Преступление и наказание

1866

english translations
russian literature
novela psicológica
fiction
translations into yiddish
psychological fiction
german language
murder
fiction in spanish
mystery fiction

The story

From [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_and_Punishment): Crime and Punishment (Russian: Преступлéние и наказáние, tr. Prestupleniye i nakazaniye; IPA: \[prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲə ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲə\]) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866.[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_and_Punishment) It was later published in a single volume. It is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his return from ten years of exile in Siberia. Crime and Punishment is considered the first great novel of his "mature" period of writing.\[2\] Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash. Raskolnikov argues that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime, while ridding the world of a worthless vermin. He also commits this murder to test his own hypothesis that some people are naturally capable of such things, and even have the right to do them. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov justifies his actions by comparing himself with Napoleon Bonaparte, believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose. --- See also: - [Преступлéние и наказáние: 1/2](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7998899W/Prestuplenie_i_nakazanie._1_2)

What it’s like

Feverish summer heat and airless St. Petersburg rooms, stifling garrets, cramped stairwells and dusty taverns rendered in dense, anxious prose that swings between hallucinatory interiority and sharp, sardonic dialogue. The voice is close and feverish: long paragraphs of self-argument that circle and tighten, interrupted by sudden spikes of tenderness, pity and street-level noise. The sensory world is oppressive and specific (the stench of the stairs, the rattle of carriages, the sweat and cheap vodka of a crowded bar), while the emotional weather is grey, guilt-heavy and slowly thawing. Pacing is uneven by design, with breathless chases of thought alternating with long static conversations in tiny rooms, and the tone is bleak but shot through with unexpected warmth, especially in scenes of poor families and the quiet, stubborn devotion of Sonya. Violence is brief and offstage in the central act, but the psychological dread is relentless: paranoia, fever, interrogation-style cat-and-mouse with a suspicious detective, and a long, grim pull toward confession and Siberian exile. Not gory, but heavy, with suicidal thoughts, poverty and moral cruelty handled with unflinching directness. For readers who want a demanding, intense, morally searching novel about conscience, guilt and redemption, and who are prepared for a slow, claustrophobic, emotionally punishing read rather than a cosy one.

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