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A review by tshepiso
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Is Crime and Punishment a dense, absurdly long, piece of 19th-century Russian literature? Yes. Did I enjoy almost every single page of it despite myself? Also, yes.
I don't think I have the words to describe how much I enjoyed reading Crime and Punishment. This brick of a book is insular, miserable, and bleak, but so compelling. What makes it shine is the sprawling character drama at its core. Crime and Punishment read like a soap opera more so than pretentious high-brow literature and the intensity of emotion spewing from the trail of misery in every chapter was enrapturing.
Our protagonist Raskolnikov is the definition of a hot mess. The man truly has never met a bad decision he didn't want to ride to its very end and that lead the story down fascinating paths. He's arrogant and erratic, but also sardonic and witty in a way that made seeing him interact with people he saw as inferior to him so fun. Honestly, there was a kind of catharsis in seeing the chickenheads of his terrible decision-making come home to roost too.
The female characters on display in the story were just to die for. Dostoyevsky manages to write female characters who exist as saintly figures within his narrative without removing their agency or intrigue. Sofya Semyonovna is a fantastic example of how to write a "pure-hearted" woman without patronizing or reducing her. The fibre and backbone she had constantly made her more than just a prop for Raskolnikov's character growth and she felt so genuine and fully fleshed out under Dostoyevsky's careful handling. Tess Durbeyfield wishes she had what she had. Also, a brief shout out to Avdotya Romanovna for being an equally engaging female character who took absolutely no shit from the men around her who tried to manipulate her.
Crime and Punishment is a story about people barely surviving in a world hell-bent on eviscerating them. It's as morose and grimy as the sweltering St. Petersburg streets of its setting, but despite the dramatics of it all Dostoyevsky still managed to capture an honesty to all his characters, even the most despicable, and that made it well worth the read.
I don't think I have the words to describe how much I enjoyed reading Crime and Punishment. This brick of a book is insular, miserable, and bleak, but so compelling. What makes it shine is the sprawling character drama at its core. Crime and Punishment read like a soap opera more so than pretentious high-brow literature and the intensity of emotion spewing from the trail of misery in every chapter was enrapturing.
Our protagonist Raskolnikov is the definition of a hot mess. The man truly has never met a bad decision he didn't want to ride to its very end and that lead the story down fascinating paths. He's arrogant and erratic, but also sardonic and witty in a way that made seeing him interact with people he saw as inferior to him so fun. Honestly, there was a kind of catharsis in seeing the chickenheads of his terrible decision-making come home to roost too.
The female characters on display in the story were just to die for. Dostoyevsky manages to write female characters who exist as saintly figures within his narrative without removing their agency or intrigue. Sofya Semyonovna is a fantastic example of how to write a "pure-hearted" woman without patronizing or reducing her. The fibre and backbone she had constantly made her more than just a prop for Raskolnikov's character growth and she felt so genuine and fully fleshed out under Dostoyevsky's careful handling. Tess Durbeyfield wishes she had what she had. Also, a brief shout out to Avdotya Romanovna for being an equally engaging female character who took absolutely no shit from the men around her who tried to manipulate her.
Crime and Punishment is a story about people barely surviving in a world hell-bent on eviscerating them. It's as morose and grimy as the sweltering St. Petersburg streets of its setting, but despite the dramatics of it all Dostoyevsky still managed to capture an honesty to all his characters, even the most despicable, and that made it well worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Domestic abuse