 1956 Random House printing of Crime and Punishment, translated by Constance Garnett | |
| Author | Fyodor Dostoevsky |
|---|---|
| Original title | Преступление и наказание |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Publisher | The Russian Messenger (series) |
Publication date | 1866; separate edition 1867 |
| Pages | 527 |
| OCLC | 26399697 |
| 891.73/3 20 | |
| LC Class | PG3326 .P7 1993 |
Original text | Преступление и наказание at Russian Wikisource |
| Translation | Crime and Punishment at Wikisource |
Crime and Punishment (pre-reform Russian: Преступленіе и наказаніе; post-reform Russian: Преступление и наказание, romanized: Prestupleniye i nakazaniye, IPA: [prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje‿ɪ‿nəkɐˈzanʲɪje]) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866.[1] It was later published in a single volume. It is the second of Dostoevsky's full-length novels following his return from ten years of exile in Siberia. Crime and Punishment is considered the first great novel of his mature period of writing[2] and is often cited as one of the greatest works of world literature.[3][4][5][6]
Crime and Punishment follows the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who plans to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker, an old woman who stores money and valuable objects in her flat. He theorises that with the money he could liberate himself from poverty and go on to perform great deeds, and seeks to convince himself that certain crimes are justifiable if they are committed in order to remove obstacles to the higher goals of "extraordinary" men. Once the deed is done, however, he finds himself wracked with confusion, paranoia, and disgust. His theoretical justifications lose all their power as he struggles with guilt and horror and is confronted with both internal and external consequences of his deed.
- ^ University of Minnesota – Study notes for Crime and Punishment – (retrieved on 1 May 2006)
- ^ Frank (1995), p. 96.
- ^ "The 50 Most Influential Books of All Time". Open Education Database. 26 January 2010.
- ^ "The Greatest Books". thegreatestbooks.org.
- ^ Writers, Telegraph (23 July 2021). "The 100 greatest novels of all time". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
- ^ "100 must-read classic books, as chosen by our readers". Penguin. 26 May 2022.