Crime and Punishment is one of the most heartfelt stories that I have read. Never a book is written about agonies of a human mind with so much compassion, sympathy, and feeling. There is no question as to Dostoevsky’s mastery in writing. The beauty and charm in his work mainly lie in his truthful and sincere portrayal of human psychology. But that is not all. He also paints a truthful and sincere picture of different classes of Russian society. The two elements combined produce such realistic stories that it never occurs to the reader that he is reading fiction.

Set in St. Petersburg, the main plot in Crime and Punishment revolves around a murder committed by the protagonist, Raskolnikov. His mental agony at the horror and guilt of his action and his terror at being caught dominates the storyline. Raskolnikov is an ex-law student, whose mind is overstrained to the point of madness by his oppressive condition in life. So, when the murder was committed it looks as if the motive was to rob; but his later actions heavily contradict this conviction, and it is not clear what truly drove him to commit the hideous crime. There is however a hint here and there that Raskolnikov believed in the extremist socialist idea of “killing for common good”.

Raskolnikov is characterized as a proud and egoistic man with queer ideas about morality. On one hand, he justifies himself of committing the crime by saying that the victim is a worthless person, but on the other hand, he is burdened with guilt. His conflicting ideas constantly torture him. It is amazing how the author penetrates the criminal mind; the torment Raskolnikov goes through while planning, at the time of committing the murder, and afterward the crime is committed, is portrayed with such accuracy that although one cannot pardon him for the sin he has committed, it is hard not to feel sorry. It is also surprising that the amount of cunning that is displayed in such a tortured mind. Through all his agonies, Raskolnikov does play a very clever game at concealing his crime and evading the police.

The story and characters all revolve around Raskolinikov; these supporting characters are chosen from different sections of Russian society. The psychological portrayal of these supporting characters transports you into their minds and makes you live in them so that every action of theirs is not read but felt. I enjoyed his choice of characters; their difference added colour and contrast to the story. Of them, I loved Avdoyta, the devoted sister of Raskolnikov, Razhumikhin, his true and loyal friend, and Sofya, his savior who shows him the path of redemption.

There are few subplots intertwined with the main plot. Through them, Dostoevsky raises the issue of social conditions and the suffering of women. His sensitive and compassionate account of women’s position and suffering is heartbreaking. Their anguish, their pain is written so truthfully in those pages that I was crying my heart out as I read them. The character of Sofya is for whom I felt the most. She is forced into prostitution to provide for the family as his drunken father cannot keep to a good job. Then Katerina Ivanovna's suffering from consumption, all the while struggling to provide for her children, touches your heart. And Avdotya's being subject to unseemly sensual attention from the master of the house where she works as a governess, and her inability to leave her position as she was prepaid half her salary make you burn with indignation. It is shocking to read how unprotected women were legally and socially. And it is even more shocking that men like Pyotr and Svidrigailov, who have the power to help, victimizing the defenseless women to satisfy their own desires. The injustice of it all makes your blood boil. Dostoevsky through the characters of Pyotr, Svidrigailov, and Sofya’s father put men to shame.

There is also a social commentary on Russian society exposing the radical atheist ideas the progressive movement was advocating and the author’s anti-radical and piously religious views as against them. He seems to be criticizing heavily on the emerging socialist doctrines.

I have always liked Dostoevsky’s outlook on life. There is so much humanity in it. And in Crime and Punishment it is well exhibited.

It is a little wonder why Crime and punishment is called a masterpiece. It is complete in every sense and perfectly so. With each work, Dostoevsky makes me fall in love with him all over.

21-12-2019
Há livros que só têm a ganhar com a releitura. Este é um deles. Crime e Castigo será sempre um dos livros da minha vida e espero voltar a ele daqui a uns anos.


"Um romance cujos heróis são um assassino e uma rameira."
Jorge Luís Borges

"Dostoiévski revela a realidade da condição humana"
George Steiner

"Dostoyevsky, é o único psicólogo com quem tenho algo a aprender."
Nietzsche

Dostoiévski colocou Raskólnikov acima do bem e do mal e levantou neste romance um vasto leque de dilemas morais; filosóficos, religiosos, éticos.
Profetizou neste livro -há cerca de 150anos - o crime ideológico, e Raskólnikov será um dos assassinos que maior empatia criou com o leitor. Não o vemos como um criminoso frio e calculista, mas como um jovem com novas idéias. Por querer diferenciar-se e sobrepor-se à conduta social do homem comum, e igualar-se aos homens extraordinários que podiam matar impunemente por uma ideologia, acabou mortificado pela culpa e remorso. E como ele, também o leitor se vai atormentando e comungando das suas dúvidas durante a leitura.
No final, Raskólnikov é forçado a fitar a sua consciência e enfrentar a sua culpa.
E no leitor, o que muda depois deste inquietante frenesim literário?
Se ainda não leram, atrevam-se! Nunca mais o irão esquecer.

Si usted tiene la idea de que leer a Dostoyevski es pesado, aburrido o difícil, veremos si puedo hacer que cambie de idea.

«Crimen y castigo» es un entretenido, intenso y dramático folletín protagonizado por un inolvidable personaje objeto de un amplio relato psicológico y repleto de escenas conmovedoras que se suceden sin pausa, siendo así una novela con una lectura apasionante en su superficie y extraordinariamente clara en sus profundidades (el epílogo mejor ni mencionarlo).

Fue publicado por primera vez en 1866 en la revista «El mensajero ruso» en doce entregas y con enorme éxito, un éxito que no le ha abandonado hasta nuestros días ni en cuanto a lectores ni en lo que a estudiosos se refiere, para lo que no es su menor virtud el hecho de que, no sé si gracias a Fiódor o a su pesar, sea susceptible de varias lecturas filosóficas provenientes de posiciones incluso esencialmente antagónicas y con gran influencia en pensadores y escritores de muy variada condición.

n   “Para vosotros, en todas las circunstancias, lo primero es hacer lo posible para no pareceros al hombre.” n

El objetivo de Dostoyevski al escribir «Crimen y castigo» fue luchar contra el éxito que el nihilismo estaba teniendo entre la juventud de su época y sus, para él, funestas consecuencias. Para ello, el autor, como en él es característico, estructura una historia en torno a unos personajes que encarnan diversas variaciones de ese mal que se impuso combatir. Estos individuos no tienen por qué despertarnos antipatía, incluso pueden inspirarnos compasión y hacernos comprender sus actos sin que por ello los aprobemos. En fin, intenta ser justo en el debate.

En este caso, los personajes elegidos son cuatro:

-Piotr Petróvich Luzhin, un arribista capaz de todo por subir en el escalafón social sin respeto a nada ni a nadie. Este, obviamente, no es un personaje simpático y su destino en la obra dará más de una alegría al lector.

-Andrei Semenovich, un joven bienintencionado, algo arrogante y no muy inteligente que se encarga de proclamar uno de los principios más importantes y necesarios para el futuro paraíso socialista, a saber, “Todo lo hace el medio, el hombre en sí no es nada”, y como no es nada, puede serlo todo, cualquier cosa que nos propongamos.

-Arcadio Ivánovich Svidrigáilov, un cínico sin escrúpulos, un vividor con la inteligencia necesaria para salir indemne de sus delitos y cuya moral se circunscribe a su egoísta placer.

- Por último, cerrando el cuarteto, el personaje más importante, el imborrable Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, un orgulloso racionalista que intenta probar mediante un crimen su supuesta libertad ilimitada, su pertenencia al selecto grupo de hombres extraordinarios capaces de sobreponerse a sí mismos, de imponer sus reglas, despreciando al amplio “hormiguero” seguidor ciego de la moral imperante. Una persona sensible, generosa y valiente aunque un tanto huraña, inteligente pero sin recursos económicos para proseguir su carrera intelectual que se presumía brillante.

Esta es la píldora nihilista a tragar, una discusión que puede ser entendida como un cuestionamiento de la moral y así lo interpretaron muchos existencialistas que admiraron su obra. El azúcar que envuelve la píldora para así mejor tragar está compuesto de un poco de novela social, el propio crimen, la consiguiente investigación policial a cargo de un precedente del detective Colombo, aquel entrañable personaje protagonizado por Peter Falk, y, por supuesto, el infierno mental al que se tiene que enfrentar Raskolnikov al descubrir fracasado su experimento.

En cuanto a los argumentos en contra del demonio nihilista, prácticamente se limita a pregonar las bondades que conlleva la obediencia a la ley natural que el autor, por arte de birlibirloque, hace coincidir palabra por palabra con la ley de Dios. ¿Qué Dios? Pues el suyo, naturalmente.

“Si alguien me demostrara que Cristo está fuera de la verdad, si estuviera positivamente demostrado que la verdad está fuera de Cristo, yo preferiría permanecer con Cristo que permanecer con la verdad.” Fiódor Dostoyevski

Si aún sigue pensando que Dostoyevski es pesado, aburrido o difícil… tan amigos que ni comisión me llevo.

I basically had to stop drinking for a month in order to read it; my friends no longer call. But it's great.

People like to imagine that we live in a world with an innate sense of justice. Our literature says that the good guys win in the end and the bad guys get their comeuppance. But is our world fair, where young girls are forced into prostitution to feed their families, and their parents launder money, where children starve to death... Meanwhile, bad people live happy lives without a thought for those less fortunate.

Προτού η ψυχανάλυση καταστεί modus vivendi και οι Αρχιερείς της αποκτήσουν εξουσία επάνω σε ψυχές και σώματα προσφέροντας σωτηρία, ο Ντοστογιέφσκι καταδύθηκε στα έγκατα της ανθρώπινης ουσίας μέσω της μυθοπλασίας του, αντλώντας το πρωτογενές υλικό από τα σκοτάδια της ύπαρξης. Με πένα στιβαρή, δυσήνια και βαθιά ουμανιστική, μετουσίωσε τον ζόφο και το έρεβος σε Τέχνη υψηλή, ασπαίρουσα και διαχρονική. Το "Έγκλημα και τιμωρία" παραμένει το "πρώτο κινούν αίτιο" μιας αναγνωστικής εμπειρίας δίχως τέλος.

I finally said my goodbyes to this book. It was the best piece i've ever read.

شاهکاره!
اونقدر ری ویو های عالی و مفصل درباره این کتاب نوشته شده که هم نیازی نمی بینم توصیف و تشریح کنم و هم اینکه اونقدر این کتاب عالیه که اگه بخوام حرف بزنم کلی حرف میشه که ممکنه تکراری و اسپویلر باشن. بنابراین فقط در یک کلمه می گم شاهکاره!
ای کسانی که هنوز در خوابِ غفلت از این کتاب به سر می برید بیدار شوید و بشتابید که گوهری گرانقدر در انتظار دستان و دیدگان و مغزهای شماست!

Ah such beautiful pessimism. I find solace in the Russians, they make death seem like a mild disturbance in the beauty of life. Also their difficult is mere codswallop, the only difficult thing about Russian lit is the names. That's it.

Crime and Punishment is the story of a crime and its eventual punishment. That's it. End of review. Or not. It's really the story of a crime, followed by more crime, with a sprinkling of just a bit more crime, and then finished off with a tad of punishment. The main character (I'm literally too lazy to try to type out his name) is a really fascinating character to study. I mean, yeah he's psychologically warped and is a bit "Oh I murdered someone but you should feel sorry for me anyway", however I always seem to find likable traits in even the most monstrous of characters (I still to this day stand up for Humbert Humbert). I just feel that I want to find someone else who's read this and sit down and talk for hours about the main character. To use a Russian motif, he's a matryoshka doll of a character. Like I felt with Emma Bovary in Madame Bovary, Raskolnikov (there I actually typed out his name) is kind of more interesting than the novel itself. Don't get me wrong, this novel is great and all but I just loved Raskolnikov.

I could harp on about all the themes and plots in this vast novel but I like keeping my Goodreads reviews brief. Basically, I thought this was hella good and I totally need to read more Dostoyevsky. I highly recommend this novel as well, so read it guys! Don't be scared. Unless of course you've ever killed a pawnbroker in your life. Then I suggest staying well away from this.

I have been bested...

البشر يصبحون مجانين مسعورين. ولكنهم يعدون أنفسهم على ذكاء عظيم لم يزعمه البشر لأنفسهم في يوم من الأيام قط : فهم يعتقدون بأنهم معصومين من الزلل مبرّؤون من الخطأ. في أحكامهم. في نتائجهم العلمية. في مبادئهم الأخلاقية والدينية. إن قرى ومدنًا وأممًا بكاملها قد سرت إليها هذه العدوى. وفقدت عقلها. أصبح أفرادها يعيشون في حالة جنون. لا يفهم بعضهم عن بعض شيئًا. لا يفهم أحد منهم عن أحد شيئًا : كل واحد يؤمن بأنه الإنسان الوحيد الذي يمتلك الحقيقة. فإذا نظر إلى الآخرين تألم وبكى ولطم صدره وعقف يديه لوعة وحسرة. أصبح الناس لا يستطيعون أن يتفاهموا على ما ينبغي أن يكون شرًا وما ينبغي أن يكون خيرًا.

أصبحوا لا يستطيعون لا أن يدينوا ولا أن يبرؤوا. أصبح البشر يقتل بعضهم بعضًا تحت سيطرة بغض لا معنى له وكره لا يُفهم. هم يجتمعون ليؤلفوا جيوشًا كبيرة. فما أن يدخلوا معركة حتى يندلع الشقاق في جميع الصفوف فتنحل الجيوش. ويأخذ الجنود يهجم بعضهم على بعض. فيَعُض بعضهم بعضًا. ويذبح بعضهم بعضًا. ويلتهم بعضهم بعضًا. في المدن يدق ناقوس الخطر طوال النهار. ويُستنفر الشعب. ولكن ما الذي يستنفره ؟ ولماذا يستنفره ؟ ذلك أمر لا يعرف أحد عنه شيئًا. الرعب يستبد بجميع الخلق. المهن العادية هجرها أصحابها. لأن كل واحد يعرض آراءه وإصلاحاته. وما من أحد يستطيع أن يتفق مع أحد.

قبل الثورة الروسية بنصف قرن و الروس لا يلبسون إلا أسمالا بالية في كل الروايات من تولستوى إلى تشيكوف ودستيوفيسكى و غيرهم من رواد الأدب الروسى. حساء الكرنب هو الوجبة المسيطرة و الكوبيكا الواحد بعيد المنال. الذل طال طائفة النبلاء و المثقفين و الأراء و المعتقدات الجديدة تعصف بالمجتمع.

شاب كما في  مراجعة الصديقة النيرة أسرته فلسفة نيتشة و تاريخ نابليون فظن نفسه من طبقة مختلفة من البشر لا تنطبق عليه قوانين المجتمع بل هو من يقرر أي القوانين يسرى عليه و أيها جدير بالإنتهاك.

أنه في المقال قسم الناس إلى نوعين : مخلوق "عادي" ومخلوق "غير عادي". وفرض على أولئك أن يعيشوا مطيعين دون أن يعطيهم الحق في تجاوز القانون و خرقه لأنهم كمان ترى مخلوقات عادية, أما الآخرون فإن لهم الحق في إرتكاب الجرائم وخرق كل قانون لمجرد كونهم مخلوقات غير عادية! أليست هذه فكرتك ؟ أم تراني مخطئاً

من روائع الأدب العالمى صدرت في جزئين تجد مراجعتى لهما هنا:

الجريمة و العقاب – الجزء الأول

الجريمة و العقاب – الجزء الثانى

Instead of reading this book, drink vodka in a dark room and think depressing thoughts. That will give you about the same experience and you'll have a better time.