A review by dlrosebyh
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

dark tense 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

3.0

I was always the person who had different opinions from everyone. But, even I, surprised myself for giving this novel just three stars. But, to be fair, it was fairly mid. (Or do I just really not like men authors?) 
 
This felt like those AO3 character study fanfics that have 700 pages, because why was this over 500 pages long? Listen, I’m not Russian, but at least I know that Russians don’t talk dialogues that is one whole paragraph = one whole page??? Do not even get me started when the main character compared himself to Napoleon… like… that’s kinda embarrassing, my dude. 
 
Crime and Punishment follows a young guy in despair plots the ideal crime: the murder of a vile pawnbroker, an elderly woman who no one would ever love or regret. One of the best books ever written starts here. It's a riveting detective thriller, a chilling murder mystery, and a profound psychological study that's laced with social, religious, and philosophical allegory. After carrying out his ludicrous plan, Raskolnikov—a poor student living in a garret in the dismal depths of St. Petersburg—begins to spiral into a terrifying, insane, and persecuting hell. Crime and Punishment reveals the spirit of a man obsessed by both good and evil while taking the reader on a voyage into the most sinister corners of the criminal and twisted mind. A guy unable to avoid his own moral obligations. 
 
Other than using an axe to bash in the brains of two ladies, Raskolnikov's only accomplishment to fame seems to have been an article he authored. Did it really need 500 pages? 
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