Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866)
Laura’s Rating: 4/5 Stars
This literary classic has been on my list for a while and I was hesitant to read it due to the length and what I assumed might be difficult content to get through. I was pleasantly surprised at the readability and interesting concepts in the book.
The Analysis:
Disgruntled and isolated former student Raskolnikov is searching for a higher meaning and imagines himself to be a great man as compared to the regular people surrounding him. He commits a crime and then must deal with the repercussions of his actions for the rest of the book.
I’ll start by saying that I enjoyed this book way more than I expected to. I figured a literary classic from 1860s Russia would be pretty dry. The story was actually an interesting study on the psychology of a criminal and had more modern concepts than I expected.
The book is fairly long and it was up and down in terms of pacing and excitement. The first 30% of the book is incredibly suspenseful and tense. After the initial excitement, there’s a bit of a lull until another peak and the book again drags on a bit before the ending.
If you’re looking for a novel ripe for literary analysis, this book has you covered. There’s plenty of themes, motifs, historical context, and social commentary. I’d recommend Crime and Punishment to fans of literary classics.
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