Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"

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donglobal1
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Re: Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"

Post by donglobal1 »

I read this a couple of years ago and loved it! It's definitely one of my favorites. The way he captured R's thought processes and his obsession with getting caught was amazing. I read it over the course of a month or so. I could have sped through it, but I just wanted to savour the book. It was the first time I ever did something like that, purposefully making myself pause to take in what I had read. It was a great read and I definitely recommend it as well. I have Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" and the "Brothers Karamazov"on my shelf. Need to pick one of them up soon! :techie-studyingbrown:
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Post by sarahmarlowe »

Most reviewers here agree that the first hundred or so pages are boring, so I'm taking that as solid truth! Thanks for the warning. I will keep that in mind as I approach this book. :)
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Post by magnoparisi »

Crime and Punishment is Dostoyevski at his best - at least as far as this reader is concerned. This is a complex story certainly with respect to the storyline: and, in the typical Russian style, full of boiling emotion, honor, degradation and mystery. Raskolnikov, a young college drop-out, given to dark mood and brooding temperament sulks in his cramped, stuffy, oppressive little boarding house room and plans a murder. He has earlier published a pseudo-intellectual essay in which he postulates the ‘right’ of an ‘extraordinary’ person to even commit crime in the pursuit of a greater good. This nietzschean philosophy shared with the reader is one of the things that make this book great.

“Yes, that’s what it was! I wanted to become a Napoleon, that is why I killed her. . . . Do you understand now?”

One of the best books of all time.
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Post by Noorbass »

Reading Destoevysky is one of the cardinal doors to russian literature no doubt, also the door to classics, you must stumble upon him at some point if you're an enthusiast, but Crime and Punishment isnt as brilliant as its displayed to be, this work is a window into the psychology of crime and thats the uniqueness of it, it does to sure convey all aspects of turmoil in depth but it dosent give perspective, its a tale not an external point of view, it puts the reader behind a small scope the entire length of the novel, it gets daunting but that dosent spare this novel the genius of displaying even if a strip of mental illness and narcissism.
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Post by Nikolas Farmakis »

I have heard of this book, as it is a famous classic and I will probably read it sometime in the future.
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Post by JustAnotherTim30 »

I gave this book a great mystique before actually reading it. I thought of it as some beast that needed to be slain, some great book that always looks down from its space on the shelf and laughs at me. I would try every few years to read it, and of course it would throw me off course. I wasn't ready. A stupid child. No need for that level of emotion. But, I finally finished it. Took me a long time. I will say, that it is a fine book. A challenging and demanding title. Don't read this with music on. Have a clear mind while reading it. I think I may have glorified it a little in my youth, but it was enlighening, entertaining, and engaging.
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Post by Xu-Xu »

Was so deeply into Dostoyevskiy at the tender teenage years.This one was and still is one of my favorites. Fyodor Mikhaylovich was an indisputable master of description :tiphat: Once you read it you actually felt it. The novel is strikingly depressing but yet so much human. After the last page was done I felt cracked but so satisfied. Must read for those who crave all alter-ego staff and self-digging))
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Post by nicole-adrianne »

What surprised and delighted me the most about Crime and Punishment, aside from the philosophical ponderings, was the happy ending! I genuinely wasn't expecting it, and that made this book a perfect read, in my opinion.
* * *
One feels like a duck, splashing around in all this wet. And when one feels like a duck, one is happy!
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Post by Bigwig1973 »

This is probably one of my favorite novels. However, since I am part Italian and since Jiminy Cricket is such a lovable character in Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio and since Raskolnikov is having such issues with his conscience in this novel, I had to notice it. It also ties into Friedrich Nietzsche's works regarding the "superman" which, in Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky refers to as an "extraordinary" man. Edgar Allen Poe also deals a lot with the conscience in many of his short stories. Raskolnikov, by the way, was supposed to have had syphilis which was supposed to explain some of his behavior. I'm not sure where I heard or read that, but I do recall reading it somewhere. Maybe the guilt or lack of guilt made him have symptoms. A psychological trick: a man who cheats on his wife who then turns to drinking must be a better man with a conscience because he obviously drinks his guilt away. So, a man who makes himself delirious by contracting a disease and stressing his immune system must also be a better man with a conscience. Then, a woman falls in love with him and feels she needs to save his soul. Not a bad way to get a wife in Russia at the time? Svidrigailov (probably spelled that wrong) was probably one of my favorite characters - I imagine he looked like "Boris the Blade" from the movie "Snatch". And, of course, you gotta love Porfiry, the extraordinarily patient detective.
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Post by nangel04 »

This is one of my absolute favorite classics!! To be in the head of a murderer and subtly find myself empathizing with him was a little shocking. When he was nervous, I was nervous almost to the point that my heart would race and my own palms would get sweaty. I had to constantly remind myself that he was guilty and push aside the thought that I felt it would be justified for him to get away with what he’d done.
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Post by Shieldmaiden88 »

I really enjoyed this book as well. I think I have loved everything by Dostoyevsky I have ever read actually. In addition to the main points others have mentioned, one thing I really appreciated was how the author is able to include so much detail in the minor characters and their stories. So much of life and society is included in the story that it is a very rich learning experience for those of different cultures.
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Post by Sarah J Callen »

Crime and Punishment is one of my all-time favorite books. I completely agree that Dostoevsky is a must-read for anyone who is at all interested in reading the classics. The themes he wrestles with are so universal that they're still relevant to us today.
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Post by Mpilis »

Although many people say that this book has a difficult style that is difficult to perceive, I did not have such difficulties when reading it. It is written really hard, there are many details of the description, as well as the descriptions themselves, but the plot turned out to be too interesting for me to pay much attention to this. The story of a poor student who commits the murder of a rich old woman in order to prove to himself that he is "not a trembling creature, but has the right", and after a voluntary confession he is serving a sentence in hard labor, where his spiritual rebirth takes place, sunk into my soul very much. In fact, the story of the criminal punishment, in fact, for the murder itself, occupies a very small part of the work, and the greater part is occupied by mental anguish, which serves as the main punishment of the hero for what he has done. I was very pleased with the love line of the work. There is no strong emphasis on it (namely, on the development of romantic relationships between characters), but at the same time, it itself plays an important role in preserving the moral character of the hero.
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Post by Frank Mutuma »

Its very hard to get what is happening in the first read but afterwards you start appreciating the philosophy, dry humor. There is always something new to get you in deep thoughts for every read
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Post by Frank Mutuma »

Its very hard to get what is happening in the first read but afterwards you start appreciating the philosophy, dry humor. There is always something new to get you in deep thoughts for every read
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