Why it’s essential
Often hailed as one of the greatest works of world literature, established as fiction’s foremost psychologist and continues to influence writers of psychological thrillers and murder mysteries.
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What is Crime and Punishment about?
Crime and Punishment traces the anguish, guilt, and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished former law student in Saint Petersburg, who follows through on his plan to murder an unscrupulous elderly pawnbroker and winds up killing her innocent half-sister as well.
Editor’s review
Mysia is a book person who loves escaping into twisty mysteries and contemporary fiction driven by complicated characters.
Among my top favorite contemporary mystery writers are , whose outstanding blends elements of psychological thrillers and police procedurals; , whose debut bestseller, , is a brilliant, gripping whodunit—and a chilling whydunit too; and , whose novels, particularly , draw us into the minds and machinations of highly intelligent, deeply troubled, morally ambiguous characters driven by anger. Fyodor Dostoyevsky is recognized as one of the greatest writers of all time, and his works transcend genre fiction. Yet, Crime and Punishment has all the hallmarks of today’s best psychological thrillers and detective mysteries. And that’s why I’m such a fan of this riveting literary classic, first published in Russia in 1866.
In Crime and Punishment, there’s no mystery about the identity of the murderer—it’s Rodion Raskolnikov, the protagonist, and the novel, while using a third-person narrative, focuses primarily on his perspective. The real mystery is his motive, and the tension comes from whether he’ll continue to justify his actions and struggle with his guilt—or confess to murdering two women.
A former law student in his early 20s, Raskolnikov is destitute and despondent. He lives alone in a cupboard of a room in St. Petersburg, where he sits, seethes, and seizes on the idea of murdering Alyona Ivanovna, an elderly pawnbroker who thrives on the desperation of students who can barely keep up with the cost of tuition and rent. Once the old woman is dead, he plans to help himself to the money and valuables stashed in her flat, which will enable him to break free from poverty and go on to perform great deeds. In Raskolnikov’s mind, he would be committing murder for the greater good of society, convincing himself that certain crimes are justifiable if they remove obstacles to the higher goals of "extraordinary" men, like himself.
