Reviews with content warning for Murder - Crime and Punishment

I’m surprised at how much I appreciated this book. It’s definitely worth getting through, I think. A word of advice - this book, while about a specific crime and a specific punishment, it is really about “crime” and “punishment” as ideas and realities more broadly, so when he goes off and talks about all these different characters and it takes chapters and chapters to move along with Raskolnikov’s story, recognize that those stories are as important to the point and idea of the book as our main character, even if it seems that that particular side plot wasn’t necessary. I’m really glad I read it!

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thepurplebookwyrm's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

That was very meh.

I found this great Classic of (Russian) literature very underwhelming, honestly. Now, I didn't expect to love it either but, I don't know, I guess I assumed it would at least be a... solid 7/10? As it stands, I felt mostly bored going through Crime and Punishment.

I basically read this on 'indirect recommendation' from my ex, and it certainly didn't help that Crime and Punishment's main character, one Raskolnikov (who commits a crime and – not really spoilers – does eventually get punished for it, in a couple of different ways *shocked Pikachu face*) reminded me of my ex (in the midst of cruel-spirited psychosis) a little – *ahem*.

That made me a little sad, yes. But, regardless: I expected deeper psychological exploration and sociological commentary from this one, and it under-delivered. It's not, to be clear, that it was absent, or that superficial, but more that I expected, well, more. Given not only Crime and Punishment's Classic status, but the fact it gets promoted as one of the best novels of all time, a work of Genius™, and all the usual rigamarole. I can well understand this kind of story, and its contents (it did feature a somewhat surprising amount of graphic, inner and external violence, or passion, for a 19th century novel) must have been boundary-pushing for its time (or maybe even that is overstated, I'm not sure). But then that means Crime and Punishment is, for me, more of a 'historical document' type classic, and less of an 'impactful story that transcends time and culture' type one.

I'm also fairly tired of more-unsympathetic-than-not, tortured Menz™ in literature (and other storytelling media and art forms). Quentin Coldwater or, say, Kvothe types are the furthest I'll go with that, because with those kinds of characters I can, at least, still genuinely see and feel a measure of character goodness, a measure of 'kindred spirit-ness'... or relate on grounds of neurodiversity, mental illness and/or trauma. The subtly different archetype Raskolnikov belongs to, however, just feels tedious to me – though I'll concede he's not the worst I've seen of it, thank the gods.

Crime and Punishment's socio-philosophical commentary wasn't worthless, it just wasn't that good. The whole proto-übermensch schtick was... eh, whatever. I've seen it before (and discussed in a more engaging fashion) but points, I guess, to Dostoevsky for seniority here. That one bit about 'commune life' was mildly interesting to me – especially taking historical context into account. The Christian morality and redemption motif, however, I just do not, and did not give a crap about, end of story.

I didn't much care for the high-strung familial drama, and the Svidrigailov plot line seemed... rather pointless to me? No, seriously, what was that about?! Also, was I meant to understand bruv as a child molester of some sort? Was he meant to offer a 'compare and contrast' parable-type "Gotcha!" to Raskolnikov?

And then, there was the absolute BS Sofya-Raskolnikov pseudo-"romance". Omfg, even Dostoevsky indulged in 'wow that escalated quickly' proto-Instalove™. Fuck off. 😂 I hate that shit, wherever it pops up. It was bad enough having Rasko appeal to Sofya's empathy on the grounds of shared "Sinnerhood", given she prostitutes herself to provide for her step-family. Though fine, that was understandable given historical context (I still hated it though). No, she decided to just follow Rasko, come what may, because... Christian redemption reasons?! And the book literally ended with Rasko magically seeing the light (kind of), and them making these grand declarations of deep love towards one another, mostly out of the blue.

What. The. Actual. Fuck. I found most of Crime and Punishment fine to decent, but that ending was piping hot garbage.

PS: and to reiterate, it's not that deep, because at the end of the day – and regardless of personal moral failings – Raskolnikov was clearly in need of proper psychiatric care. 🙃

Content Warnings

marilla07's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

ccachapa's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

chitti's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Man grows used to everything, the scoundrel!
The russians always write such great literature… ily dostoevsky
So well written. Definitely one of my all-time favourite.

Content Warnings