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Crime and Punishment http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Crime-and-Punishment-F-M-Dostoevsky/9780140621808

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Format:

Paperback, 448 pages

Release Date:

31 July 1997

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.

About the Author

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821, the second of a physician's seven children. His mother died in 1837 and his father was murdered a little over two years later. When he left his private boarding school in Moscow he studied from 1838 to 1843 at the Military Engineering College in St Petersburg, graduating with officer's rank. His first story to be published, 'Poor Folk' (1846), was a great success. In 1849 he was arrested and sentenced to death for participating in the 'Petrashevsky circle'; he was reprieved at the last moment but sentenced to penal servitude, and until 1854 he lived in a convict prison at Omsk, Siberia. In the decade following his return from exile he wrote The Village of Stepanchikovo (1859) and The House of the Dead (1860). Whereas the latter draws heavily on his experiences in prison, the former inhabits a completely different world, shot through with comedy and satire. In 1861 he began the review Vremya (Time) with his brother; in 1862 and 1863 he went abroad, where he strengthened his anti-European outlook, met Mlle Suslova, who was the model for many of his heroines, and gave way to his passion for gambling. In the following years he fell deeply in debt, but in 1867 he married Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina (his second wife), who helped to rescue him from his financial morass. They lived abroad for four years, then in 1873 he was invited to edit Grazhdanin (The Citizen), to which he contributed his Diary of a Writer. From 1876 the latter was issued separately and had a large circulation. In 1880 he delivered his famous address at the unveiling of Pushkin's memorial in Moscow; he died six months later in 1881. Most of his important works were written after 1864: Notes from Underground (1864), Crime and Punishment (1865-6), The Gambler (1866), The Idiot (1869), The Devils (1871) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880).

Reviews

An acclaimed new translation of the classic Russian novel. (Mar.)

Publisher:	Penguin Classics
ISBN:	0140621806
EAN:	9780140621808
Dimensions:	18.0 x 11.0 x 1.0 centimeters (0.24 kg)
Age Range:	15+ years

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Reviews

5.0 out of 5 based on 5 reviews. 5 of 5 Stars! – Customer review on 29/07/2006

A classic psychological portrait of the guilty conscience, and a strong philosophical message.

Dostoevsky wrote this novel partially in reaction to the moral nihilism growing in contemporary Russian society. The main character 'Raskolnikov' believes that morality is merely a convention, and so to prove himself above convention, he seeks to flout one of morality's greatest platitudes by electing to take another person's life.

A great novel with a thought-provoking message. Definitely a must-read.