Crime and Punishment (Vintage Classics)

I haven't read through the entire book yet, but it is quite enjoyable and a great translation. The translators did a great job, especially with how the character names are mentioned beforehand. I know that some people have created character maps just to comprehend who's who, but the page with the names is helpful. For my audiobook listeners, the main audiobook is only available through Audible. Since this is a Russian-translated book, you may want to look for alternate editions for suitable audiobooks.

"Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth." I can definitively say that Crime and Punishment is by far the best written work I have ever read. Never have I had an experience where I reached the word Epilogue and did not want to continue, knowing that if I finish this book, I would not have any sense of completeness or gratification, no sense of "what's next?" or excitement to read another book, but rather I knew for a fact that once I finished that Epilogue that there would be nothing in this world that would come close to this masterpiece. The writing was outstanding. Every character has such a distinct voice that you know exactly who is talking without having to be told who it is redundantly. Every single character is complex and full of cognitive dissonance and moral/social questions and critiques. The world itself is a dark, gloomy, humid and disgusting forlorn depiction of late 19th century Petersburg, which only adds to the grim story. Speaking of the story, the plot is a paper thin excuse to have the many complex characters interact in a gripping drama and has its "climax," so to speak, in the first 100 or so pages, and the rest of the novel is full of the thrilling drama that comes from the many conflicts and dilemmas that arise from the heinous crime that our main character commits, eventually culminating in an actual climax, though fittingly anti-climactic and realistic, in the final pages. That main character being Raskolnikov. While all of the characters in this novel are absolutely genius, there was no character I resonated with more than Raskolnikov. For context, I have struggled with dissociations and intrusive thoughts all of my life, and the way Dostoevsky writes both dissociation and intrusive/obsessive thoughts so perfectly over and over and over without it growing stale or redundant/inaccurate is hauntingly beautiful. It goes to show just how much Dostoevsky suffered after staring down the barrel of the gun that was to execute him. Raskolnikov has enough moral and social struggles within him for multiple people, for even a whole social movement, and that is because he is, in fact, two souls in the same body, or rather a body's soul delicately split in two. His contradictions and varying voices, thoughts, actions, and his eventual growth, healing, and acceptance are gripping, thrilling, beautiful, evocative, endearing, and above all else, inspiring. Seeing parts of myself in his character was chilling, knowing that I'm by no means the first or last person to do so, and seeing those parts of himself lead him down dark paths or to healing actually taught me a thing or two about myself. Raskolnikov brought about a feeling of authentic representation and a feeling of self-actualization and self-awareness that makes me judge myself on a more realistic level and keep my ego in check. But here I am writing a review for a literary classic, so am I really? Who's to say. Napoleon wouldn't leave this review.. I'm getting ahead of myself. There are so many quotes, characters, quiet moments of self-reflection and questions about humanity and morality that still linger in me to this day, months after putting the book down. I have dreams about this book, about the ideas they showed me, about the world and its abundance of character. I will never love a book as much as I love this legendary masterpiece. Luckily, I have read plenty of Pushkin, Lermontov, (of course) Dostoevsky, so on and so forth, so I have become rather familiar with Russian literature and how it is usually structured, specifically its dialogue, and how when it comes to detail in writing from the late 19th century, people wanted detail as it was one of their only forms of entertainment, and so the first big part of the novel consists of a rather lengthy one-sided conversation that would put off many readers who are used to a more streamlined experience but I guarantee if one simply gets through that long monologue, the book doesn't lose steam and only keeps becoming more investing and interesting. Trust me. The only downside is that there will never be a written work, novella, short-story, graphic novel, whatever it may be, that will ever come close to the satisfaction, intrigue, self-awareness, reality checks, and gripping emotional storytelling that'll never leave my head that Crime and Punishment has. I suppose that is the tragedy of it. Though, tragedy is inevitable for true and authentic happiness, and so it is that I am elated.

Crime and Punishment was my first dive into the world of classic literature. I had never read any of Fyodor Dostoevsky's work, and had no idea what to expect going into this novel. I haven't been an avid reader in a couple years, but over the past few months I have read more books than I had in years. Crime and Punishment was a fantastic novel to reignite my love for reading. Richard Prevear and Larissa Volokhonsky’s translation of Dostoevsky's writing was fantastic, every sentence was crafted masterfully. Dostoevky has a way of creating the most complex and interesting characters I have ever met within the pages of a novel. One thing I felt was somewhat difficult throughout the novel was keeping all the characters straight. The names are all very long, and are Russian names, which for me, as an English speaker, sometimes they are hard to keep track of. The deeper I got into the novel, the easier it got. I never realized there were three different names people could go by in Russia until I read this novel, and that’s not including nicknames. Raskolnikov is one of the most interesting characters I think I have ever met in any form of entertainment. A very interesting aspect from my perspective was that Raskolnokiv, the main character, was clearly suffering from some type of mental illness, to me it seemed it was either bi polar disorder, and/or schizophrenia. In my life right now I know someone very close to me suffering from similar symptoms, and it was very interesting to see correlating personality traits between this person I know and Roskolnikov. I would most definitely recommend you read this novel. This novel will entertain you for hours, it is not too difficult to read and will provide you with questions to contemplate for hours while you are not reading. There are certain sections in the novel that seem to drag on, but end up being filled with an abundance of important information that end up enhancing the novel. This novel will leave you craving to get back to it the moment you set it down. I found myself staying up much later than I had intended on multiple occasions due to getting lost in the pages of this book. Everything in this book feels so real. As someone who is interested in psychology and the human experience, reading about Raskolnikov trying to navigate human relationships while battling his inner turmoil was very interesting to see, and was very eye opening in many ways. This book taught me many lessons that can be applied to many different areas of my life, but most of it provided an immense amount of entertainment. This is definitely the type of novel you want a friend to be reading at the same time as you, to give you someone to discuss with. There are many complex ideas presented in the novel, especially by Raskolnikov, and diving into them with a friend would be a very enjoyable time. Crime and Punishment is a fantastic novel that I am so glad I read. It is a beautifully crafted story, displaying psychological quandaries, the questioning of morality, as well as exploring human beings and their unique experiences. Crime and Punishment definitely got me excited to read another work by Dostoevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov.”

“Crime and Punishment” is a classic Russian novel that primarily centers on Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov (a.k.a., Rodya, Rodka), a young former law student living in extreme poverty. Raskolnikov slowly spirals downward until he conceives a plan to murder and rob an old pawnbroker so he can get a new start in life. It was an interesting look into the human psyche to see what Raskolnikov was able to justify because as Dostoevsky wrote, “Reason is the slave of passion”. Much of the story deals with Raskolnikov’s inner struggle as he contemplates murder, the results of his decision, and his path to redemption. There are additional story lines in the lengthy novel including love of family, romantic love, and love of friends. I found those subplots an important aspect tied to the central theme of poverty, and the different paths people choose to survive. One passage pointed out, “…poverty is no vice, that is the truth. But destitution, my dear sir, destitution is a vice, sir. In poverty you may still preserve the nobility of your inborn feelings, but in destitution no one ever does.” This is a vital aspect of the novel as you come across other characters that make difficult choices – some brave, some self-sacrificing, and some despicable – when faced with dire circumstances. Dostoevsky was a religious man, and he included numerous Biblical references and even a section touching on the story where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It was interesting how the author wove these things into the story and how Raskolnikov drew parallels to the raising of Lazarus. A basic understanding of “right” and “wrong” causes Raskolnikov a lot of inner turmoil, and I think that would be different if he hadn’t grown up with a good moral background. You might be wondering, “Why would someone want to read this type of novel?” I think you read this novel because Dostoevsky presents a masterful examination of the human condition, the decisions people make when in the deepest poverty and even great wealth, and the impact of those decisions on themselves and others. There is something admirable and desired for people to earn an honest living and being content with the things they have.

I was eighteen when I first read Crime & Punishment. It was the end of my freshman year of college and over the course of the last two semesters I had been introduced to a constant stream of new novels, authors and genres in and outside the classroom, accelerating me from an avid reader to a voracious one. Dostoevsky loomed large over a lot of the writers I loved at the time: particularly Hemingway and Kerouac. Crime & Punishment had already long been on my radar as a weighty Russian tome and one of the great works of world literature. So I was surprised by Bantam's pocket sized volume translated by Constance Garnett, which on scanning the first few pages, had the stiffly sophisticated tone I'd come to expect from 19th century novels and a compulsive readability presented in its breathless opening pages. Plus, it was on sale for something like five bucks, so what the hell. That first reading of Crime & Punishment proved to be one of the most important literary experiences of my life. I read rapturously over the course of a few summer days, carrying the book about in a back pocket, and finished it around 6 am one morning. It seemed to me everything that a really great novel should be: entertaining, thought provoking, beautiful. A year of intro philosophy classes had convinced me I was some kind of original thinker, or at least a conscientious atheist. But Dostoevsky's take on spiritualism and religion gave me real pause; and despite a year's worth of railing against organized religion as the bane of all existence, the image of the murderer and prostitute reading the story of Lazarus together proved enormously powerful. In the end Crime & Punishment didn't convert me or bring me back to any kind of religious doctrine, but it did have a huge impact on the way I thought about fiction and viewed the world - a sensation I'm always looking for in books, but only a small handful have ever successfully accomplished. So reading Crime & Punishment proved to be a pretty good idea, and much to my delight it seemed a fairly universal notion amongst my undergraduate peers. I can't think of many other books that have been read by so many people I've encountered and, maybe more astonishing, were deeply moved by it. Of course, there's always the stray dissenter. Vladimir Nabokov famously didn't think much of Dostoevsky, but then, he didn't like music either, so there's little accounting for taste. For whatever reason, Dostoevsky started coming up in a lot of recent conversations, and it occurred to me that it had almost been a decade since my first and only read of Crime & Punishment. I've become well acquainted with a good deal of Dostoevsky's subsequent work, along with the writings of his fellow countrymen, so I knew it was vital to pick up the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky and, having become addicted to my Kindle Paperwhite, downloaded the e-book so I could recreate the read-on-the-go experience should the book sweep me up a second time. To be honest, I was a little worried how well Crime & Punishment would stand up ten years later. After all, tastes change, and in the past I have been dismayed by how radically my opinion of a fondly recollected novel can take a turn for the worse on rereading. But from the opening description of Raskolnikov descending from his crappy little apartment into the streets of St. Petersburg I was hooked all over again. But while I found all the major plot points and characters had stuck in my brain through the years, I was surprised how much smaller the novel's scale seemed; sort of like visiting a house that seemed enormous as a kid but shrunk in scale on visiting as an adult. In his introduction, Richard Pevear explains that Dostoevsky built the novel with the structure of theater in mind. I doubt I would have made this astute observation on my own, and yet it became the unavoidable lens I reread the novel through. Crime & Punishment takes place in a very hermetic universe of small dingy rooms, chance encounters, rapid action, and philosophically loaded dialogue; making it a heavy but never dense reading experience. This philosophical bent tends to be the most common point of complaint amongst critics. Novels with a metaphysical agenda are often populated by flat characters who act as little more than mouthpieces for the author. Rascolnikov, in particular, is much more an idea than a person, whose true crime is his modern intellectual arrogance rather than the murder which derives from his hubris. But Dostoevsky populates his novel with a supporting cast that creates an incredibly rich illustration of 19th century poverty, as well as the existential comedy and despair that would color the coming century. Again, the Pevear introduction relates how Crime & Punishment grew out of an earlier novel, The Drunks, which Dostoevsky had been struggling with. It's the vestiges of this previous novel that are, for my money, the most fascinating aspects of Crime & Punishment, and reminiscent of another 19th century master, Charles Dickens. Like a Dickens novel, Crime & Punishment contains enormously entertaining murder plot and, with the added philosophical heft, it's easy to understand why the novel is so appealing to undergrads. The aforementioned Dostoesky hater, Vladimir Nabokov, believed that a serious reader is, in fact, a rereader. For a long time I've found myself almost panicked by the overabundance of books I want and feel the need to read, and disregarding a few exceptions which I've obsessed over, I have never defined myself as much of a rereader. But this second look at Crime & Punishment has definitely changed how I'll choose to read in the future. There's a magic that comes with reading Dostoevsky, and I cannot recommend the experience or reliving the experience enough.

This book is definitely heavy, but in a way that makes you think rather than feel bored. Crime and Punishment really pulls you into the main character’s head and shows how guilt and overthinking can completely take over someone’s life. Even though it’s an older book, the emotions feel very real and relatable. The Vintage Classics edition is easy to read and well formatted, which helps a lot since it’s a longer novel. It’s not something you rush through, but once you get into it, you start wanting to know what happens next and how everything plays out. The book shipped as expected and it wasn't damaged when it was delivered!

Crime and Punishment was always one of those books that I kept intending to get around to but for some reason always felt reluctant to actually start reading. I think to a certain extent I was intimidated by the book, by some hard to name quality that seems to accompany the truly great novels and writers. A list provided by my law school of recommended reads thankfully gave me the final push I needed to dive in and what I found was a book deserving of all the adulation it has received. Fyodor Dostoevsky does not need my endorsement and I scarcely think anybody considering picking up this book will look at my support as a deciding factor. More likely than not, the undecided would-be-reader is trying to decide between the various editions and versions. In this respect, I cannot recommend this edition strongly enough. The translation work is exceptional and it is almost easy to forget that this was originally written in Russian. I have seen in a few other reviews (which sold me on this edition) the praise for the footnotes and I echo this applause. The book is filled with little acknowledgements of political and philosophical movements of Dostoevsky's day as well as to obscure traditions and habits of Russians that would escape the reader's attention were it not for these helpful notes. These notes are perhaps not essential to a grasp of the larger themes of the book, but it informs certain situations with added meaning that one might otherwise miss (not to mention, it just helps satisfy curiosity as to what certain things are). Personally, this is enough to set this edition above all the rest. As to the substance of the novel itself, Crime and Punishment is a masterpiece. It is a searing portrait of a person besieged by his own delusions of grandeur, the competing philosophical rationalizations that make it possible, and the psychology of both crime and punishment (obviously enough on this last part). The narrative is bleak and offers few moments of respite from an overwhelmingly unhappy tale but the journey into Raskolnikov's mind is worth it. I fully endorse this book more broadly and this edition of it more specifically. 500+ pages never went by so quickly!

The book is very durable, font is large and legible, pages are high quality, and no damage to the spine after several months of reading with mine fully open. The translation is also perfect. 10/10