Crime and Punishment

Book review: Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky

This one won't be long since I will not pretend that I have a firm grasp of this book after finishing it on my own, without the benefit of commentary or analytical essays or the guidance of a college course. I've tried to give myself some time to think about it, to let it settle in, since finishing it four days ago, but I don't think I'll have any more tremendous revelations.

Notably, this is the second epic novel I've read so far this year that takes place around 1865 (see the review of McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove"... not that there are any real similarities between the two). Basically a twentysomething from St. Petersburg who has dropped out of law school decides that it would be moral to commit murder if the person he murdered was a despicable, greedy, awful citizen, since overall the person's absence would theoretically be more philanthropic to more people than if the person otherwise continued to live. He goes through with the murder, which is sort of a prelude to the real substance of the book, where Raskolnikov meets a whole cast of unbelievably unique individuals, goes through crazy inner turmoil and strides the seemingly fine line between insanity and coherence, and contemplates turning himself in.

In C & P, Dostoevsky has a wide variety of characters with subtle differences in personality and ideology. The reader's challenge is to decide which characters Dostoevsky is sympathetic towards, and which economic and political ideologies he believes in. At the center of the book is the issue of if and how a society can be just and organized when there is economic disparity. A student of philosophy, economic theory and/or history (i.e. someone well versed in socialism, utilitarianism, anarchism, nihilism) would be more affected by the ideas discussed in this book than I was. That said I did understand, in a basic sense, and was excited by Dostoevsky's discussions, as long as I remembered to read slowly.

Maybe in 10 or 15 years when I have a better grasp of the nuances and the historical documentation of these ideologies I will reread Dostoevsky's first great work and enjoy it even more. I guess I highly recommend C & P to anyone with a desire to learn.