Book Report: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Crime and Punishment: Torgo approves

This was the fastest 628-page Russian novel I've ever read.

Knowing the Dostoyevsky had been in Siberia prior to writing this, I was expecting something more akin to A Day in the Life of Ivan Denosivitch, only much, much longer. But no, the crime occurs in Act 1, then Acts 2-5 center on the main character's wrestling with whether to turn himself in or not and all the other events in his life. The literal punishment doesn't arrive until the brief epilogue.

With all the cop shows on tv that focus on that post-crime, pre-arrest time from the police perspective, it's fun to read about that space in time from the criminal's point of view. That wouldn't make a sustainable tv series, but it makes for a good book.

And despite it's length and the seemingly small time it covers, there's quite a bit of drama (and some melodrama) in the book. More time is devoted to romance, poverty, friendship, and wacky families than to violence. There's certainly plenty of psychological probing, but it's never overwhelming.

The biggest fault I found wasn't with the story, but with Russian names. I read several parts aloud to the boy while he was in the bath, and I couldn't keep his attention because I kept stumbling over names.

There's Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the protagonist; Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, one of the villains; Dmitri Prokofych Razumihin, the BFF; Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov, the snoop; Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, the wacky drunk; Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov, another villain. And Dostoyevsky uses full names and nicknames and very few pronouns. It reads a little like the ingredients of Skittles.

But you need to look past that. One nice surprise was the characterization of women. Raskolnikov's sister, Dounia, or Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov, is strong and clever, unexpectedly so. Then there's Sonia, or Sonya Semyonovna Marmeladova. She's an odd mix of introvert and hero. She ultimately plays a huge role in the way things play out. There's also Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladov and Pulkheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikov, two hopeless, clueless older women, but Dounia and Sonia make up for their deficiencies.

I tried reading War and Peace recently, but quickly got bogged down in all the characters. Crime and Punishment is much easier to handle and much more accessible.