Crime and Punishment (Abridged)

Rating:
Summary: The riflemen were loading their guns
Review: My name is Robert Engelberts from Voerendaal, The Netherlands, mailing from Sittard. I'm a young writer and warm admirer of Fyodor M. Dostoyewski. Since I still haven't read "Brat'ja Karamazovy" I won't rate this book ten... But it's awfully close to it... Who read Dostojewski's biography will know he was a man imprisoned in the deadcell, waiting for execution by a firepeloton... At the last moment (the riflemen were loading their guns) he was granted life... He wasn't executed, but send him to a prisonerscamp no where else than in the midle of Siberia... So close was the world to lose one of his greatest literary geniuses... Who knows this, Dostoyewski's background, will certainly want to know what a man with this kind of life will write... Allthough with a dark look on the world, Dostoyewski is not without hope. Raskolnikov, suffering from guilt because of what he did, is being read from the Bible by his girlfriend: Jezus' resurrection of Lazarus... Raskolnikov CAN get a better man, there WILL be a way for him to live with the horrible thing he did... Just like in "Poor People" Dostyewsky's excently cappable of painting the misery and seemlingly hopeless lives of the poor... Of Rascolnikov who KNOWS he can do more, but isn't alloud by the society... The diabolic logic he uses to justify his crime.. And the akward loads of guilt he sufferes of after it... After reading this you should think C&P is a boring, dark book about a man constantly talking to himself about the "bad things" he did... Far from it! Oh yes, Raskolniv does talk to himself - a lot as a matter of fact - but the best Russian writer ever (couldn't we leave that "Russian"?) knows very well that story = conflict: the protagonist intense wrestling with his infernal antagonist... Because of that C&P can be read as a crimenovel with a whole lot of suspense to it... Just with a little more depth than Agatha Cristie.

Rating:
Summary: Undoubtedly a classic. Undoubtedly long.
Review: This is probably the last Dostoevsky book I'll ever read. Not because I disliked it (far from it), but simply because the damned thing took too long to read. Having spent weeks ploughing through only one of this dour Russian's novels, I'm not looking forward to starting any others, which look equally as formidable, especially when all lined up together on the bookshelf. For a while I'll limit my reading to the shorter classics. Guess I'll save "An American Tragedy" and "The Executioner's Song" for another day...

Rating:
Summary: A pace thrilling read to no end.
Review: Dark works of art that dissect & consciously contemplate the spaceless universe of the mind are bound to strike the most inherent interest in any individual that has the depth of a soul.What makes this masterpiece reward the readers zest of curiosity is the near accuracy of its foundations & the plot that brilliantly weaves from it.The atmosphere is tense throughout,& even in moments of Raskolnikov's quiet contemplation an eerie sense of relief pervades through like a public park sullen & silent in dismal gray after a showerstorm.The characters truly have a life of their own,characters who are real in every motion & thought which the prose breathes into in spellbinding accuracy.The scene where Raskolnikov dreams of a horse being brutally murdered by a bunch of drunks & jeered by the town square with the horse struggling for life step by step,inching for dear life oblivious to every blow which weakens his battered but undampened spirit slowly laying on the mud of his acceptance is one of the most moving & dramatic portrayals of realism in all of literature which left me to countless tears unable to restrain.This has been one of the best books I have ever read,just as thrilling & exciting as the "Godfather" but more profound,& the final scene presents solemn redemption to a life that has been simply denied of such.

Rating:
Summary: Imprisoned
Review: I read "Crime and Punishment" expecting a harrowing tale of the punishment experienced by the author during his time in prison. What I found was a tortured man limited by his eloquence. He writes of his suffering for the entirety of the work, but that's all it is, writing. The plight of this man seems old and stale. But there was merit in the book. It revealed tortures, that although unthought of, nevertheless existed in those circumstances. It opens the eyes of the reader to the multitude of madness the human spirit can endure.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the best novel ever written.
Review: You can tell a lot about a person by asking them what their favorite book is. I think most of us choose a book in which the protaganist reminds us of ourselves. Raskolnikov's experience of life was so similar to mine that I was swept away completely the first time I read Crime and Punishment. Intellectual vanity, alienation and isolation, do lead to a kind of madness. Although I cannot ascribe to Dostoevsky's political conservatism, his ideas regarding the necessity of suffering for salvation are totally convincing. The sweetness of Raskolnikov's eventual salvation through Sonya is in my opinion the pinnacle of literary romance.

Rating:
Summary: A book with a message that will stimulate your conscience
Review: This book is about one important question that all of us should ask: Can a human life (no matter how "worthless") be sacrificed for some noble ideal? Raskolnikov learns the answer through a very painful process. I've read this book two years ago, and Dostoyevsky became one of my favourite authors. Since then, I read almost all the rest of his work and it seems to me that together they form one big universe of thought and feelings. It is so wide, I find it almost impossible for a reader to fully penetrate his universe. When a reader gets there through his works, there is one thing to be seen: unlimited sincerety. Dostoyevsky doesn't hide himself from the reader and many things he wrote are parallel to his own painful life.

Rating:
Summary: A book for All
Review: Quite possibly the best book I have ever read. Its sadness and spirit comes through vividly in all but the thickest translations, and it never slows down, emotionally or intellectually. It was said that "if your favorite author is Stephen King or John Grisham then skip this book" Nonsense! It is accessible and exciting. A book everyone should read. Enjoy it like I did

Rating:
Summary: G. Gordon Liddy? Not Raskolnikov.
Review: The poor boy lacked the intestinal fortitude to live with his actions. The book is typical of the excellent 19th Century Russian abilty to create interesting, larger than life characters and a good plot. To me, this book was a look at Napoleon, another 19th Century Russian obsession. Raskolnikov is the Russian Napoleon. He is not the average man, but a young demi-god who has the right to take his just desserts. However, unlike Napoleon he cannot bring the moral reality into line with the intellectual superiority. In classic Russian fashion he second guesses his actions and questions his right to take action at all (after having committed the act, naturally). The subject matter and the writing all come together to make this book what it is recognized to be - a classic

Rating:
Summary: Dostoevski's best book
Review: This is Dostoevski's greatest masterpiece. Supposedly, he was in a prison camp lying on a bunk serving time for fostering radical ideas against the Russian regime when the idea came to him. If your favorite author is John Grisham or Stephen King, you should skip it, because the ideas presented are so deep and masterful, you must peel the layers off each character slowly and painfully to fully understand and comprehend the vision Dostoevski was trying to convey. Crime and Punishment is the one book of Dostoevski's which is different from his other four big novels. In the Possessed, Brothers Karamozov, Idiot, and Raw Youth, Dostoevski usually presents his structure very much like a play. He introduces his characters and like the end of a first act, he has them come together in one room and something dramatic happens, whether it is Natasha throwing money in the fire, or Stavrogin getting slapped in the face. Crime and Punishment does not follow his usual form. The drama occurs in the very first chapters and the rest unfolds itself through that one act. This is a book of religious affirmation, don't forget that when reading, and Dostoevski makes a personal statement at the end which should not be brushed off. The story is thrilling and intellectual, but it's up to you, the reader, to make it so, because the book itself can't do it. It's you actively thinking about the various ideas presented that will create the images needed to absorb the brilliance you keep hearing about.

Rating:
Summary: Great Translation
Review: Woody Allen had made the following remark: "Ready Dostoyevsky is like having a full meal" I cannot agree more. This translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky is as close to the origianl Russian as one could ever find. While other translations offer the text in English, this version gives one the full flavor of the writing. The characters come to life and the words by Dostoevsky himself show his true mastery as a writer. I found this book riveting and difficult to put down. When Raskolnikov commits his crime I felt as if I was right there--my pulse was actually racing. This translation has made me hunger for more works by this writer. Thanks to Pevear and Volokhonsy's for taking the tedium out of reading Dostoevsky that the other, boring translations had done. They breathed incredible life into his work. Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.