Book: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

When I was younger I liked the idea of Dostoevsky but I couldn't get through any of his novels. I'd start flipping the pages and feel like I wasn't getting anywhere, like nothing was happening, as if the characters were petty and thought entirely too much about things with little to no consequence. I vividly remember  trying to read Crime and Punishment for the first time. I knew the major conflict in the book was the murder of the decrepit pawnbroker and her delicate sister beforehand. So I read up until that point and then was completely thrown by the resulting chapters. He had such a revulsion to what he did and dwelled on it endlessly. He hid his spoils in such a way that he could never use them. He even hinted to people that he did it. This all seemed incongruent with everything I new about murderers and violence.

In youth we see things as black and white. If you kill you're a murderer, if you steal, you're a thief, and if you do either you'll be caught and thrown in jail, unless you get away with it, then you just get away with it. As you get older you realize that the world isn't black and white. It's gray; the intentions, the motivations, the perceptions of man are infinitely complex and oftentimes it's very hard to stand in the shoes of someone and see their perspective. With patience and precision, this book forces you to stand in the shoes of a very complex young man. You see him at his worst, you see him destitute, without hope, you see him murder. As he constructs various justifications for his actions, as he taunts other characters, you see him tear himself apart. His body decays, his mind is torn to shreds, but he doesn't realize it until he experiences something that might actually be worth living for. 

The turning point in the novel is the experience of meeting someone he might love. He has no idea what the emotion is at first but he feels an indescribable attraction to her. He goes to her, rebukes her, toys with her. He doesn't know what to do, but ultimately he confides in her. He tells her what he's done knowing it might be the end of him. Her name is Sonia and she is the symbol of innocence, of godliness, of devotion toward goodness. Raskolnikov thinks she's petty, a whore, a perpetual victim, but this is only one level of his consciousness. Buried below all of his judgment is truth. He can't live with what he's done, and she is his salvation. 

Now think for a second that this is only one dynamic between two characters in the novel and then add 7 or 8 other characters with as much depth. You have the ability to see everything, every slight nuance of the human conflict from every perspective imaginable. Crime and Punishment is a classic for a reason and if you can maintain patience enough for everything to develop, you'll be rewarded with some new perceptions of society, of human nature, of existence in general. 

5/5