Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Pages: 720
Published: 203 (first published 1866)
Genre: Classics
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendations, Chunkster, Embarrassment of Riches, Off the Shelf, Tea & Books
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal
Description: 'Crime? What crime?...My killing a loathsome, harmful louse, a filthy old moneylender woman...and you call that a crime?'
Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption. (via Goodreads)
Thoughts: So glad that this book is done!! I first started this book about a year and a half ago for a bookclub that I belong to and I wasn't able to finish the book, no matter how much I tried to get the book completed. I don't know what it was, but it probably had to do with the fact that I was running out of time to complete the book at the time and I was at the point when Raskolnikov was at his lowest and the novel was at its darkest. But when Wallace at Unputdownables put it up for a readalong, I knew I had to do it. I always knew it was a matter of not if, but when I would complete the book.
And quite honestly, I was glad I did read the book. True a lot of the book is about Raskolnikov and his descent into madness, but it also about how those around Raskolnikov are affected by his descent and how his health deteriorates as a result of his descent. And quite honestly it is a book that I can rest to bed and may pick up later, but I highly doubt it.
Bottom line: Its a long and dark book and if you aren't into that type of book, I would probably avoid it, but if you like books that are dark and deep, I would recommend this to you. You may want to quit reading the book and feel like you are descending in the same way that Raskolnikov does and that is quite natural, but it is an interesting study on the human condition and how sometimes just the smallest thing can set a person off. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4/5
Pages for 2013: 5814
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