Saturday, November 27, 2021
“…for everything is already known to everyone, and everything hidden will be made manifest.”
My friend and I definitely took our time reading Crime and Punishment by, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Not gonna lie, after reading The Brothers Karamazov earlier this year, I’m experiencing a bit of Dostoyevsky burnout. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed this novel, but I personally need to take a break from this dude and let these two pieces of great fiction marinate for a while.
Crime and Punishment centers around Raskolnikov, a young man who commits a murder and the effects this murder has on Raskolnikov. The reader spends quite a bit of time zoned in on his point of view and the reader experiences Raskolnikov’s psychological state before, during and after the murder. However, this novel doesn’t just focus on Raskolnikov’s crime, it also explores the various crimes and “sins” of some of the other characters. The overarching theme and question Rebekah and I discussed is, “how does society determine the moral weight of crime and are all crimes ultimately the same?
Raskolnikov truly feels that his murder is justified because the person he kills is causing harm to multiple people.
Is there ever a time in which one has a moral obligation to commit a crime for the “greater good?” If there ever a time in which lying is justified?
These are questions that I remember having long debates and discussions about in my sociology classes, especially my Sociology of Law and Conflict classes. We specifically discussed why murder is considered to be the worst crime and my professor argued that the outcome of a court case can often be predicted based on the parties involved and their demographics. For example, when a person of high social standing commits a crime against a lower person of social standing, the outcomes favor those with higher social status. Murder is considered particularly egregious because the person committing the murder is acting in a God-like way - who are we to judge when a person’s life should end? However, there are nuances to murder. I wrote a paper arguing that children who commits parricide (murdering a parent) statistically receive harsher sentences than parents who commit farricide (parents who murder their children) because the child is committing a murder/crime that goes against the heirarchy; the crime is committed “upwards.” All of this to say, Raskolnikov’s crime is committed towards someone who already isn’t well liked, in s sense “downwards”. Do we tend to apply more nuances and even sympathy when a crime is committed towards someone or something that is already distasteful?
One cannot discuss Crime and Punishment without talking about “madness.” Rebekah and I joked that everyone in this novel at some point gets a fever. Are we all on a spectrum of madness? Do the right circumstances have to be in place to develop madness?
Raskolnikov in particular seems more predisposed to madness than the other characters. He seems to lack impulse control and even though he is able to rationalize his decisions, he doesn’t seem to be able to comprehend their consequences until after the fact. Thus, he spends much of his time delirious, feverish and extremely moody in the aftermath of his crime. Rebekah and I were especially intrigued by Dunya, Raskolnikov’s sister because she’s rational, calculated and controlled where her brother isn’t. So is Sonya, a young prostitute, who is a true victim go her circumstances, yet has this uncanny ability to remain sensible in extreme circumstances. Dostoyevsky writes such fascinating, strong and compelling female characters. Perhaps this is his homage to the Russian woman.
Dostoyevsky likes to write characters that are nuanced; he plays Devil’s advocate on many topics and he also likes to reveal both the dark and the light in his characters.
There’s Sonya, the prostitute, who is actually the most moral of them and religious, Svidrigailkov who is SLIMY and yet serves as a benefactor, and even though Raskolnikov commits a murder, he also helps a woman and her family after her husband suddenly dies.
What’s also intriguing about Raskolnikov is that he never quite regrets his crime; he is always able to rationalize it. What he does end up coming to terms with is the morality of it, or rather, immoralily of it.
“It wasn’t a human being I killed, it was a principle! So I killed a principle…”
However, he is able to eventually understand the immorality of his crime through Sonya, who consistently remains concerned over the state of his soul. Through her, he realized that spiritual redemption is possible. Dostoyevsky loves to weave in themes of religion and spirituality into his works, which he believes are the backbone of society - take faith out of society and it crumbles and man becomes depraved. Dostoyevsky also likes to use this theme to speak against socialism. Dostoyevsky personally believed that socialism is inherently evil and atheist (Specifically Marx. Marx was an atheist and some scholars claim that he was actually a satanist. His poetry makes a heavy metal goth band’s lyrics look like child’s play).
“It started with the views of the socialists. Their views are well known: crime is a protest against the abnormality of the social set up … I’m not lying! … I’ll show you their books: with them one is always a ‘victim of the environment’ - and nothing else! Their favorite phrase! … That’s why they have such an instinctive dislike of history … That’s why they so dislike the living process of life: there’s no need for a living soul! The living soul will demand life, the living soul won’t listen to mechanics, the living soul is suspicious, the living soul is retrograde!”
When I read this passage (condensed here for the sake of space) it made me think of some of the rhetoric we are hearing today about victimhood. I’m just going to leave this here for people to marinate on…
I just really enjoy Dostoyevsky’s storytelling and I really enjoyed Crime & Punishment. The Brothers Karamazov still takes the cake for me, but this is still a spectacular piece of fiction that deals with the complex issues of morality, spirituality, psychology and redemption. I look forward to reading more of his works.
Rating: 4/5
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Sunday, September 19, 2021
My reading list for this month is shorter this time - I just really want to focus in on these three texts that are all intense in their own ways. I might need therapy heading into October…
- A Little Life - this will be my main focus this month and I plan to do at least two posts about it, meaning at least a halfway review and then a final review. This is one of those books that needs to be discussed is segments.
- The Silence of Scheherazade - a family saga during the fall of the Ottoman empire. I’ve seen excellent reviews on it this far, but I’ve heard it’s quite intense and rather sad - which it actually right up my alley.
- Crime & Punishment - My friend and I are still making our way through this. Perhaps I’ll be able to finish this month. I’m enjoying this one, but I’m still favoring The Brothers Karamazov.
What are you reading this month?
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Sunday, August 1, 2021
I tend to look forward to August because it’s arrival means that summer is almost over. August tends to be the hottest month of the year and once it’s over, cooler weather it around the corner. However, this does mean that we enter into the most active period of hurricane season, so there’s that…
I’ve got some exciting books on my reading list this month - two rolling over and two new books:
- The Sea, The Sea - A friend and I will be doing our first buddy read this month of Iris Murdoch’s 1978 Man Booker Prizer winner, The Sea, The Sea. Neither us of have read Murdoch before and we are exciting to discuss this together.
- Circe - I don’t think this novel needs an introduction. This book has remained popular since it’s publication in 2018. I was not interested in reading it at all upon it’s release - I’m that person who’s interest in something decreases the more it’s hyped up, I do not need to read what everyone else it reading, at the same time. However, after I reread the Odyssey this year, I decided to give this one a read, mainly for the purpose of some points that intrigued about what people said about Circe, about the writing style, etc. and I think it’ll be an interesting conversation to have.
- At the Existentialist Cafe - Still moving through this at a glacial pace. Finally made it to Chapter 3. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying it, but I have to be in the mood for it. I’m listening to it via Audible and then I go through my hard copy and annotate based on the notes I take on Audible. There is so much content packed into each chapter, I’m going slowly.
- Crime & Punishment - I’m finally at the halfway point! Reading Dostoyevsky is always a slow burn and takes focus, so I don’t mind taking my time reading this one. I actually don’t have much of an opinion yet, for some reason - I think this is going to hit me later like A Tale of Two Cities did. I was like “Chuck… where are you taking me?” And then BAM he took me there and I had to stare at a wall for several minutes while I tried not to cry (and still ended up crying…).
What are you reading this month?
Thursday, May 20, 2021
We know how it goes around here: a new month and a new-ish stack of books.
- The Odyssey will be my main read this month. I had to read it twice in college, but that was over 10 years ago and it’s time for a refresher. The Odyssey is my favorite piece of Ancient Greek literature.
- The Greek Way - I read this first half in April and will finish it this month. I thought I was going to be able to move through this book faster than it’s taking me, but it’s so well written and there are so many nuggets of information, that it deserves to be read at a slower pace.
- Crime & Punishment - My buddy read with (tag). I’m literally only 20 pages in and we are going to take our time with this one and it may take a few months.
- The Weather in the Streets - This is a hopeful for this month, it just depends on how long it takes me to work through The Odyssey
- Palladian - I enjoy Elizabeth Taylor’s writing and I may not be able to get to this one this month, but we’ll see. This one is reminiscent of Jane Eyre.
What you are reading this month? Have you read any of these?
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