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Crime and Punishment (Bantam Classics) (平装)
by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett (Translator)
| Category:
Classics, Russian literature, Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 98.00
MSL price:
¥ 88.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This Russian masterpiece is the profound human drama of Raskolnikov, a classic of dramatic literature by one of the greatest novelists of all time. |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 13 items |
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Thomas Aichinger (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-08 00:00>
This literary giant is arguably the best philosophical narrative of the 19th century. The main character, Raskolnikov, intends to kill a woman who is supposed to do the world no good anyways and the money from his murder will fund him in his pursuit to become a great man. While Dostoyevsky probably did not intend it specifically as such, this novel presents existential man with his proper, primary dilemma: acting as a moral entity in the seeming absence of moral guidance from god. There are many other issues in the book to be sure, but this of them all strikes me as the most poignant and important of Dostoyevky's insights. While the christian aspect of the book, that a lowly prostitute will save a family from moral descent, is somewhat tiresome, the characters in this work are all masterfully developed and the need for human beings to take responsibility for their actions becomes clear no matter what worldview you enjoy. This is great literature in the form of the exploration of a simple idea. Thus, this is a masterpiece of literary invention that will survive simply because it touches on the radical responsibility that we possess. I recommend this book for the philosophy student and the lover of literature alike.
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Spencer Case (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-08 00:00>
If you read one murder novel in the rest of your life, read "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It's only 500 pages but it speaks volumes.
I discovered Dostoyevsky a few months ago while I was deployed to Iraq and my literary world will never been the same.
I found a copy of "The Brothers Karamazov" in a pile of miscellenious books that had been dedicated to troops to boost morale and took it to a literary savvy Lt. Col. I knew. When I showed him my find, he insisted I read Crime and Punishment first. I'm certainly glad I decided to take his advice.
Crime and Punishment tells the story of a brutal murder in pre- revolutionary Russa and the emotional torment of the eccentric murderer, Raskolnikov. The book is as dark and suspenseful as anything I've ever read, but it also manages to convey things on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum like redemption and love. My favorite passage of the book (a hard pick, for sure) is when Porfiry, a jovial but formitable detective, interrogates Raskolnikov.
The deployment is over, but my infatuation with Dostoyevsky's books has just begun. I'm now reading "The Idiot" and enjoying it, though it's too early to see if it matches "Crime and Punishment."
Whether you are deployed to the farthest reaches of the world or sitting comfortably at home, "Crime and Punishment" promises to be an exhilerating read.
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Jon Penny (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-08 00:00>
You plan a crime. It is solely of your design. The method. The place. The victim. Everything is your calculation. It is your conscious mind that has plotted the deed. It is your voluntary actions which carry it out. Every aspect of the crime belongs to you. It is very much a part of who you are. Your identity. Your past. Your future.
Do you not deserve credit for its brilliance? For its success? But also for its failure? For its punishment? And the suffering that follows?
These are the existential questions facing the protagonist Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky's classic work. Set against 18th Century St. Petersburg -- a time when poverty and blind religious faith created a recipe for scandalous social acceptance of depraved living conditions and suffering of many. All of this accentuates Raskolnikov's own condition. A brilliant law student, he himself is very poor. Living in shabby quarters, he rarely eats. In this setting, Raskolnikov comes to a final decision (or delusion?) - to prove his worth and superiority through a crime of Napoleonic proportions.
This is not your typical crime novel thriller. Not in the least. The suspense comes not through the cliched question of "Whodunnit?", but through Dostoyevsky's own brilliant grasp of human psychology. Once the deed is done (early on) the story shifts to the events following the bloody crime. Slowly, Raskolnikov's motives, desires and philosophical views become clear. We see him challenge the cynical and hollow Looshin for the benefit of his sister. We see him confront the police and magistrates directly with his alleged guilt. But all the while, the depravity of Raskolnikov's living condition and unpredictable emotions and actions render all of these "conscious" intentions suspect. Like Gregor Samsa in Kafka's Metamorphosis, our privileged access to Raskolnikov's thoughts perhaps betray a diseased mind. A confused consciousness. A man no longer the agent of his actions.
These circumstances both consciously and subconsciously drive Raskolnikov to question his own actions and state of mind. In a sense, he grasps for straws as his past actions becomes blurred. And this becomes his struggle - the existential anxiety of losing control over the ability to shape his destiny. Dostoyevsky answers with a powerful gest, equalled only by Nietzsche's Dionysian Spirit: To trade freedom and dignity for ultimate responsibility and suffering. And only through this affirmation of the Will, shall Raskolnikov achieve salvation.
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1 2 Total 2 pages 13 items |
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