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I appreciate this book, I really do. I purchased it in my quest to go back and read some of the classics that I never got to read coming up through high school and college (On the Road, Slaughterhouse Five, etc). I have to say that this book requires more mental stamina than any other in recent memory. Read it because it's a cornerstone of a solid literary catalog, but I won't recommend it for any other reason.
This is a beautifully woven psychological tale that I found very hard to put down.
A man kills two women with a hatchet. That's the center story of this book whose character's names are very easy to remember (take Rodion Romanovitch Raskolkinoff, for example, also known as Rodia, or Peter Petrovitch Looshin who is not the same person as Porphyrius Petrovitch). The author reflects the psychological implications of this murder in a very detailed way, although he could have done it in 200 pages less, with the same effect. In my opinion, the novel is too dull and too predictable and you get lost in names.
In an age of the internet, video games, movies, tv shows, home theaters, and other forms of entertainment its easy to get caught up in it all. That sets the whole mental journey of Raskolnikov's story into motion. He finds himself sitting alone in a dirty apartment with no means to pay the rent and the future is looking bleak. He becomes sick, stays in his apartment all day, and cuts himself off from family and friends. Its a simple story with an indepth psychological drive that keeps you turning the pages. Dostoevsky's main character, Raskolnikov, is an anti-hero who is your typical down-on-his-luck college student. Sometimes you need a really great novel to read. Some of the best dialouge is in these exchanges.As time goes on, he mentally begins to breakdown because of the guilt of the crime.
Its the kind of book that makes you want to turn off the TV, drink a nice cup of coffee, and take a 2-week vacation, just to read through it all. He starts out by cleverly arguing with various police officers. The last section, Part Six, really grabs you by the shirt and doesn't let go. He doesn't really have a reason to do it. That's why, more than any other time in history, is the right time to stay a step back from all that stuff and see how a good story is developed by a great writer.It took me a long time to read but the ending was worth it. The only thing that saves him from this depressing fate, is Sonya, who offers hope and a way out through salvation.
That's when he decides to commit murder. The murder is just something to do to escape boredom. Sonya is the one who persaudes Raskolnikov to confess his sin, accept his suffering, in order to more on.This is a great novel to sit and ponder all the many different subtle insights. It builds up to a feverish pace that lingers on in your mind for a long time.If you looking for a great book to read, that's has a lot more going for it then all the New York Times Bestsellers combined, then this is your book.
There is, however, one translation that stands out as being a pretty accurate rendering for Crime and Punishment and this is by David McDuff. I have to say that having read three different translations of this, and other Dostoevsky works, that I'm perplexed as to how people can give such high acclaim for the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations of these novels. On top of being very close to the Russian, his translation is also very enjoyable to read. People claim to dislike Garnett because she's too Victorian, or because she's a woman, or because she isn't entirely accurate in her rendering, well I haven't read a translation that is 100% accurate to the Russian. Something some might like to know is that Constance Garnett's translations are actually a lot more accurate than the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations. All in all, I like Garnett's and McDuff's translations of Dostoevsky respectively. And, if you're looking for an accurate rendering, you can't go wrong with either McDuff or Garnett.
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