A review by loyaultemelie
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Edit: Though I initially left Crime and Punishment unrated, I must capitulate to the inevitable. This was my second favorite book I read in 2023. It made me discover (much to my self-loathing) one of my favorite authors. I think about this book, almost every. single. day. It would be the height of folly for me not to give Crime and Punishment five stars. 

People who say Dostoevsky had an instinctive understanding of the way humans work are not wrong. The complexity of every character is at times overwhelming. Though Dostoevsky does not refrain from casting moral judgement, he does place everyone and everything within a living, breathing world.
We know why Rodya commits murder. We also understand the acuteness of both his suffering, and of his arrogance. He believed that he could be a 'great man,' but instead it was he - not Sonya, who he tells this often misquoted and misunderstood out of context line to - whose 'worst sin is that [he's] betrayed and destroyed [himself] for nothing.' That we the audience, and Sonya herself, sees this while he doesn't is proof of masterful writing.

Regardless of how much I dislike Dostoevsky's philosophy later in life. Regardless of how complicated the legacy of 'great' Russian literature is. All these things are important to remember. But I would also be lying to myself if I pretended that this book did not touch me in spite of all of that. I adore this book, plain and simple. I must reckon with that. 


Despite my personal loathing for Dostoevsky as a human, I did indeed enjoy this novel. I will say Garnett’s translation is my personal favorite - I believe she captures Dostoevsky’s manic prose better than P&V
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