Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

25 reviews

elchivovivo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It is hard to rate what one knows to be a tower of Literature. And I could not and would not attempt to compartmentalize the reading of the Book with the knowledge of its importance. 

Dostoievsky sits with the absolute greatest of the Letters, and his Novels stand on pedestals. The pedestal of a trophy. The pedestal of a monument.

On the contrary, the knowledge of its importance was the driving excitement behind it. By reading it I felt to be swimming in the River of History, and swimming along the greatest minds, allowing myself to be passed the same Fire. 

And it is Fire. One can feel the pages bursting through centuries of old form, as the thoughts of its characters are splattered into the pages like the splatter of an axe-murder and the crumbling of a thousand year dinasty, and the underground rumblings of a still far-off revolutions.

Reading the two Russians shakes the soul. What Tolstoy does in landscape  strokes, Dostoievsky does in VanGogh-like manic splatters of thought.

And it is a perfect and complete novel, in the sense that it is absolutely closed and tied down. It does not have moments, but its full force only arrives at the very last word. And it makes the body tremble.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Stalking, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, and Classism

sofipitch's review against another edition

3.0

Given how universally loved I was not ready for how conservative Christian this book is. This book is fascinating in how it portrays a very real very harsh reality in it as a part of it's moral dilemmas, but the solutions Dostoyevsky proposes are just meaningless in a way. I will say I spent a lot of time thinking about this book and also feeling crazy bc of it's acclaimed status and just not jiving with it, so in terms of making me think, it did a good job. I'm just too much of a commie and with a strong belief in moral relativism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Racism and Antisemitism

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The downward spiral of a poor student was relatable.  I enjoyed my time (mostly).

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alisonvh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A man commits a heinous crime, then spends 500 pages deliberating whether or not he should confess. By the end, all the tension was gone for me because you can only dangle a carrot in front of me and yank it away so many times before I give up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual assault

probablytoolate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

idiotela123's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THIS IS MY FAVOURITE BOOK OF ALL TIME (including Frankenstein). It may be a tough read at first, and all the character's names are difficult to grasp. But it captures the ideals of morality so well. It did send me into a bit of a slump, so I recommend to not read it unless you want to have an existential crisis and rethink your whole entire life. It's very dark and challenging to read, but impossible to put down. I must say Dostoyevsky did a very good job at this book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

n_degeorgia's review against another edition

dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

cmcrockford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Stilted maybe, repetitive yes, especially the way it's translated here, but this is exactly what I needed to read right now, similar to Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

woolgathering_jane's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.”

 I had way different expectations about what this book was actually about, but once I got over my initial disappointment, I quite enjoyed it. For this many pages, it's surprisingly easy to read and offers a fascinating view of Russia at the time. I love how Dostoevsky plays with the themes in this book - in peak realist literature, we follow a main character who thinks of himself as a true romantic hero (while he is, in reality, a typical realistic one). I loved how vivid all of the characters were. The look into Raskolnikov's mind was fascinating, but I found myself wishing for more detail (as odd as it sounds).
 And in my eyes, the ending, the last chapter elevated the story to a whole another level.

I'm in love with how Raskolnikov chose love and a good ending for himself, and how Dostoevsky signalled to us that no person is ever completely lost. I like the sharp contrast between the main story and the ending - the main story is rather depressing and bleak, while the ending is so hopeful. And I also love how, in retrospect, we were heading to this ending the whole time - despite all of his mistakes, Raskolnikov was dearly loved by several people the whole time. And the unconditional love was what saved him in the end. Beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Violence