Rating:  Summary: Really dives into the human conscience. Review: This book really shows how the human mind works. The main character slowly drives himself mad.
Rating:  Summary: I hated it! Review: I felt like my crime was buying the book and my punishment was reading it. I bailed out mid-way when I could no longer ignore that the characters constantly reminded me of the "two wild and crazy guys" from Saturday Night Live. The idea for the book was good but, at least to me, the characters were idiotic and boring. Given the acclaim and popularity of this book, I'm sure that my opinion is in the minority, if not altogether alone.
Rating:  Summary: an outstanding example of understanding personality Review: You know, for years I avoided Dostoevsky. What had I heard about this guy, this looney, Christian fanatic that some pompous jerk in a university somewhere anonymous proclaimed as, "The greatest author--ever"? Hell, I'm an American and we got our pride, right?So everything I knew about Dostoevsky is that he wrote long books that dissect every minute detail of every character, no matter how small. Sounds dull, right? But this book (and all the others I have thus far read: The Brothers Karamozov, Notes From Underground, The Idiot, The Eternal Husband--the list goes on, but I'll spare you) is formed by the plot, by the actions and activities of its so dissected characters. Crime and Punishment is the rare book when we, the reader, can truly understand the character. We see the germ of a thought forming and how this affects Raskolikov, how he acts on it and the consequences for him personally, both physically and, moreso, emotionally. Dostoevsky had initially planned this novel as a shorter work (perhaps half its length), a chronicle of the psychological ramifications of a crime. He succeeded with this probably better than he had set out to do (though of this I can't be sure--I've heard Fyodor was a tremendously arrogant guy). So here, take this, pick it up, buy it right now. It is not some lofty, unaccessable work of 'high art' (although it is a work of art), but a slam-bang, thrilling, action-packed study of a crazy guy getting crazier until he finally gets sane, understanding himself, what he's done and why. Also, the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is wonderful, far more lucid than the still good but dated version by Constance Garnett.
Rating:  Summary: Good book, but hard to read. Review: Having tried to repeadetly to read this book, I found it somewhat hard to get into at first. However, after I trudged my way into it, I found it very intriguing and facinating.
Rating:  Summary: This book will survive as long as people are able to read it Review: "So probably men led to execution clutch mentally at every object that meets them on the way." This one quote is in essence Raskolnikov. From his first murderous thought, he plows into a downward spiral of insanity until his own will fails and his psyche is split wide and left for the proverbial vultures to chew and devour apart. This book escalates from nothing into a double-murder, then back down to the farthest corner of a mind's guilt-consuming reality.
Rating:  Summary: The best book I ever read... Review: Crime and Punishment was by far and away the best book I ever read in High School. Raskolnikov is perhaps the most fascinating character in any novel of the last few hundred years. One of the few books that will leave you pondering its implications for years after you are finished.
Rating:  Summary: One of the greatest books of all times Review: Crime and punishment is one of the most engrossing books i have ever read. Anyone who claims the book is "boring" "to slow" "lacks plot" "sucks" "etc", surely read a different book than I did. With that said...buy this book.
Rating:  Summary: Great Book! Review: The book, Crime and Punishment, is truly a classic. The story revolves around an intelligent young man by the name of Rodion Raskolnikov. The author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, explores the young man's mind as he contemplates the idea of murder and the aftermath of committing the horrendous crime. Although I was a bit intimidated by the size of the book, it was worth the read.
Rating:  Summary: There are no words to describe its beauty Review: Just magnificent. The best book ever written. If you haven`t already read it then you miss the deeper travel in a person`s psycology.
Rating:  Summary: read it as you will . . .. Review: In response to the other reviews (my rating states my opinion of the novel itself eloquently enough): You're all wrong!! Well, you are. Put some more thought into this. He's playing around with the roles here . . . you think he's simply taking a "criminal" and putting him in the front seat, but it's more complex than that . . . far more complex. The "criminal," the "murderer" (these words connote so much, I'd hesitate to use them without quotes, at least here . . .), makes one mistake - but it's not the murder. And if you're reading this on an even more elementary level (and thinking it's about how "murder is wrong", well, go watch some T.V.), then you're probably not reading it at all . . . (and for those of you cosidering this book, well, just don't buy the audio tapes, like these guys . . .). That said . . . Good Book.
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