Crime and Punishment

(Please be aware that this is an old review)

A very famous classic in Russian Literature. I read Anna Karenina last year (and I know it’s Tolstoy, so completely different, but I don’t have a lot to compare it with as I’m not really experienced in Russian Literature).

Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, or Rodya, is a former student in St. Petersburg who’s been planning to commit a ‘perfect’ murder. Only, it turns out to be not so perfect after all. Things only get worse thanks to his constant conviction that everyone is trying to expose this secret.

Rodya isn’t a very sympathetic character (although less annoying than Anna in Anna Karenina). Luckily, there are nicer characters in this book, my favourite being Dmitri Prokofitch Razumihin, his friend who takes care of Rodya when he’s (half) mad. I do wonder why all the older female characters seem to be hysteric, seems a bit sexist to me…

It’s not a fast or easy read, but the story is very interesting and at some points it even gets exciting. Some times the story drags a little, as Dostojevski can write a lot about something small, or isn’t always completely understandable, as Rodya’s thinking in delirium isn’t always clear. Still, I never felt it a burden to pick up this book. (I definitely liked it better than Anna Karenina).