I also found it marvelously entertaining

books:


	• Crime and Punishment (Signet Classics) Fyodor Dostoyevsky Signet Classics, 2006 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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How to rate a classic?

This was certainly not what I expected... what was I expecting? Heck if I know, but it certainly wasn't this. First of all, I did not read this for or with a class, I read it on my own, in my own time. I did not have a teacher or professor there to tell me the deep symbolism or point out the "Christ Figure" and I didn't have a prefaced discussion with anyone on what was going on in Russia at the time. Perhaps if I had I could have enjoyed this far more... instead I sat down with the book and yawned and slogged my way through it. Slogged is a good word because this certainly wasn't a page turner by any stretch of the imagination.

What we have here is a main character "Rodya" who considers himself a genius, above most other men, who lives in poverty. He is rife with self loathing although he is probably also one of the most self centered narcissistic characters I have ever read about. The supporting cast includes his mother, sister, her betrothed, a man who defamed his sister, Rodya's best friend, his doctor, a poor family who he meets and befriends, and of course the lawyer/inspector. Though the story itself seems that it should be interesting enough, a man commits murder - how does he live with it... the problem is that the dialog is long winded and often takes the shape of one long monologue after another (pages and pages of monologue). Often the monologues meander from one topic to another and the person they are talking to or referencing changes mid conversation.

Part of what makes reading this book a bit of a chore is the names, each character has several names, including nicknames, their full name, variations of their name and sometimes their last name. Within a single page a character may be referenced by four or more different versions of their name, and since their names are all so long (and most start with "R"), often you have to spend a second figuring out who is speaking, being spoken to, or being spoken of. We also switch from character to character and scene to scene with very little transition.

Rodya, our main character is a difficult lead to follow. He commits a terrible crime for reasons that a sane person cannot comprehend, then spends the rest of the novel behaving in the most bizarre manner, making strange conversations, and functioning as repulsively as he can. Even his acts of kindness turn out to be self motivated. His rational is disturbing and almost obnoxious to read about... I have read several books "from the mind of a murderer" and often times they can be quite interesting. This however is an awful lot of work for a tiny payoff that doesn't even occur until the epilogue.

One part of the story which showed promise in the beginning were the conversations between both Rodya and the detective who seems fully aware that Rodya is the killer, however they soon grow tiresome and the reader begins to wonder if the detective will EVER do anything about what he knows or if we will have to keep reading page after page of interrogations hidden as polite conversation. Rather than this being a book about the crime, or even the punishment (which I had assumed it would be) this is a book about a man driving himself to madness over the suspicion that people know what he has done. This is not about guilt, Rodya is incapable of guilt, this is about paranoia and where it can lead to.

What I did gain from this book was a disturbing look at what life for the poor was like in Russia at the time. Though in many cases it seems that those who were poor (which it was clear enough in the book that we were to pity) were poor of their own choosing... not that they chose to be beggars, more that they chose not to work hard and do what was necessary to maintain a better lifestyle. As they cry about not being able to feed their children, they spend their last penny in the bar. When offered the opportunity for work, they shirk it and end up back at the bar under the theory that they would not have been paid enough and that the wage would be insulting. Perhaps viewing this book from a modern mindset in a supposedly capitalist society I cannot fathom the choices made by not just Rodya, but the majority of the individuals who cross his path.

Though this was a fairly decent book, I am not certain what it is that makes this a classic other than perhaps the view on Russian life and the concepts that Rodya obsesses over being that certain men are above the law due purely to their more powerful intellect (he often likens himself to Napoleon in this respect - asking if anyone could hold Napoleon accountable if he'd been required to murder to start his forward progression). Perhaps I am missing the deeper meaning, or perhaps this is truly a story of redemption... but sometimes you don't want the person to be redeemed, you want them to pay... and not in a self chosen self loathing way, but in a harsh and almost violent way. Sadly the most despicable act is not the murder, but in Rodya's behavior towards those who love him. Much of this book is about pride, specifically Rodya's pride and the breaking down of that pride to the realization that he is not, in fact, Napoleon 2 and better get a better handle on reality.

I don't know that I would recommend this book to anyone, in fact when my kids are old enough to have to read it for school, odds are I will snicker and say "good luck." This is one of those classics that must have broken some sort of ground at the time but the effect has been lost, at least on me.

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A Hard Read

This book is excellent but readers should take the time to read the Translator's Preface before jumping in. This will help to understand the names of the characters and other nuances that apply to a book translated from another language. The book is about redemption. It's worth the effort to get through it. I woud not have understood or appreciated the book in my youth.

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I also found it marvelously entertaining

I think I liked this book more than I should. I originally dreaded reading it in high school English, but my AP Lit friends and I quickly became obsessed with it.

Not only is it an example of human psychology and perfection, but it's just a great, creepy story of murder and intrigue with some incredible characters to boot.

I found myself getting caught up in the murder, drama, friendship, and subtle romance of the whole depressing mess.

Totally a classic, if you can appreciate it. And you should.

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One of my favorite books so far

I can definately see why this book is a classic. Dostoyevesky writes with such intelligence and skill. It is as if you are viewing a murder from the mind of the murderer. It is a page turner. For anyone who HAD to read it when you were younger, please read it again for fun. It so interesting to read. This traslation comes with some helpful tips and is a very convenient size. I highly recommend this book, as well as this version.

The poverty-stricken Raskolnikov, believing he is exempt from moral law, murders a man only to face the consequences not only from society but from his conscience, in this seminal story of justice, morality, and redemption from one of Russia's greatest novelists.

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