A Mystery Novel

When I first picked up Crime and Punishment, I was very excited to begin reading it because I had heard several good reviews about it. So far, I have yet to be disappointed. This book is very intriguing, I haven’t been bored with it at all. I’ve never been a fan of mystery/crime novels, and this is the first time that I read a book that involves a murder story, and that has an immense amount of suspense. For a first experience, Crime and Punishment has turned out to be the ideal book.
At the beginning of the novel , the reader is introduced to Raskolnikov, the main character. He seems to be a troubled young man with contemptuous, supercilious behavior. He sees the people around him as inferior, and looks down on them. Even his former friends at the university aren’t to his liking anymore. Raskolnikov is completely anti-social and prefers to remain in the closet that he has for a room. From the very beginning, we learn that Raskolnikov has recently experienced a change. He loathes everyone around him, and what they do, and this hate grows minute by minute. Obviously this has begun to take its toll on him, because he often goes on rants talking to himself on the street. But there is someone that stands out-his landlady. Out of all people, it seems like she is the one that he despises most. The “old crone” as he calls her is known for being odious, and harmful to people around her. Even though he barely knows anything about her and she has never done anything to Raskolnikov.
It seems like his troubled mind has led him to conjure up something in his mind. In the first few chapters of Part I, it is referred to as “that”. Dostoevsky has done a great job of keeping the reader in suspense, leading them to ask “ what is ‘that’ supposed to be?” It goes on like this for some time, Raskolnikov talks about doing a trial, and being inconspicuous. The reader can tell that he is plotting something complicated that takes a grat amount of precison and detail. In time, I realized that he was plotting to murder his landlady. Dostoevsky continues to keep the reader in suspense, one never really knows when he is going to commit the crime, and why he has even gotten it into his head to do this. Later on in Part I, we learn that the landlady is thought of as “meaningless, worthless, wicked, sick old crone, no good to anyone and, on the contrary, harmful to everyone”. It was from that point on that Raskolnikov’s hate for the woman grew. He felt that it was his duty to take her out in order to help out others. I am curious to know how he ever thought that this made sense. If he feels such hatred and disgust at the silly, everyday things that people do, what led him to think that committing a murder made him better?
I am anxious to keep reading this book. It has definitely made a great impression on me, and I can see it getting better. Also, Raskolnikov is very interesting, and I’m eager to keep reading to find out about him.

Posted by Wendy C.