Temporary Newton Library
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Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)

Title: Crime and Punishment

Format: MP2x00 Portrait

Blurb:  One of the most famous novels in world literature, DostoyevskyÕs
Crime and Punishment from 1866 is a harrowing tale about one manÕs attempt
to escape the implications of a single dire act of murder. Rodion
Romanovitch Raskolnikov - known as Rodya - is a handsome young student who,
in an attempt to save his sister Dounia from marrying just to provide for
him, kills a slovenly sixty-year old pawnbroker with a porterÕs axe. During
the killing her sister Lizaveta enters and he murders her too, burying the
spoils. The story follows Rodya as he tries to elude detection at a police
summons (he faints) and while another man, Nikolay the painter, is accused.
Various other characters come into the equation such as RodyaÕs student
friend Razumihin who fears his mental collapse and Zametov the police clerk
who is suspicious of the fainting incident. Episodes that follow include
RodyaÕs return to the department of investigation under Porfiry Petrovitch
who tries to trap him psychologically and later lectures him pertinently on
the criminal mind. We fear for Rodya and his untenable situation especially
after his family receives something of a small fortune from Svidrigailov.
Into this melee of strange circumstances comes Sonia - a pale girl from the
streets - to whom Rodya confesses his crime. It is then a question of
whether he should give himself up and if Dounia will forgive his act of
foolishness. The path of RodyaÕs life leads through these adventures to an
acceptance of religion over individualism.