing, suspenseful and thrilling. There are a few other scenes that rise to that level, but the interminable speeches and declamations are what made this a real slog for me. Also showing Raskolnikov is a moody bitch could have been more concise.
    • 5/5
      I first read this book in high school and was mesmerized. When my book club was considering reading some classics, I recommended it, and I find that I still love the book. It is a classic psychological thriller.
    • 4/5
      The Fifth Floor. Julie Oleszek. 2015. This first person narrative of a young woman’s recovery from anorexia in a mental hospital is interesting it is but not as good as I remember I Never Promised You a Rose Garden or Girl Interrupted being. It was a freebie or almost freebie on Kindle and an okay read if you like this kind of book.
    • 5/5
      This book is not what I expected it be. It is sad but very comical. In fact, some time it is so sad that it is comical. But it's realism is not marred by cartoonish antics. The writing is operatic but supremely smart and witty. There are monologues upon monologues, but these monologues are page turners, building to wonderful observations upon life, some I most certainly did not believe our present day have in common with Russian society in the 1860s. Most importantly, even though this book is completely popular and is said to be THE book, it is still quite unpredictable as far as plot lines go. And the writing is wonderfully digestible. And even more, what a wonderfully horrible slash smart slash kind slash petty slash stubborn slash generous main character. There is no denying that we all identify with Raskolnikov at one point in the book.
    • 5/5
      For a long time, I have looked along shelves at the book store, looking for books to read, and every time, I skipped over the Classics section. Compared to the books of today, the Classics seemed like they would be more of a chore than a fun way to escape from reality. But one day, I decided to take the plunge into this pool of literary greatness. The first book I picked up was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I read the very first page, but now, I understand why books like Crime and Punishment are called the Classics. There is a depth and complexity in Crime and Punishment that I haven't yet encountered. It may be from my limited exposure to such novels, but it still is something worth noting. Dostoevsky delves deep into the mind of man and takes us on a journey through love and hate, joy and despair, through this tale of a young man and his tormented life.It's not enough to look at Crime and Punishment as just a novel that follows the same basic pattern that has been followed for centuries. This is a book that is much deeper than that. The book follows the life of a ex-student named Raskolonikov (Some characters refer to him as different names, but this is the most common), a young man who lives in St. Petersburg, Russia. He lives in completely deplorable conditions: he barley lives on a few coins in a very small attic and flirts on the edge of sanity. In this state, Raskolonikov is not the usual protagonist and in fact, he may be the perfect definition of an antihero. Sometimes, however, I found myself lost as the story went on. The story would be centered around a single thought or idea and change radically in a manner of paragraphs. Other times, the same idea would get stuck and persist through whole passages, leaving a very long and, in some instances, a very tedious workload. The transition from thoughts to spoken word can be a bit hard to discern, though it could be just a problem of the translation. Some passages I really enjoyed, but others just dragged on for a long time. Crime and Punishment is one of those books that you shouldn't spend too log of time reading. It's not that it's short or something that is easy to read, but with the different characters and other factors, it's easy to forget where you are, who the characters are, and how that scene fits into the running plot if you leave it untouched for too long. But for the reasons stated above, it can get hard to keep rolling through the book. I sometimes found myself rereading certain passages to understand what was going on, only to become lost in the grand scheme of things.Crime and Punishment is one of the books you should read at least once. Dostoevsky covers the base ideas of man in a thoughtful and interesting way. This book was a wake-up call to the type of literature that I still need to read. But, parts of the book just seemed too drawn out and longer than what it should have been. It is a very dense book and almost every line seemed to have some sort of significance, promoting a close analyzation of almost everything. I enjoyed Crime and Punishment and, while not everyone will necessarily like it, recommend others to try and read it at least once.
    • 5/5
      "Crime and Punishment" is not about either, but about the space between. Little time is spent dwelling on motive before the title's crime occurs. It must be murder, to drive the story to be told, but in order to render maximum sympathy for Rodia the motive remains obscured and his efforts clumsy without personal gain. The majority of the story by far is focussed upon what comes after. Mortal paranoia works against Rodia and he contemplates every form of escape: confession, being accused of his crime at last, or achieving the absolute certainty of avoiding justice. It is difficult to watch him thrust away anyone who would help him, be they friends or family. Guilt drives loneliness; with whom can he share his agony before madness descends? As his straitened circumstances progress, he cannot accept being close with anyone besides those who would regard him as a benefactor, and seeks some form of kinship among society's lowest strata. When Rodia's motive becomes more clear, half the story is already done and the reader is no longer likely to pass summary judgement. By then we know his good side through how well-regarded he is by those who have known him best, and how protective he is of others even as he scorns them at the same time. It is impossible to hope that he will get away with murder, but it is something to hope that he will find the error in his thinking that led him astray. The question then is whether corporal punishment is required to see this realization through, or can a criminal arrive at redemption independently? Dostoevsky spent time as a political prisoner and had ample time to consider the purpose and impact of criminal justice upon society and those it punished. Reading into this novel the result of those musings, it seems to me he could not satisfy himself as to the answer and shared the mystery in this way we all may profit from.
    • 2/5
      It was too depressing/confusing for me when I first read it; I might just need to read it again.
    • 4/5
      A man, living in depressing poverty in a city full of small, horrible tragedies, commits a terrible crime for reasons that seem simple but probably aren't, then spends a long time in a complicated internal conflict between worrying that he'll be caught and wanting to confess. It became clear to me pretty quickly just why this is considered such a classic. Dostoevsky writes with an incredibly subtle, nuanced, and realistic view of human psychology, complete with an understanding of all the ways in which people lie to themselves, justify their own actions, and fail to entirely understand their own motivations. That's pretty impressive stuff, and by a hundred pages or so in, I was enjoying this book much more than I expected to -- if "enjoying" is quite the right word for a novel so full of awful stuff -- and even finding a sort of bleak humor in just how utterly incompetent the protagonist seemed to be at both criminality and penitence. There's also some wonderfully vivid characters. I think Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin is perhaps my new favorite most hate-able character in all of literature.It did begin to drag for me somewhere in the middle, though. I know it's silly to wish for this kind of novel to be a little bit shorter and pithier, but I found myself kind of wishing it, anyway. And I wasn't entirely satisfied with the note it ends on, but I think that's because Dostoevsky and I have different religious views, not because it isn't well-written. Still, I do now understand just why this Dostoevsky fellow is still considered so much worth reading. And maybe one of these days I will finally get around to The Brothers Karamazov.
    • 5/5
      I first read this book fifteen years ago as a high school student. I was gripped by the mystery of it--not knowing what would happen to the narrator who, it is fairly clear from page one, is thinking of doing something horrible, and wondering throughout whether he would get caught. I was also swept up in the idea that a novel could be not just a story, but a philosophy: an exposition, through characters' perspectives, of what is true about life, faith, and politics. My classmates found Marmeladov's drunken ramblings on suffering as a vehicle for salvation dry, dull, and depressing; I was coming into the beginnings of my independent religious consciousness, and latched on to the idea that faith could be a personal and individual thing. I had always disliked how easily authors and directors made me root for the bad guy, and I found myself so smitten with the possibility that we are each villains in our own ways, and can be redeemed to do the right thing in the end. In short, I fell in love with this book, which quickly garnered the distinction as my favourite of all time, not only as an important novel, but as a moving and compelling story.The acclaim in which I held this book for so long made me a bit tentative about going back to it fifteen years later, but I am so glad for having done so. I can be more open now about the writing style in comparison with other great works I have read since; it is, without a doubt, a nineteenth century text, and one whose reading requires a great deal of investment--not work, per se, but close attention. And yet, the deeper meanings of the novel stand out in even sharper relief to me than they did on the first go. I find myself taking the perspective of each of the characters, not just Raskolnikov, and marvelling at how well Dostoevsky brings each of them to life with a psychology and a spirituality that is uniquely and realistically their own. I find myself more critical of the themes of the novel in view of my own understanding of Christian truth, yet more desperate than ever to piece together how and when, for Raskolnikov, his actions and his understanding combine into a coherent whole. And I find myself more appreciative than ever that the author does not gloss over the evil realities of life, but instead explores the heights of Christian redemption through the depths of the harshest sins, and does not permit his characters to slip painlessly into a happy ending, but demands, as God does of us, that they persevere for years in a growing understanding of His truth. This is the Christian fiction I wish more Christians could be bothered to aim for--not the heartfelt world of Amish farms, well-behaved children, and sexually pure courtships, but the far more compelling world of real people with real problems, getting life wrong, falling into the depths of despair, finding faith, and continuing to live in spite of their pain (not without it) simply because of some faint understanding in the bottom of their consciousness that there is one more reason out there not to give up hope. It is the fiction that would birth the C.S. Lewis and the Flannery O'Connor, as well as inspire a multitude of non-Christian authors who, in spite of not sharing the author's or the main character's views, would sense the significance of allowing their characters to be shaped by events and not simply molded by predestined happy endings. It is a book that seems to touch on my own psychology and heart more as I grow older and more experienced with disappointment and struggle. And though the mystery faded considerably after the first read, it is, because of all these things, still my all-time favourite book.
    • 4/5
      Fantastic book, really up my alley. I loved the psychological and philosophical ramblings. I loved any and all dialog between Raskolnikov and Porfiry, and Raskolnikov and Sonya. The cat and mouse game between Porfiry and Rodya was particularly compelling. Some of the monologues and dialogues could drag a bit at times, and this book took me a long time to get through (almost a month). As much as I enjoyed it, I have to say that I am glad I'm finished with it. Raskolnikov's dark psyche was getting to me after a bit and making me broody.

      Favorite quote (Spoilers):

      Can't you see that I must have known that if I'd already started asking myself the question, "Do I have a right to power?", then it already meant I didn't. Or that if I asked, "Is a human being a louse?", then man was certainly no louse for me, only for someone to whom the question never occurs, and who sets off without asking questions.. And if I'd already tormented myself for so many days wondering, "Would Napoleon have gone or wouldn't he?", then I obviously knew that I was no Napoleon.. I endured all the agony of this empty talk, Sonya, all of it, and now I just wanted to shake it off. I wanted to kill without casuistry, Sonya, to kill for myself, for myself alone! I didn't want to lie about it, not even to myself! It wasn't to help mother that I killed - nonsense! It wasn't to acquire funds and power that I killed, so as to make myself a benefactor of humanity. Nonsense! I just killed. I killed for myself, for myself alone; and whether I'd become anyone's benefactor or spend my entire lite as a spider, catching Everyone in my web and sucking out their vital juices, shouldn't have mattered to me one jot at that moment!...
    • 4/5
      Raskolnikov's crime is a form of rebellion against the depraved society in which he lives: his nihilism is justified by his own ego. He compares himself to Napoleon more than once, making me wonder if Dostoevsky read Nietzsche's theories of der ubermensch.

      The criminal's redemption at the feet of Sonya, former prostitute with a heart of gold, feels a little bit tacked on.
    • 4/5
      Perhaps the most ‘readable’ of Dostoevsky’s work, Crime and Punishment takes a look at duality and morality, the heart in conflict with itself. The characters can seem over the top to modern readers, and there are passages that seem long-winded; also a deus ex machina contrivance that strains credibility. Yet there is always a sense of an author truly trying to figure things out, who feels great compassion for his characters. The novel captures a moment in time, 19th century St. Petersburg in between the late Romantic and the Utilitarian, or rational egoist, as Dostoyevsky’s attitudes changed from his time with the Petrashevsky Circle to his post-prison rapprochement with Church and State. The idea of suffering being the basis for happiness rather than a socialist or rationalist plan for living, is a central theme.The book can be surprisingly funny, artistic in its depiction of St. Petersburg light, simplistic especially in its female characters, and both maddening and endearing in equal measure.
    • 5/5
      My reading circle took two months to read and discuss this, and the first third of the book was heavy going for me. The obsessive thoughts of a neurotic can get frustrating to read. But the rest of the text really picked up speed. The characters and situations in St. Petersburg are exquisitely detailed, and it seems the city itself is the cause of much of the ills of the people we see. Poverty, the harsh power of the social strata, lack of privacy, and the desperate situation of women outside the upper classes is shown with unblinking honesty. It is not the action at the center of the book that is important - it is the swirl of characters around Raskolnikov and his family that is the story.
    • 4/5
      As always, Dostoevsky's works are complex and appeal on many levels. So too with this classic. Nonetheless, the book was simply too long. While it had its moments of fantastic dialog and personalities, and some of the ethical issues are as pertinent today as then, there were too many characters and too much unnecessary language. I'm happy I finally took the time to read this work but feel that the same impact could have been made in more concise book. A recommended read yet in my opinion a somewhat overrated classic.
    • 5/5
      The tension just keeps building and building.
    • 3/5
      I know. I know! It's Dostoevsky! But I've read the novel twice and it still just does nothing for me.
    • 4/5
      The first half of this book I really liked, but the second half needed and editor or a new translator. I thought parts of this went on way too long. I think that's the longest two part epilogue I've read in some time. I kind of wish this book was in first person and not third, I feel like it would have been more powerful for a psychological novel.

      I did however like this book even though I have a bunch of cirques. I'll admit this is my second Russian novel I've read, but unlike others, I'm not a big fan of their writing style. Maybe I need to read more for this country and my options will change.

      What I liked best about this book was the murders oddly. I thought the first half made a great crime novel, but as I said before, the second half changes to something different. I feel like this was two different books made into one book.

      I still might read Dostoyevsky's other book in the future, maybe this is his hi overrated "omg everyone read this book right now" novel.
    • 4/5
      Having finished part 1: I think this is to some extent like a past-age 'Dexter' a look inside the mind of a murderer. Unlike this Dexter this guy seems like a bit of an idiot, as much as he thinks of himself as a bit of a criminal-mastermind, he comes off a bit more like one of 'regular criminals' that he despises. The writing is great describing very interesting characters and setting up lots of interesting and contrasting ideas that you can sense will be leveraged to illustrate the nature of the main character. I'm loving it and am very keen to read on.
    • 5/5
      Listened as an audiobook through the Libby app and read the physical book ISBN listedWhat can one say about Dostoevsky? Russian authors seem to have the lock on human suffering and instability. This is a masterpiece of the human condition and what breakdowns look like.Raskolnikov is immensely guilt-ridden throughout the novel and that translates into manic episodes of paranoia, anger, suffering, penance, passion, and destruction. The way the character reaches his cathartic point by the end of the novel is woven between other characters who are just as guilty in their own lives but who may refuse to admit it as well as those who have guilt thrust upon them by others for different gains.There are a few parts that were confusing to me - the names are a struggle. There are multiple names for the same character; I believe this is a hallmark of Russian culture (one among several) where a person has their given name, a family name, a nickname, and a public name they can use. That can be a bit disconcerting so I kept a Post-It flip out in my book so I could track the different names. There were also a few characters I got confused together [names + connection] and would have to go back and read the section over again. But those small things aside, it's a brilliant novel.This is multiple stories combined into one and each character has interactions with another. There are romantic intrigues, lust-filled confessions, and a moment where the manifesto of enlightenment dims beyond pale only to come back in a later chapter and make perfect sense.This is also an example of an examination of family, money and poverty, and free will. Raskolnikov exercises what he feels is his right as an intelligent man but overall, the result leads him into madness.There is one section I had a hard time getting through - it involves animal cruelty; this is not uncommon in classic literature as most people saw animals as dumb beasts of burden and these several pages long episode is cruel. I am a bleeding heart when it comes to animals so this particular scene got me in the nuggets.As an English teacher, I would recommend this to my students, especially in upper grades {11-12} and most adult readers who have the time to spend investigating the maps at the beginning of the novel and flipping back and forth for name placement.**All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
    • 5/5
      Time to Dust Off This Classic

      Chances are you have Crime and Punishment somewhere on your bookshelf, and either you have read it a long, long time ago (most probably in high school or college), or you have read parts of it, or you have started it only to return it to the bookshelf for the future, or you have promised yourself to read it, along with other classics of world literature but, well, there’s never seemed to have been enough time. Now, with fewer distractions and with your own maturity of life experiences under your belt, this might just be the time to dig in. If psychological melodrama, a story rich in cultural ideas at odds with each other, and a particularly complex character in turmoil appeal to you, you’ll find Crime and Punishment ideal and rewarding, in addition to thought provoking.

      So influential and well-known, no doubt you’re already familiar with the basic outline of the story. A young student, 23, Raskolnikov, residing in St. Petersburg, has dropped his university studies and lives in poverty. He decides for a variety of reasons, which all come to bear as the novel progresses as justifications and rationalizations, to murder and steal from a pawnbroker with whom he has pawned items for cash. After much vacillation, a trial attempt, and planning, he carries out his crime. In the process, he also murders the pawnbroker’s handicapped sister when she stumbles in on the crime scene. Having thoroughly bungled the crime, he flees in panic, having the good fortune to leave undetected in the crowded apartment house by either tenants or workmen in an apartment nearby. The planning, execution, and aftermath of the crime overwhelm him and for a good portion of the novel manifest not only as psychological turmoil but also physical illness. Other pressures, primary among them the impending marriage of his sister for financial reasons and his involvement in a cat and mouse game with chief of investigations Porfiry Petrovich, add to the turbulence swirling in his head .

      Dostoevsky lived in interesting and transitional times in Russia. Among other things, the growing influence of outside Western thought, the character of the motherland, and the intellectual battle between, for simplification’s sake, rationalism, utilitarianism, and orthodox spiritualism concerned him. These all get an airing not only as parts of Raskolnikov’s inner battle but also as characteristics of and ideas expressed by various characters, with Sonia Marmeladov arguably being the most important, as she ultimately enables Raskolnikov to find resurrection, salvation, and ultimately peace.

      Which is to say there’s a lot more going on in this novel than a guy committing an ill conceived crime, then torturing himself over, while also trying to avoid capture. It’s this whirlwind of ideas and philosophies that impart to the novel its richness, make it among the great works of world literature, and such a rewarding and unforgettable reading experience. There’s never been a better time to give it a try.
    • 5/5
      Applies to the Kindle Edition of the Penguin translation by Oliver Ready. As readable as the one I’m most familiar by Constance Garnett, & I’m sure more accurate. Good, detailed notes that explain the cultural context & the St. Petersburg locations of the time. Insightful introduction. Has a “cast of characters” section which should be in more modern editions of long 19th century novels, or even contemporary ones, like Stephen King. Not simply a list, Ready also explains the implications of the names that are suggestive of theological & philosophical concepts that a non-reader of the language or the political & religious movements of the times would not be familiar with. Insightful introduction by the translator. Too bad he hasn’t translated more Dostoyevsky – I find the Peaver/Volkhonsky ones to be a slog. Another plus that isn’t always the case with the Kindle editions—this one has page numbers; the default location identifier in the Kindles is often just x digits of y total digits, which makes citations impossible. I was reading the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Little Dorrit even though I own a paperback copy of the same edition, because, at my age, the print of most of the Oxfords is way too small. I had to keep the hardcopy by my side for reference to get a better visual of where I was in the 900 p. Dickens novel. The experience of the novel in Garnett (high school/college, read at least twice) & Ready is sensational, more gripping & faster moving than the Stephen King novel I finished the week before, and King thrillers move like a bullet train. I read D.’s Demons aka Devils in a Magarshack translation many years later, & I’d forgotten how much C&P anticipates it with characters addled by Chernyshevsky, and which might as well have been satirizing the progressives of the late 60’s early 70’s from my college years. The thing to keep in mind is that D.’s novels are funny in an appalling over the top way; he’s a master of scenes where things simply go off the rails. Consider the funeral supper for Marmeladov where his widow Katerina Ivanovna goes hammer & tongs with her German landlady and ends up out on the streets thinking she will make a living playing the barrel organ while whacking her dazed children to make them dance & sing. The grotesque black humor I can’t help thinking King re-imagined in the scene of the son’s funeral in Pet Semetery where Dad’s brawl with the in-laws knocks the child’s coffin to the floor. The other thing is he can be like Dickens on steroids – Svidrigailov could be the reincarnation of Quilp drooling over Little Nell when he describes his 16 year old “fiancée” to Raskolnikov: ”That lovely fair hair of hers, done up in those sweet little lamb’s curls, those chubby little lips, those little legs. Just adorable!” (576). And Sonya Semyonovna is more virtuously operatic than Little Amy Dorrit in her redemptive powers; the scene where Raskolnikov confesses to her truly brought me to tears. C&P: you’ll laugh – not to forget Luzhin, the latter day Uriah Heep -- you’ll cry. Be that as it may, I agree with Ready that D.’s Raskolnikov protagonist is disturbingly ambivalent. Is he resurrected by Christian charity or has a legion of devils simply taken over our hero-murderer, jumping from Svidrigailov to the highly suggestible ex-student after D.’s surrogate, modernized devil commits suicide? Rascal Raskolnikov might be redeemed by his Mary Magdalene, but he could also be a conservative bete-noir, the murderer who skates by calling up all sorts of environmental excuses & acts of charity to get a reduced sentence. The doting mother who can never believe her son would do that but her subconscious knows; the sister who is shocked but “moves on” – characters you see on the Internet all too often. Even after sentencing he still thinks murdering the pawnbroker was justified (like killing the Jews in the 20th century) & he conveniently forgets he also murdered the pawnbroker’s pious, kindly, abused sister, the double as it were of Sonya. Does he ever feel any remorse for his deeds? Is D. using spirituality to give the audience a happy epilogue? Is D. being the devious politician who gives the libertarians and the evangelicals what they want even though what either party wants is exactly what the opposite party does not. I mean, if there was a kernel of remorse in the knave, why didn’t he turn himself in immediately? He doesn’t seem particularly afraid of “punishment.” But that would be a short story. Reading C&P is almost like looking over the shoulder of a novelist as actor, constantly asking himself, as they do nowadays, What’s my motive? What’s my motive?” For me, the motive issue is less about the decision to commit the crime, but more about the endless games R. plays to avoid admitting guilt, if he ever does, with Porfiry like a critic constantly hectoring the novelist about his various stratagems for delaying the inevitable conclusion.
    • 5/5
      After 40 years of owning the books and 5 days of reading I can now honestly say not only have I read Crime and Punishment, but I enjoyed it very much. I found it an interesting literary explanation of the society of St Petersburg in the mid to late 1800s when St Petersburg was the capital of Russia. it is sad to realise that so many of the themes are still common today, Undiagnosed mental illness, poverty, homelessness, debt, gambling addictions, anarchy, predators of women and children, the only thing unmentioned is homosexuality. The main character is Raskolnikov, who believes he has planned the perfect crime with his intention of murdering an old woman who is a money-lender. The pathology of Raskolnikov's mental health includes bi-polar, mania, probably anxiety enough for a school of psychologists to work with. He is also described as a hypochondriac, and may well have been by the definition of the day, but not by today's standards for he is not a malingerer, he is severely depressed, failing to eat for day on end,quitting university, pushing away people who want to help him, yet at the same time, he tries to help the most destitute of individuals even giving away money his mother has given him, to a widow with three children and a step daughter so that the widow can giver her husband a proper funeral. Underneath the character of Raskolnikov is an educated and kind man trying to get out. He is surrounded by scoundrels who use their comparative wealth to impress those around them especially the poor, and who use their wealth as 'evidence' of their moral character as they so believe themselves to have. Again, 200 years have passed and not a lot has changed, and of all the themes of Crime and Punishment, this, I think the writer would be horrified to discover. Recommended for a holiday read - really, you the reader will look super intelligent and you will gain tremendous insights into humanity.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this psychological character study. The main character was not likable, but I still found myself mesmerized by his story. The ending was perfect for the true nature of the novel and I enjoyed that, too. The supporting characters were interesting, too. I enjoyed the twists and turns, as they mirrored human nature.