Crime and Punishment (Bantam Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Fyodor Dostoevsky (Author), Constance Garnett (Translator), Joseph Frank (Introduction)

Book Description

Release date: October 15, 1996

A desperate young man plans the perfect crime -- the murder of a despicable pawnbroker, an old women no one loves and no one will mourn. Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to commit such a crime, to transgress moral law -- if it will ultimately benefit humanity? So begins one of the greatest novels ever written: a powerful psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, a fascinating detective thriller infused with philosophical, religious and social commentary. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in a garret in the gloomy slums of St. Petersburg, carries out his grotesque scheme and plunges into a hell of persecution, madness and terror. Crime And Punishment takes the reader on a journey into the darkest recesses of the criminal and depraved mind, and exposes the soul of a man possessed by both good and evil ... a man who cannot escape his own conscience.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The best [translation of Crime and Punishment] currently available…An especially faithful re-creation…with a coiled-spring kinetic energy…Don’t miss it.” –Washington Post Book World

“This fresh, new translation…provides a more exact, idiomatic, and contemporary rendition of the novel that brings Fyodor Dostoevsky’s tale achingly alive…It succeeds beautifully.” –San Francisco Chronicle

“Reaches as close to Dostoevsky’s Russian as is possible in English…The original’s force and frightening immediacy is captured…The Pevear and Volokhonsky translation will become the standard English version.”–Chicago Tribune

From the Publisher

A desperate young man plans the perfect crime -- the murder of a despicable pawnbroker, an old women no one loves and no one will mourn. Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to commit such a crime, to transgress moral law -- if it will ultimately benefit humanity? So begins one of the greatest novels ever written: a powerful psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, a fascinating detective thriller infused with philosophical, religious and social commentary. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in a garret in the gloomy slums of St. Petersburg, carries out his grotesque scheme and plunges into a hell of persecution, madness and terror. Crime And Punishment takes the reader on a journey into the darkest recesses of the criminal and depraved mind, and exposes the soul of a man possessed by both good and evil ... a man who cannot escape his own conscience.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Classics; Reprint edition (October 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553211757
• ISBN-13: 978-0553211757
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (313 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

292 of 313 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic for a Reason April 14, 2000

By Paul McGrath

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I initially approached this book with a great deal of trepidation. I had never read Dostoyevsky, and was concerned that I would get bogged down in some lengthy, mind-numbingly boring, nineteenth-century treatise on the bestial nature of man or something. I am happy to report this is not the case. Instead, and to my delight, it is a smoothly flowing and fascinating story of a young man who succumbs to the most base desire, and the impact this has both psychologically and otherwise on himself and those around him.

To be sure, the book seems wordy in places, but I suspect this has to do with the translation. And what translator in his right mind would be bold enough to edit the great Dostoyevsky? But this is a very minor problem.

What we get with Dostoyevsky is dramatic tension, detailed and believable human characters, and brilliant insight into human nature. Early in the novel our hero meets and has a lengthy conversation with Marmeladov, a drunkard. This conversation is never uninteresting and ultimately becomes pathetic and heartbreaking, but I kept wondering why so much time was spent on it. As I got deeper into the book, I understood why this conversation was so important, and realized that I was in the hands of a master storyteller. This is also indicative of the way in which the story reveals itself. Nothing is hurried. These people speak the way we actually speak to one another in real life, and more importantly, Dostoyevsky is able to flesh out his characters into whole, three-dimensional human beings.

And what a diverse group of characters! Each is fleshed out, each is marvelously complex. Razujmikhin, the talkative, gregarious, good-hearted, insecure and destitute student; Sonia, the tragic child-prostitute, with a sense of rightness in the world; Petrovich, the self-important, self-made man, completely out of touch with his own humanity; Dunia, the honorable, wronged sister: we feel like we know these people because we've met people like them. They fit within our understanding of the way human beings are.

Dostoyevsky also displays great insight into human nature. Svidrigailov, for example, talks of his wife as liking to be offended. "We all like to be offended," he says, "but she in particular loved to be offended." It suddenly struck me how true this is. It gives us a chance to act indignantly, to lash out at our enemies, to gain favor with our allies. I don't believe I've ever seen this thought expressed in literature before. In fact, it never occurred to me in real life! Petrovich, Dunia's suitor, not only expects to be loved, but because of his money, and her destitution, he expects to be adored! To be worshipped! He intentionally sought out a woman from whome he expected to get this, and is comletely flummoxed when she rejects him. His is an unusual character, but completely realized.

There is so much more to talk about: the character of Raskolnikov, which is meticulously and carefully revealed; the sense of isolation which descends on him after committing his crime; the cat and mouse game played on him by the police detective. I could go on and on. I haven't even mentioned the historical and social context in which this takes place. Suffice to say this is a very rich book.

Do not expect it to be a rip-roaring page turner. Sit down, relax, take your time, and savor it. It will be a very rewarding experience. And thank you SL, for recommending it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars sin is complicated, redemption simple August 8, 2002

By Penelope Schmitt

Format:Mass Market Paperback

When I was a literature student in college, Ray Malbone, the professor who taught the English Novel said to us on the first day of class "You are here to save your souls." What he meant was, that great novelists are always aiming to persuade you to enter into and adopt their worldview. Dostoevsky was literally out to 'save the soul' of Russia from the corruption of alien thinking that had invaded her intellectual life and dragged her people away from simple orthodoxy.
One generally reads this novel as a young person, when one is, like Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, experimenting with extreme ideas. Don't be even momentarily deceived by all the excursions into Neitsche-like ideas of freedom from restraint. Instead, recognize that Dostoevsky was not just a religious conservative but an outright reactionary, and you won't lose your way in any of the tangled thoughts and specious arguments that tangle young Rodya's literally and figuratively fever-tortured brain. Make no mistake about it, Rodya has sinned against God and his neighbor, and he must be 'born again' to get out of the dreadful mess he's wandered into.
So what makes this novel not a tract that would bore us, but a deeply moving psychic journey that draws us with its tension and distress?
First, this isn't really a story about what a murderer is like. For that, go and read "The Devils" or "The Brothers Karamazov" in which you will see the disgusting and horrifying spectacles of lost souls working out their foul destinies. Rodion is NOT like a murderer. That is the most striking thing about him. Indeed, almost any reader will admit to having identified with him and feeling great sympathy for his anguish at almost all times during the novel. He deeply loves his mother and sister. We learn that he has done heroic actions in saving children from a fire. He finds himself again and again unable to restrain impulses of the deepest generosity--saving an abandoned and drunken waif from a predatory man, listening with compassion to a drunkard, carrying that same drunkard home when he is broken and dying, emptying his pockets to the last kopeck to help his family, treating the man's young, prostituted daughter with respect and honor. To Dostoevsky, Rodya represents the finest among young Russian intellectuals.
What happens to him then? He becomes possessed or obsessed with those French-German ideas that have invaded the motherland. It's not so much that he THINKS his way to this murder, as that the depraved philosophies of the west get into him like a bacterium or a virus and possess his will, until he is compelled to carry out an action he knows beforehand (as he realizes afterward) will make him know that he is 'no better than a louse.'
The true greatness of the novel is in Dostoevsky's astonishingly acute observation of every thought, grimace, and piece of behavior produced by Raskolnikov when he is in this sick state of mind and soul. Hard to remember that the novel was written well before modern psychiatric theory was propounded--so precisely does Dostoevsky distinguish each outward and visible sign of the unconscious drive toward truth, confession, and atonement that possesses Raskolnikov's whole being the moment the compulsion to do murder has its denouement in ghastly action.
I give this novel four stars not because it isn't great--it is--but because Dostoevsky went on to write far greater things. This is best read first among Dostoevsky's novels, because later ones are darker and more difficult to decipher. Readers won't be a bit lost in this straightforward wtory, as long as they hold fast to the knowledge that Christianity--specifically Russian Orthodox Christianity as opposed to Roman Catholicism--is where Dostoevsky keeps his moral center firmly fixed.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Detective Novel? Not quite. December 11, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is the first Dostoevsky book I have read, and I liked it immensely. I decided to read it because of the intriguing plot, as well as Dostoevsky's reputation. Something interesting about this novel is that Dostoevsky used a very "backwards" sort of character development. He had Raskolnikov commit a murder- with no apparent motive- and then spent the rest of the book exploring the character, rather than the other way around. So first we watch this character commit a horrible, terrible crime, one that we should denounce him for, and then we begin to get to know him, and he is revealed to have an astoundingly good character after all. I found myself liking Raskolnikov greatly, and I was able to identify with him as well. However, this book does not seem to fall under the guidelines of a "crime novel" nor a "psychological thriller". Yes, there is a crime, as well as a study of the protoganist's psyche, but it is not exactly thrilling. This is not the sort of story where you have to keep reading and reading to find out who committed the crime. You already know. Therefore, there is no mystery to keep you interested. Despite all these obstacles, Dostoevsky does what might be impossible for most writers. He makes you care about what happens to Raskolnikov. I was not thrilled, but engrossed. What kept me reading here was the desire to see if Raskolnikov would defeat his inner demons and turn himself in, or be arrested. I'd rather not reveal the ending but I would like to say that I found it extremely satisfying. The subplot, that of Luzhin trying to gain control over Dounia, might have only gotten in the way of another writer, but Dostoevsky was able to inspire such hate in me for Luzhin that I wanted to keep reading just to see him get what he deserved in the end. After reading this, I have decided to read Dostoevky's other works as well, and hopefully they will all be of the same high quality.