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| Crime and Punishment (Wordsworth Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: F.m. Dostoevsky
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £1.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £1.98 (99%)
New (21) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 4762
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 528
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 1840224304
UPC: 001840224304
EAN: 9781840224306
ASIN: 1840224304
Publication Date: September 12, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Disturbing October 9, 2005
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
Generally this is well written with some quite brilliant passages. When I begun to read this I thought I had found a literary gem. Not so! There were actually many unrewarding pages of tedium ahead and when I met upon a chapter vividly describing 'equine abuse' (which was almost vomit making) I nearly shelved its reading. I found the book disturbing - but perhaps this was part of the intention of the author after all it is a 'psychological thriller'. The book did evoke a dilemma in me which was whether I should or should not have sympathy with the main character who was a double murderer. Curiously I alternated between wanting him to be caught and hoping he would not be caught. I hate the ending too.
 Good read February 3, 2005
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment is the first classic detective story. But that is not even where it excels. With the Brothers Karamazov, it elevated Dostoyevsky to a mega writer when it comes to dissecting the mind and soul of characters for the readers. It is a great book of psychology. While it competes with Anna Karenina as the most widely read 19th century Russian novel in the English-speaking world, it is judged by many to be superior in its depth and lessons. The book's hero exemplifies all young ideologues who are wrestling with a new idea which they think can elevate them to the levels of great historic figures in their initial steps towards greatness. Often, a barrier has to be crossed which takes the potential legendary figure into an irreversible course. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov who is the hero is a poor, intelligent and thoughtful student who is convinced that he has a mission for the advancement of mankind. He convinces himself that the mission has to start with him crossing over to greatness by robbing and killing an old woman, a pawnbroker, whose death, he had convinced himself would do the world more good than harm. This conviction is based on his judgment that she cheats her clients and holds money that could be used for humanity. He then commits the murder, but is forced to kill the pitiful Elizabetha, the landlady's sister. The novel begins its twists and turns after these murders, with the introduction of the cunning detective who gets to investigate the murder and makes Raskolnikov his principal suspect. Raskolnikov gets to meet the destitute Marmeladovs through the alcoholic father, and is distraught by the plight of his consumptive mother, her three young children, and Sonya-Marmeladov's eighteen-year old daughter who is forced into prostitution in order to support the family.
By doing a rich psychology development of his characters, Dostoyevsky made his characters more complexly human, yet reachable. Sonya emerges as a saintly figure who sins for the sakes of those she loves , and who is the mirror through which the so-called devilish characters are redeemed. The plot is rich, deep, enjoyable and action-packed; and the pace is fast and engaging. The overriding strength of the story is the conflict in Raskolnikov's soul, a conflict which began in his quest to be the "Extraordinary Man" like Napoleon, by stepping over the basic bounds of morality by committing murder. That conflict in his soul brought out the rich ideas, discussions and emotions from the characters that interacted with him.Also recommended: THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE
Crime and Punishment January 6, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is without question a psychological masterpiece. If you wish to know more about yourself and the nature of what it is to be human when tested to the outer limits of human endurance, then you must read this book. The full gamut of human emotions are on show and are totally, beautifully, hideously and above all realistically realised in Dostoyevsky's bleak Russian world.How does crime come about, Nature vs. Nurture, given abject poverty? Can a good man commit a heinous crime or by definition is he not capable of such? Can any man commit any crime given the environment? Can the end ever justify the "ultimate" means, that of taking life? How does one define man; what do absolutes, like good and evil actually signify, when looking at the complexities of the human condition? What represents punishment? How does mans consciousness, morals and soul form a part of the physical realities of evasion, capture and punishment in the committing and aftermath of a crime? What is redemption? When crimes are horrific, can one ever find redemption or is there a point of no return? These are just some of the great questions in life that the book raises whilst telling a story of great but bleak magnitude. A story of truly lifelike engaging characters, struggling with their own demons in a world of awful social depravity and squalor. This book has a dynamic between characters that is very, very rarely seen; in this regard it is an outstanding piece of literature. You feel the tension in the air, the sincerity, the insincerity the asides, self justifications, moral prejudices etc that occur between real people. You feel their words you do not simply read them!
and Redemption... August 15, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Yes, crime, punishment but also repentance and a new life, but as the author ends "that is another story..." i.e. the story of how, after long imprisonment, Raskolnikov makes a new life as a spiritually better person. This is a theme often found in Russia, that is, redemption through suffering for one's sins: see Chekhov's work, as well as the pronouncements of Rasputin and the life of Solzhenitsyn.
One of the most significant Russian works, albeit as slow-moving at times as the Ob. It must be hard for a someone new to Dostoyevsky to realize that this book is actually easier going for the reader than some others, notably The Devils.
 Worth struggling through July 26, 2004
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
There's no doubt that this is a true classic - a brilliant portrayal of the mental effect of internal conflict, raising questions of the rights of individual vs society, a very atmospheric backdrop of 19th century St Petersburg and so on. It's definitely worth reading, especially for anyone planning to travel in Russia as I was.However I have to disagree with those reviewers who found it gripping, compulsive reading. I had to struggle through it over the course of 10 weeks, during which I broke off twice to read other, less difficult, works, which is why I give it four rather than five stars.
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