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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I want to review this book but I'm too busy killing myself. If you value your free time in any way you will not read this. The main character is a crazy person who never feels remorse for his ridiculous crime of killing two women with an axe and continues to never be an actual person makes this book the worst thing I've ever spent time on. Spare yourself the misery. Screw this book.
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This spent a lot of time on personal dynamics but I kind of love it for that? Also Raskolnikov spent so long stressing about getting caught it genuinely gave me a stress induced nightmare, so that's something
slow-paced
Every year I try to read a classic. This is one of the few that I haven’t absolutely flown through.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In the beginning, I didn’t know where this book would take me, but it led me on a deep, excruciating, and painful—yet philosophical—journey.
Towards the middle of the book, I found myself truly falling for Raskolnikov, even though he seemed to despise everything. I understood that it was only because of his circumstances. There were so many powerful moments in this book, especially early on, when a man describes how destitution will make someone lose all morality. With poverty, you at least have something—you can still hold onto the goodness you were inherently born with. But destitution means having nothing, being left stranded like an animal in the woods, begging, yearning to find a way to survive.
Then there was that quote about suffering, about how great suffering is needed. That idea stayed with me. This book just blew me away. And that moment when they say a murderer and a harlot come together to read the Book of God—something about that was so powerful. I can’t quite put it into words. It was poetic, yet deeply moving. Two people who, by all logic, should be against the book, coming together to read it. I’m agnostic, but I don’t know—something about it resonated with me.
And then there’s the character who shoots himself in the head. I could see his death coming, and I’m glad it did—because he was unredeemable, and he knew it. And I’m glad Dostoevsky knew this too. When he mentioned the dead girl he saw, the one who drowned, and said he knew her, I believe she was one of his victims. It was a portent of his suicide. He saw her death—her suicide—before he ultimately committed his own. His victims followed him.
Towards the end, I read every word with urgency, with anticipation, with fear of what might come, even though I had a strong feeling that Raskolnikov would finally admit to the murder he committed.
This book is a masterpiece—one that forces you to question the morality and integrity of mankind while haunting you with a plethora of uncomfortable emotions. I could see the vivid imagery, smell the alcohol and meat described. I loved stepping into that world, the world of 19th-century Russia.
Towards the middle of the book, I found myself truly falling for Raskolnikov, even though he seemed to despise everything. I understood that it was only because of his circumstances. There were so many powerful moments in this book, especially early on, when a man describes how destitution will make someone lose all morality. With poverty, you at least have something—you can still hold onto the goodness you were inherently born with. But destitution means having nothing, being left stranded like an animal in the woods, begging, yearning to find a way to survive.
Then there was that quote about suffering, about how great suffering is needed. That idea stayed with me. This book just blew me away. And that moment when they say a murderer and a harlot come together to read the Book of God—something about that was so powerful. I can’t quite put it into words. It was poetic, yet deeply moving. Two people who, by all logic, should be against the book, coming together to read it. I’m agnostic, but I don’t know—something about it resonated with me.
And then there’s the character who shoots himself in the head. I could see his death coming, and I’m glad it did—because he was unredeemable, and he knew it. And I’m glad Dostoevsky knew this too. When he mentioned the dead girl he saw, the one who drowned, and said he knew her, I believe she was one of his victims. It was a portent of his suicide. He saw her death—her suicide—before he ultimately committed his own. His victims followed him.
Towards the end, I read every word with urgency, with anticipation, with fear of what might come, even though I had a strong feeling that Raskolnikov would finally admit to the murder he committed.
This book is a masterpiece—one that forces you to question the morality and integrity of mankind while haunting you with a plethora of uncomfortable emotions. I could see the vivid imagery, smell the alcohol and meat described. I loved stepping into that world, the world of 19th-century Russia.