Raskolnikov's Crime and Punishment: Review of Crime and Punishment -Fyodor Dostoyevsky

How confident are you that if you commit a crime you won't be caught? When does a crime become justifiable? Clearly some crimes, selectively, are even glorified. Look at your national heroes, the army, the political chauvinists who were ready to do anything to reach the top. Surely Napoleon is excused for killing 5..10.. or even hundreds for the feats he achieved. 

If so, let's say you know a guy who is certain to be a great man in the future, a girl who is bound to change the course of history itself, commits a crime. What extent of crime would you excuse? Would robbery be excusable? Would vandalism? Would rape? Would murder? 


Such are the thoughts that trouble Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Considered as one of the first psychological thrillers, Crime and Punishment follows the story of Raskolnikov, a struggling law student living in extreme poverty. As the title hints upon, the story is about the heinous crime that Raskolnikov commits and the punishment that ensues. However, that alone is far from a synopsis. Each moment of the story is intricately carved. Additionally punishment is not what is conventionally understood, instead carries a heavier weight, one that can only be understood by reading the book itself. 


The narrative is not rushed, each character and each scene adds new spice to the story. They reflect the various facets of society in which Dostoyevsky lived. The details with which the environment is portrayed and the flow with which thoughts unfold help the reader dig deeper into the fractured mind of Raskolnikov. 


This book is considered by many as one of the entry points to Dostoyevsky’s work, and also one of his finest. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who itches at the word “read” but for someone who wishes to have a bit of blood rush, and be left guessing on what happens next… this is  definitely the book to go to.

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