Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Don’t you hate it when you know you have read a book or watched a film but cannot remember the story-line?

I’m pretty sure I read Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment as a teenager. One of those classics in the book section of the dollar store. I know I did not read his The Brother’s Karamazov but I do believe I read Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina as well. But ask me what they are about and I will draw a blank.

Therefore, I decided to refresh my memory of this literary masterpiece. First published in 1866, this hefty novel tells the story of Raskolnikov, a poor and brilliant student, who reasons that intellectually superior men like himself should be above the law, even morally so. Very early in the story, he murders a vile old pawnbroker and her sister. The remainder of the novel is full of suspense while we get into Raskolnikov’s head for a deep psychological analysis. In short he is tormented by his act. The more he tries to intellectualize, the more he is imprisoned by his thoughts.

Aside from tripping over all the Russian names trying to keep everybody straight, and trying to understand normal social mores of 19th century Russia, while trying not to absorb Raskolnikov’s torment, it was a good book, highly recommended to those who like to be in the know.