Reviews

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Only show reviews with written explanations

threalmrrbll's review against another edition

5.0

bu kitaba biraz uzun bir review yazacağım ama çoğu kitapla alakalı olmayacak gibi.

neyse, onuncu sınıfın bitiminde kızlarla (4 kişi) iddiaya girdik. iki hafta içinde ilk kim suç ve ceza'yı bitirecek? tabii ki kitap okumayı seven ve bir tık kazanmak isteyen ben bir oldular ve ilk ben bitirdim-hatta tek ben bitirdim

ethanhkelly's review against another edition

Go to review page

Following the Enlightenment, Christian Objectivism fell in favor of relativism, prompting Dostoyevsky to engage in a hypothetical that would push relativism to its limits: a poor, benevolent, student plots and carries out the murder of a haggard old woman who profits off of the poor and works her well-meaning sister like a slave. He plans to use the money to save his family from poverty, his sister from prostitution, and the other debtors from bankruptcy;

“What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds?” (Chapter 6, Part 1)

Setting aside traditionalist laws, in any relativist society, Raskolnikov's 'crime' would be judged as better for the greater society, and thus, a good action. However, through a series of revelations and actions that would later be parroted by the existentialists and Freud, and later confirmed by contemporary psychology, we watch as Raskolnikov descends into a cat-and-mouse game against not just the authorities, but his own conscience. His relativism is pushed to its limits upon meeting Sonya, a young Christian girl forced into prostitution to provide for her drunken father, hysteric mother, and her young siblings. His subconscious guilt is brought to light through her unwavering faith, leading him to lash out in anger and denial that someone could earnestly have a faith so pure in conditions such as hers:

"and your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing" (Chapter 4, Part 4)

Eventually, however, after Raskolnikov gives up on his confession in which he learned that Svidrigailov -- the only person with proper evidence against him -- killed himself, it is the sight of Sonya outside the station that again instills in him the strength and inclination to go through with the confession. Thus, relativism fails in the face of true Christian Objectivism. However, this is just one of the multitude of ideas and questions posed throughout this novel, including Raskolnikov's theory of the extraordinary man (which surely influenced Neiztche's Übermensch), the semi-autobiographical elements revolving around Russian intellects, Siberian Camps, and religion, the fall of Serfdom, Socialism's insistence on only filling the stomach but leaving the mind hungry... etc. I was worried when first starting this book, but I've come to realize that I prefer longer novels, with their propensity to expand on narrative arcs and explore characters more throughouly. Though I can understand the criticism of the epilogue as unnecessary, I do believe it provided an emotional cap-off to a phenomenal book.

"They wanted to speak, but they could not; tears stood in their eyes. They were both pale and thin; but those sick pale faces were bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full resurrection into a new life. They were renewed by love; the heart of each held infinite sources of life for the heart of the other" (Chapter 2, Epilogue)