Crime and Punishment

By Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Constance Garnett

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

A desperate young man plans the perfect crime—the murder of a despicable pawnbroker, an old women no one loves and no one will mourn. Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to commit such a crime, to transgress moral law—if it will ultimately benefit humanity? So begins one of the greatest novels ever written: a powerful psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, a fascinating detective thriller infused with philosophical, religious and social commentary. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in a garret in the gloomy slums of St. Petersburg, carries out his grotesque scheme and plunges into a hell of persecution, madness and terror. Crime and Punishment takes the reader on a journey into the darkest recesses of the criminal and depraved mind, and exposes the soul of a man possessed by both good and evil . . . a man who cannot escape his own conscience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 7, 1999
• ISBN: 9780679640035

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821. He died in 1881 having written some of the most celebrated works in the history of literature, including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.

Reviews for Crime and Punishment

[rybeewoods · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this so long ago I don't remember much. I've got to reread this at some point. It's what got me into surfacey Russian lit though.

[beezle176 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved and hated it at the same time. It was hard to get into the story as I mixed up the names all the time and it took me ages to get through. But I'm glad I finished it...

[bradandest · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book with a true grasp on human psychology

[mickyfine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Raskolnikov, an impoverished former student in St. Petersburg spends a 100ish pages deciding whether or not to commit a murder and then another 500ish pages going in various mental circles about whether or not to turn himself in after he does commit the murder.The writing here is well done and the translation is also excellent as it doesn't have that stilted and removed feeling I've noted in several translated novels I've read recently. I can see why it's an enduring classic but I was kind of hate reading long passages of this. There are many sections where paragraphs stretch across multiple pages, which is exhausting to read, particularly when spending so much time inside the head of a character whose thoughts are convoluted but also circular. Also, Dostoyevsky's female characters often serve as little more than window dressing with no real careful examination of their internal lives. If you're on a classics kick, this isn't a terrible read but it isn't one I'll ever recommend.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I hate to give such as well known classic a low star rating. Maybe it's because I read the Pevear & Volokhonsky translation, or listened to it in audio. Or maybe Dostoevsky intentionally set out to make the reader feel the mental sickness/madness of the main character, like an unpleasant fever-dream. The first two chapters were great and promising, but the remaining melodramatic and plodding (a trait shared by some other 1850s and 60s classic novels). The best aspects are Dostoevsky's insights on human nature, but to get those ideas requires ascribing motives, thoughts and ideas to his characters that do not feel authentic; the characters are like projections of Dostoevsky himself thus lacking a believable psychology. I'm glad to have read it because it is so famous, but life is short so I look to the classics for a sure thing and this did not deliver. I read The House of the Dead which was great, so may give Dostoevsky another try later.

[jonfaith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was bitter cold last night. The trip from work to the kitchen was uneventful enough. I prepared soup and awaited my wife. After dinner, I placed Sonny Rollins' 9/11 Concert on the stereo and sat down with the last 52 pages of Crime and Punishment. the greatest testament I can afford the novel conclusion is that for 25 minutes I didn't hear any jazz, only Dostoevsky's denouement

[jakebornheimer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book gripped me from beginning to end. While written off by some as melodramatic and emotional, I found Dostoyevsky's portrayal of his character's inner struggles to be real & enthralling. Raskolnikov is probably one of the best "nonsympathetic" characters ever because even so I still felt for him! Honourable mention to Svidrigailov who absolutely fascinated me throughout the story. The brief descriptions of the penal colony in the epilogue made me interested in reading more about Dostoyevsky's own experiences there (in Notes from a Dead House). I also read The Brothers K this year, which I felt had a much more satisfying arc, emotional climax, and ending on the whole. Still, C&P was a great read and I'm ready for more!

[stunik_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great psychological novel.

[fmrox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ordinary vs superior people.

[bluenichols_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic. Story of one man who commits a murder to see if he can get away with it and the effects it has on everyone

[placo75 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

F.D. had a window into the human soul. This is an incredibly good novel.

[writestuff_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A classic piece of fiction which is both deep and disturbing. A pefect choice for a book club to discuss.

[comfypants · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A depressed man does some crime, is unhappy about the consequences.2.5/4 (Okay).This is my first Russian novel, and it's a 1960's translation, so I'm a little surprised how straightforward and modern the style is. The story's not great, though. Dostoyevsky clearly started writing with some ideas he wanted to put across, but no plan for exactly how he was going to do it. And while there are a lot of characters and individual scenes that I like quite a bit, they're mostly incidental.

[saresmoore · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The rating is for this specific translation by Oliver Ready. I didn't care for the over-colloquial tone of his dialogue choices, but reading in a different translation made this book a wonderful reading experience. Comparing translations was enlightening, as well.

[tess_schoolmarm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read and pieced together 3 different versions totaling about 621 pages (see wikipedia for explanations of why so many versions) Russian writing at its best. Written after Dostoevsky returned from Siberian gulag; although this is not what the book is about. The book attempts to both solidify and crumble notions that one has about philosophy and the nature of sin. Great read! 621 pages

[solitaryfossil · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing, phenomenal, and well deserved to be called a masterpiece. For some reason, I had in my head that it would be about the Crime, of course, and then being in prison, with long pondering about guilt, remorse, etc. - and very dry. But I was completely wrong. It was exciting, suspenseful, with intriguing sub-plots and many layers to be uncovered. Wonderful, and I highly recommend it!

[margaretfield · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

so much there; duh

[michael_rose-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well, it's a good book. Enjoyable enough. I found the first half a little harder to get through, but I knocked it out quickly enough. His writing style isn't exactly what I expected, but I found it useful in perhaps formulating my own. Though fictional, it's also one of those works that offers an excellent snapshot of a particular place and time, in this case late 19th Century Russia.

[valerieandbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to Crime and Punishment being a #1001Books and a read-a-long with some Litsy members, I finally got around to tackling this Russian masterpiece. Admittedly, my reading experience was enhanced by being able to discuss this book with the others: the memorable characters, the story, the feeling of dread that most of us felt, and comparing various translations. I started out with the Oliver Ready translation, but found the older (and reputedly less accurate) Constance Garnett translations to be more readable; so was switching back and forth frequently between the two versions.I am by no means a Dostoevsky expert after reading this or Notes from Underground recently, but found him far less intimidating than anticipated, and definitely plan to read his other works eventually.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is not much more I can say about this book that hasn't been said by hundreds of people throughout the years. On a personal note, I found this book to be outstanding and can easily see why it is considered one of the classics of literature. The way Dostoevsky gets into the mind of his character is as good writing as I have ever seen. The torment, guilt, hope, wonder, and range of dozens of emotions of the main character really hit home to the reader. I think everyone could connect in some way to the ideas in this story and although it is a slow read that takes some time, I think it is worth it for any avid reader.

[innahlovesyou · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I actually liked the book, and it made me think about the meaning of life. A little bit of boring, but worth the time.

[aagbay-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For a long time, I have looked along shelves at the book store, looking for books to read, and every time, I skipped over the Classics section. Compared to the books of today, the Classics seemed like they would be more of a chore than a fun way to escape from reality. But one day, I decided to take the plunge into this pool of literary greatness. The first book I picked up was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I read the very first page, but now, I understand why books like Crime and Punishment are called the Classics. There is a depth and complexity in Crime and Punishment that I haven't yet encountered. It may be from my limited exposure to such novels, but it still is something worth noting. Dostoevsky delves deep into the mind of man and takes us on a journey through love and hate, joy and despair, through this tale of a young man and his tormented life.It's not enough to look at Crime and Punishment as just a novel that follows the same basic pattern that has been followed for centuries. This is a book that is much deeper than that. The book follows the life of a ex-student named Raskolonikov (Some characters refer to him as different names, but this is the most common), a young man who lives in St. Petersburg, Russia. He lives in completely deplorable conditions: he barley lives on a few coins in a very small attic and flirts on the edge of sanity. In this state, Raskolonikov is not the usual protagonist and in fact, he may be the perfect definition of an antihero. Sometimes, however, I found myself lost as the story went on. The story would be centered around a single thought or idea and change radically in a manner of paragraphs. Other times, the same idea would get stuck and persist through whole passages, leaving a very long and, in some instances, a very tedious workload. The transition from thoughts to spoken word can be a bit hard to discern, though it could be just a problem of the translation. Some passages I really enjoyed, but others just dragged on for a long time. Crime and Punishment is one of those books that you shouldn't spend too log of time reading. It's not that it's short or something that is easy to read, but with the different characters and other factors, it's easy to forget where you are, who the characters are, and how that scene fits into the running plot if you leave it untouched for too long. But for the reasons stated above, it can get hard to keep rolling through the book. I sometimes found myself rereading certain passages to understand what was going on, only to become lost in the grand scheme of things.Crime and Punishment is one of the books you should read at least once. Dostoevsky covers the base ideas of man in a thoughtful and interesting way. This book was a wake-up call to the type of literature that I still need to read. But, parts of the book just seemed too drawn out and longer than what it should have been. It is a very dense book and almost every line seemed to have some sort of significance, promoting a close analyzation of almost everything. I enjoyed Crime and Punishment and, while not everyone will necessarily like it, recommend others to try and read it at least once.

[suneil-5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

gripping....extremely

[heatherhoarder · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dostoevsky's novel places Raskolnikov in the daily confrontation of alienation and self-inflicted punishment. Raskolnikov faces delirium and illness while pressuring himself to remain blameless. The prevalence of poverty in Russia in the 1800's and the growing power of ideas such as nihilism and other philosophical positions are carried throughout the novel. Dostoevsky somehow adds an underlying love story into this strange combination of psychosis and philosophy. The novel definitely makes my list of something everyone should read. A character list is essential to keep track of the many different names Dostoevsky used for the main characters.

[fakelvis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Only through great suffering comes wisdom and enlightenment.That is one of the many themes in Crime and Punishment.This novel was written by Dostoevsky after his time in exile in Siberia, where he was serving a sentence in the Katorga camps (a system of forced labour camps that preceded the Gulag).The story follows the young Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov (a student of law) after he committed murder, and details his mental and physical anguish of his secret and his attempts to justify his actions.The story unravels slowly but surely as the idea of noble suffering makes its way to the fore and Rodion has to make some tough decisions that will impact many of the characters in his life.I like to draw an analogy between Rodion's anguish and mine at reading the book. It is long -- very long -- and thoroughly enjoyable, but at points I didn't want to put it down and felt compelled to read for very long stretches. Alas, the size of the book make this impossible and the anguish of the story and its weight on me drew on for over a week.In the end, the closing words referring to "another story" could refer as much to Crime and Punishment itself as to my story of reading the novel.

[janarose1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I picked up this novel as part of the Easton's top 100 books. I have to admit that I wouldn't have read it, or finished it, if it wasn't part of this list. It follows the deterioration of Rasko, a poor student, who decides to murder a pawnbroker in an attempt to better his life. This go awry from the beginning, when in a state of panic he forgets to bolt the door. After committing the murder, he takes a handful of trinkets. Rasko is immediately wracked by guilt, and begins making mistake after mistake. The novel was probably considered a psychological thriller when it was initially published. However, I found it to be a bit dry and hard to read. Oftentimes characters would go on non-sensical rants that lasted several pages. I found the moral questions raised throughout the book to be interesting. A more modern take on this book would probably be interesting and well worth reading.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Surprisingly easy read. Long though.

[rontyler-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing, phenomenal, and well deserved to be called a masterpiece. For some reason, I had in my head that it would be about the Crime, of course, and then being in prison, with long pondering about guilt, remorse, etc. - and very dry. But I was completely wrong. It was exciting, suspenseful, with intriguing sub-plots and many layers to be uncovered. Wonderful, and I highly recommend it!

[folkeb_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Crime and Punishment is a psychological thriller that takes the reader deep into the mind of Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov is a former student who is doing nothing with his life until he devises a radical theory. This theory hypothesizes that there are such men who are extraordinary enough to actually be above the law. He finally tests his theory, which spirals his life into a story of suffering and redemption. It is set in 18th century Russia, and draws the reader into the poverty and suffering filled world of a Russian peasant. It explores a large range of classes while also developing intricate characters, such as the borderline mad Raskolnikov, and the deeply religion Sonia. This is a book that everyone should read; Dostoevsky brings the reader on an incredible journey through the mind of Raskolnikov. While I will admit it does get slightly sluggish at times because there is a lot of Raskolnikov thinking to himself, it is quite necessary to the story and pays off in the character development.Evan B.

[ayling_52 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my first Dostoevsky and I have always wanted to read a Russian author. I really quite enjoyed this and I am now keen to read more.I read it last year so this book isn't quite fresh enough on my mind to do a lengthy review. I'm not an English Literature student either so I'm not going to go into an in depth review of this book, though I would have thought it would make a very good subject for one.I did start reading this a long time ago when I was about 15 I suppose and got - not bored with it I suppose but lost patience with all the names. Now I'm a slightly more patient reader and understand a bit more about Russian name giving and that - I found it a lot easier to get along with.It is basically a rather simple sounding story: Raskolnikov, a student down on his luck - living in poverty, decides to murder a pawn broker in order to steal her riches. He plans it in the greatest detail. The story of Crime and Punishment is how Raskolnikov lives with himself afterwards.It is a deeply psychological book and the characters portrayed are so real it is almost frightening. And that is what takes a simple story of a crime committed, into a much deeper, much more complicated one.