Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment

• ISBN-13: 9781593080815
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Publication date: 2/1/2007
• Series: Barnes & Noble Classics Series
• Pages: 576

Few authors have been as personally familiar with desperation as Fyodor Dostoevsky, and none have been so adept at describing it. Crime and Punishment - the novel that heralded the author's period of masterworks - tells the story of the poor and talented student Raskolnikov, a character of unparalleled psychological depth and complexity. Raskolnikov reasons that men like himself, by virtue of their intellectual superiority, can and must transcend societal law. To test his theory, he devises the perfect crime - the murder of a spiteful pawnbroker living in St. Petersburg. 
 Raskolnikov soon realizes the folly of his abstractions. Haunted by vivid hallucinations and the torments of his conscience, he seeks relief from his terror and moral isolation - first in Sonia, the pious streetwalker who urges him to confess, then in a tense game of cat and mouse with Porfiry, the brilliant magistrate assigned to the murder investigation. One of the most gripping crime stories of all time, Crime and Punishment delineates the theories and motivations that underlie a bankrupt morality.
 
 I knew I was doomed from reading the first paragraph, simply about Raskolnikov sneaking past his landlady because he didn't want to talk to her, and I related way too much. Like, "Holy shit, this is actually me." Happily, it didn't turn out completely that way, but close enough to be uncomfortable.
 Crime and Punishment is the story of a young college student who has a theory about great men being able/allowed to do things that ordinary men aren't. This leads to him committing a murder pretty much simply to prove his theory and prove himself one of said great men.
 What follows is the slow mental breakdown of Raskolnikov (clearly not the great man he thought he was - aha). He encounters sundry side characters who either contribute to his burden or, in their attempt to understand him, give him hope. There's his mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna, and his sister, Dunia. His friend Razumikhin, his (girl)friend, Sonia. Of course, he has his antagonists in the forms of Porfiry and Svidrigailov. Oh, the Russian names. Complicated things, my friends, but these are the easiest to remember, I suppose. They all have interweaving storylines - they all know each other in some capacity.
 What makes this novel so compelling is how utterly human they all are. Especially Raskolnikov. You relate to him, his wanderings, his tortures, his emotions. Even if you never would have come up with his theory, you see how he came to it, and all of his actions and his emotions following the murder are so supremely human, I can't even. I related to him even more than I thought. He lashes out at those who love him most when he's angry and hurt and ashamed because he feels he doesn't deserve it, or he knows they will take the abuse and still love him after. It's something I know I do in my own life. His struggles not to collapse entirely when he realizes that Porfiry expects him. Side note about Porfiry: I started off really being irritated by him and his method of police work, but he really pulled through in the end. In his last scene in the book, I even felt a little fondness for the old fellow.
 One of the best parts of the novel, is its overall happy ending. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that 70% of the characters witness significant improvements to their lives and overall happiness. I'll leave you to guess which ones. Also, the villains of the piece are justly dealt with. I didn't feel that they escaped what they deserved, and I think it was just so refreshing to have a Russian author not crush all my hopes and dreams that I really fell in love with it.
 Overall: A+
 While it dragged in places, as the Russian authors do, I was just so in love with the depiction of raw humanity and the ending that I'll forgive it.

Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Brothers Karamazov

• ISBN-13: 9781593080457
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Publication date: 8/1/2004
• Pages: 752

The last and greatest of Dostoevsky's novels, The Brothers Karamazov is a towering masterpiece of literature, philosophy, psychology, and religion. It tells the story of intellectual Ivan sensual Dmitri, and idealistic Alyosha Karamazov, who collide in the wake of their despicable father's brutal murder.
Into the framework of the story Dostoevsky poured all of his deepest concerns - the origin of evil, the nature of freedom, the craving for meaning and, most importantly, whether or not God exists. The novel is particularly famous for three chapters that rank among the greatest pages of Western literature: "Rebellion" and "The Grand Inquisitor" present what many have considered the strongest arguments ever formulated against the existence of God, while "The Devil" brilliantly portrays the banality of evil. Ultimately, Dostoevsky believes that christ-like love prevails. But does he prove it?
 A rich, moving exploration of critical human questions, The Brothers Karamazov challenges all readers to reevaluate the world and their place in it.
 
Whenever I review a classic, I am inevitably presented with the same problem: how does one review a classic that has stood for hundreds of years? Should I even try? Well, I like a challenge.
 The Brothers Karamazov is the story of a parricide, but that is only the culmination of events, not the driving plot of the novel. I would argue.  Rather, the story is a psychological survey of humanity centering on three brothers and their negligent father. I have a huge problem with separating fiction from reality - I just get too involved emotionally. So instead of taking a character's actions in stride, I become frustrated, or angry, or upset like I would in real life. Sometimes it gets really stressful for me and I need to take a break from whatever I'm reading. This was one of those novels.
 First of all, there's not a single character, aside from Alyosha and possibly Snegiryov and Ilusha, that you like. All of the other characters are ignorant, hateful, spiteful, willful, selfish, or rash, or a combination of any and all of those. Honestly, the ones that I wanted to throw under the proverbial bus most of the time were Mitya and Katya. Mitya because he caused all of his own problems and could have saved himself by being less incredibly stupid and rash, and Katya because she was just a hateful spiteful person.
 Dostoevsky's genius, though, lies in exactly that. As a study in humanity, the novel is brilliant. Human beings are frail and weak and often despicable. Then occasionally there are those moments of genuine compassion and the beauty of the human spirit. And the characters of Karamazov are perfectly formulated to showcase all the pathos of the human mind, in all its glory and despair. Forget the story - read it for that alone.
 The plot itself was not particularly well formulated as it was really more a vehicle for what I just talked about. The details of the murder and the characters' motivations were often convoluted at best, although the many monologues were formulated much like the speech of any person under severe duress. As a result, it was extremely difficult to explain why everything was happening. I found myself checking out mentally every so often just because they were babbling and I wasn't going to get much explanation out of their speeches. The truly excruciating speech was the prosecutor's final stand at the trial. All I can say is that the arguments he made based on the evidence they had, the evidence itself, would not hold up in a modern court of law, and so it was almost amusing how he presented his case. "He didn't have half of the money he supposedly stole on him - rather than believe that he's telling the truth and he really didn't have that sum to begin with, I believe he stashed the money somewhere in the walls of the inn. We haven't found it yet, but I'm sure it's there." I shook my head in disbelief.
 Overall: A-
 For pure readability, it wasn't great. The long passages that just seemed to be repeating the same thing over and over, the often incomprehensible dialogues and monologues, made you want to just skip to the important and interesting part. I recommend forcing your way through those particular passages, though. I think everyone should read this book at least once if you want to get a true view of the human psyche.