A change of scenery

) I have just stared reading Crime and Punishment. I find the book to be very different from Heart of Darkness and enjoy the “change of scenery”. Raskolnikov seems to be in a hopeless situation. He lives an isolated existence “giving up on matters of practical importance.” He is in a bad situation; his mental and economic states complete the recipe for disaster. The descriptions of St. Petersburg momentarily reminded me of New York City. We are not surprised to see shabbiness in the street or drunken people. The murder plot seems to serve as a vacation from harsh reality. Raskolnikov becomes excited by the thought, even rehearsing the act. I am confused with Raskolnikov’s interaction with Marmeladov. I wonder what his purpose in the story is and how it will fit into the plot. Dostoevsky has succeeded in giving me a firm understanding of Raskolnikov’s situation and mental reasoning. I look forward to reading more of this book. Raskolnikov is in a bad mental state to start out with; I predict he will become completely neurotic after committing the crime. He can’t function as it is with no guilt, I can only wait and see how he will function with guilt. His suffering seems bad now, so committing the crime will probably make it ten times worse.
Jack N.