Book Review: Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Source: Amazon.com

From the book’s cover:

One of the world’s greatest novels, Crime and Punishment is the story of a murder and its consequences—an unparalleled tale of suspense set in the midst of nineteenth-century Russia’s troubled transition to the modern age.

In the slums of czarist St. Petersburg lives young Raskolnikov, a sensitive, intellectual student. The poverty he has always known drives him to believe that he is exempt from moral law. But when he puts this belief to the test and commits murder, there results unbearable suffering. Crime and punishment, the novel reminds us, “grow from the same seed.”

“No other novelist,” wrote Irving Howe of Dostoyevsky, “has dramatized so powerfully the values and dangers, the uses and corruptions of systematized thought.” But Sigmund Freud and others saw the Russian’s work in a different light. Said Freud, “He might have been a liberator of mankind. Instead he chose to be its jailer.”

“He is the only psychologist I have anything to learn from.”—Friedrich Nietzsche

The Review:

Right up front, let me say that Crime and Punishment, the classic novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is worth it's reputation as being great in this reviewer's opinion. But one thing to note: if you download and listen to the Librivox free audiobook version, you'll get a mixed bag, and the first narrator may turn you off completely. He has a very thick accent. It sounds of Eastern European or even of Russian background, but there is a hint of British tinge to the English, and a nasal sound that can really drone on. The pronunciation is also odd, and so native English speakers may be driven off by it. After awhile I got used to it, but it still numbed me a bit to the action.

There are several other narrators who take parts. One is a doctor from Detroit who gives probably the best delivery. After these it is iffy. And the recording "facilities" can be a bit off-putting too. One gal had great diction, but somebody was blow drying her hair in the background (or maybe he - it is the 21st century, after all). And one reader's recording was on bad equipment or was poorly encoded or something, as the static that came with it was quite annoying. What I'm saying is, if you've been spoiled by professional voice actors reading audiobooks, this book will often hurt your ears. But it is the only free unabridged version I could get my hands on.

The author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky / Source: TimesFlowStemmed.com

As for the story, I was told - after having read The Idiot by Dostoyevsky - that Crime and Punishment was good. It is. The delivery by the narrators hampered my appreciation a bit, and on my side of the coin, the age of the book made its attention to detail a bit of a drag at first. On that score, my wife once noted to me that books from the nineteenth century and before are harder to read because they tend to hang on details that modern authors will gloss over. Things just seem to have moved at a slower pace back then, and audiences probably expected less than they do today. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that Dostoyevsky's writing, though it is clearly masterful, tends to plod a bit at first. But when things get down to the murder? Great stuff.

Not to say I'm only inspired by blood. The rest of the book, with the mis-adventures of Raskolnikov are fascinating as they tell both an exciting tale of a man who kills and seems to be getting away with it, even though he is being eaten alive inside by doubt and fear, and also a book that explores interesting psychological ground. The jacket material I quoted above also said it is a social commentary, and this I can appreciate too, though I am not a student of this particular period of Russian history to the same extent that I am with the Soviet era. But this period helped bring about that period, so it is important to appreciate it too.

I am no one to criticize a classic in any real way, and so I won't try to do it too much. Needless to say, the book is great. It's not for everyone, as it is quite involved in unabridged form. To be honest, at times it felt like The Tell Tale Heart by Poe, which I think can give it wider appeal to a potential audience, while at the same time being deep and meaningful, which makes it more than just light reading.

A visual interpretation of the dream sequence that Rashkolnikov describes having.  The imagery Dostoyevsky creates in the scene felt so much like dreams I have had myself (but not the content, of course).  It was the surrealism of the whole thing that made it just that much more believable to read. / Source: LeningradWalks.su

One of the parts I liked best was the dream sequence that Raskolnikov has before killing the old woman. He dreams of a group of people who kill an old mare they are trying to force into a gallop. The symbolism and imagery of this dream scene are really powerful, and I felt a lot of compassion for both the dreamer and for the horse in the dream. It is really good stuff.

And again, the sequence in which Raskolnikov goes about planning his murder and then goes through with it... and when the old woman's sister comes in and our murderer gets her too in a burst of passion-fueled necessity? That's as good as any modern murder mystery thriller. And then the days afterward where he is in constant fear for his safety and sanity? I am not finished reading the book, as of these notes, but I'm left wondering when the axe will fall on our boy here. It's great stuff. Much better than The Idiot for the less dedicated Russian Literature novice.

[Some time later] Having gotten through more of the novel, I must say that it drags in places. for a 21st century audience, that is. I guess I'm showing my bourgeois, but sometimes all the talk, talk, talk is just unpleasant. It's good - don't get me wrong. But I can see why some would prefer an abridged version. The conversations seem to go on and on. I was actually thinking that Crime and Punishment might be the story that could be a Russian alternative to Les Miserables. Speaking in place of my comment on the movie, and how somebody ought to take a great Russian novel and make a musical out of it, and then I'd watch it. But that would be a tough thing to do. The action, when it is present, is great. But there is so much talk in this novel.

Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, like many other classics, has received a graphic novel treatment.  I have never read that version myself, but here is a review of the work. / Source: Flavorwire.Files.wordpress.com

On the other hand, having held in there, I've discovered a great part that was referenced in the cover blurb - the psychological element. You see, Raskolnikov has a conversation with another character (it is hard to keep all those Russian names straight, sorry to say), in which his interlocutor describes an article that Raskolnikov wrote about a theory he had on the moral ability great men have in regards to killing. The idea is that a great man could hypothetically be held to a different standard when it comes to killing others, since he is great. The examples cited are Napoleon and Muhammad.

The idea is an interesting one, and it is even more telling since Raskolnikov has already killed the pawn broker before this discussion takes place. So not only do we have the theoretical idea to ponder, but we can think about its application in the story.

What I'm saying is, this book is brilliant, so don't misunderstand my grumblings. It just gets a bit long in the tooth in places for me. I'd be just as happy if they cut to the chase in some spots. But what do you do? Not read books that old, I suppose. But then you miss out on all the good they contain. It's a conundrum, I suppose.

One of the central themes of Crime and Punishment, and one of my favorite quotes from the book. / Source: Bhuwanchand.Files.wordpress.com

I'm going to shut down this review now, without having finished the book yet. Unless things become drastic in the story, I'll stop here (but I'll finish reading, just the same) and say that I recommend the book. I think it is good. But it is a bit hard to get through in places. Maybe if taken in smaller doses than an audiobook allows. Audiobooks make for easier grinding through stuff that could probably be more easily to appreciate if the reader took time to go back and be clear on everything they read. But for me, that just isn't an option right now.

P.S. the ending was quite good. I won't spoil it, but it ends on that heart-breaking note that you know is coming, but you keep thinking maybe... and then... yeah, I can see why people say this is such a good book. Too bad it drags so much in places. Different times, I suppose.


Learn more about Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, on Amazon.com


The parting comment:

Source: LOLSnaps.com

Don't do the crime if you can't do the...  well philosophical debates aside as to what death really constitutes, time.