You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
The Happy Journey of the Classics Rudely Interrupted
"I would like to read you on a complete disaster of a book and why it should be buried!!"
My eccentric Scottish friend sent me these words well over a year ago - and how I have wondered if I would fulfill that request at some point. Well Alastair, you get your wish. This one is for you! Here is why I think Crime and Punishment should be "buried"!
I will tell you why I found "Crime and Punishment" to be a miserable read and yet how reading such a book can shape our attitude towards the differences of opinion and style.
Not all classics are created equal and call me crazy but I hardly consider Dostoevsky altogether an author, much less one of the prestigious classical breed!
The plot - a young student murdering an old, unpleasant pawn-broker and having to deal with the psychological aftermath - could have been promising, if not for the story telling, the writing style, the character depiction. In short, if not written by Dostoevsky.
He goes into monstrous proportions of expressing everything in the characters' minds without relating any one thing to another or tying any of it to the overall plot in even a remotely tangible way. He - the author - is nearly as disturbed and as much on the verge of insanity as his protagonist, Rascolnikov, and while it may sound fascinating, it does not bode well for story-telling of any kind. He subjects us to every unfinished thought, every draft of an idea, every whim and notion, every passing fancy, fantasy and delusion in Rascolnikov's head and yet does not allow us to arrive at any possible sensible conclusion. Following either a conversation or a monologue anywhere in the book is akin to going on a winding roller coaster ride without the remotest thrill - and repeating that cycle a few hundred times until the last page of the book.
It is this miserable style of Dostoevsky's story telling which numbed my interest and robbed me of any compassion toward any character whatsoever, for how could an author inspire our compassion or interest when he insists on not telling the story and on not communicating with the reader and instead on leading us on a path which ends in utter incoherence and confusion?
"Crime and Punishment" is a meaningless, maddening maze with no point, no beginning and no end, no purpose, no plot and especially, no prose.
This review is my opinion of "Crime and Punishment". Yours may be different. I can respect and appreciate it even if I do not understand it. By the same token, I should practice less defensiveness and more detachment next time someone tosses aside my most beloved novels or movies. We are unique individuals and the only thing that matters is that we always be true to what we like without predisposed notion, peer pressure, and outside influences.
"I would like to read you on a complete disaster of a book and why it should be buried!!"
My eccentric Scottish friend sent me these words well over a year ago - and how I have wondered if I would fulfill that request at some point. Well Alastair, you get your wish. This one is for you! Here is why I think Crime and Punishment should be "buried"!
I will tell you why I found "Crime and Punishment" to be a miserable read and yet how reading such a book can shape our attitude towards the differences of opinion and style.
Not all classics are created equal and call me crazy but I hardly consider Dostoevsky altogether an author, much less one of the prestigious classical breed!
The plot - a young student murdering an old, unpleasant pawn-broker and having to deal with the psychological aftermath - could have been promising, if not for the story telling, the writing style, the character depiction. In short, if not written by Dostoevsky.
He goes into monstrous proportions of expressing everything in the characters' minds without relating any one thing to another or tying any of it to the overall plot in even a remotely tangible way. He - the author - is nearly as disturbed and as much on the verge of insanity as his protagonist, Rascolnikov, and while it may sound fascinating, it does not bode well for story-telling of any kind. He subjects us to every unfinished thought, every draft of an idea, every whim and notion, every passing fancy, fantasy and delusion in Rascolnikov's head and yet does not allow us to arrive at any possible sensible conclusion. Following either a conversation or a monologue anywhere in the book is akin to going on a winding roller coaster ride without the remotest thrill - and repeating that cycle a few hundred times until the last page of the book.
It is this miserable style of Dostoevsky's story telling which numbed my interest and robbed me of any compassion toward any character whatsoever, for how could an author inspire our compassion or interest when he insists on not telling the story and on not communicating with the reader and instead on leading us on a path which ends in utter incoherence and confusion?
"Crime and Punishment" is a meaningless, maddening maze with no point, no beginning and no end, no purpose, no plot and especially, no prose.
This review is my opinion of "Crime and Punishment". Yours may be different. I can respect and appreciate it even if I do not understand it. By the same token, I should practice less defensiveness and more detachment next time someone tosses aside my most beloved novels or movies. We are unique individuals and the only thing that matters is that we always be true to what we like without predisposed notion, peer pressure, and outside influences.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It wholly deserves the amount of love that it has garnered through the ages
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This means in smart right??
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The central narrative was thought-provoking, philosophical and engaging - the protagonist explores the concept of guilt as just that: a concept. Mines the depths of justified crime. However, there was too much fluff around this narrative. There was so many characters to keep track of, and it was my first Russian novel, so having the three different names per character made it very hard to identify how many different characters there were. I also felt the epilogue was entirely superfluous - the network of characters, and the excessive spoon-feeding of the plot made the style distinctly Dickensian, and that is something I do not enjoy.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First but definitely not the last Dostoevsky work I've read. Started it last year but for some reason dropped it right when it gets tense at the halfway point for some reason.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i think this book was just soooo long. i appreciated the moral debates about society, they were really interesting to read/listen about. some of the side plots i thought were unnecessary and uninteresting. so many characters w/ similar names and some who used multiple names?? but that’s mostly on me bc i’m not familiar w/ russian name culture. i can see why this book is a classic, but the way it was so drawn-out was not for me. the good parts were really really good, but most of it felt sluggish to get through. glad i read this though!!
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes