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The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece
THE SINNER AND THE SAINT is the deeply researched and immersive tale of how Dostoevsky came to write this great murder story--and why it changed the world. As a young man, Dostoevsky was a celebrated writer, but his involvement with the radical politics of his day condemned him to a long Siberian exile. There, he spent years studying the criminals that were his companions. Upon his return to St. Petersburg in the 1860s, he fought his way through gambling addiction, debilitating debt, epilepsy, the deaths of those closest to him, and literary banishment to craft an enduring classic.
The germ of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT came from the sensational story of Pierre François Lacenaire, a notorious murderer who charmed and outraged Paris in the 1830s. Lacenaire was a glamorous egoist who embodied the instincts that lie beneath nihilism, a western-influenced philosophy inspiring a new generation of Russian revolutionaries. Dostoevsky began creating a Russian incarnation of Lacenaire, a character who could demonstrate the errors of radical politics and ideas. His name would be Raskolnikov.
Lacenaire shaped Raskolnikov in profound ways, but the deeper insight, as Birmingham shows, is that Raskolnikov began to merge with Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky was determined to tell a murder story from the murderer's perspective, but his character couldn't be a monster. No. The murderer would be chilling because he wants so desperately to be good.
The writing consumed Dostoevsky. As his debts and the predatory terms of his contract caught up with him, he hired a stenographer to dictate the final chapters in time. Anna Grigorievna became Dostoevsky's first reader and chief critic and changed the way he wrote forever. By the time Dostoevsky finished his great novel, he had fallen in love.
Dostoevsky's great subject was self-consciousness. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT advanced a revolution in artistic thinking and began the greatest phase of Dostoevsky's career. THE SINNER AND THE SAINT now gives us the thrilling and definitive story of that triumph.
The germ of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT came from the sensational story of Pierre François Lacenaire, a notorious murderer who charmed and outraged Paris in the 1830s. Lacenaire was a glamorous egoist who embodied the instincts that lie beneath nihilism, a western-influenced philosophy inspiring a new generation of Russian revolutionaries. Dostoevsky began creating a Russian incarnation of Lacenaire, a character who could demonstrate the errors of radical politics and ideas. His name would be Raskolnikov.
Lacenaire shaped Raskolnikov in profound ways, but the deeper insight, as Birmingham shows, is that Raskolnikov began to merge with Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky was determined to tell a murder story from the murderer's perspective, but his character couldn't be a monster. No. The murderer would be chilling because he wants so desperately to be good.
The writing consumed Dostoevsky. As his debts and the predatory terms of his contract caught up with him, he hired a stenographer to dictate the final chapters in time. Anna Grigorievna became Dostoevsky's first reader and chief critic and changed the way he wrote forever. By the time Dostoevsky finished his great novel, he had fallen in love.
Dostoevsky's great subject was self-consciousness. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT advanced a revolution in artistic thinking and began the greatest phase of Dostoevsky's career. THE SINNER AND THE SAINT now gives us the thrilling and definitive story of that triumph.
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 16, 2021
139 people are currently reading
5200 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Birmingham
2 books64 followersKevin Birmingham received his PhD in English from Harvard, where he is a Lecturer in History & Literature and an instructor in the university’s writing program. His research focuses on twentieth-century fiction and culture, literary obscenity and the avant-garde. He was a bartender in a Dublin pub featured in Ulysses for one day before he was unceremoniously fired.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
March 2, 2022
A superb read if Crime and Punishment was/is/will be on your tbr list. I have read the novel several times, however, had a vague idea of Dostoevsky's life. Mr Birmingham's treat is two-fold: it concerns the idea behind the masterpiece (of which I knew nothing), and the tale of the novelist's life.
The book is truly rewarding and written in an accessible way, not scholarly at all. Suffice it to say that now I am going to read two other books on Dostoevsky, still having the pleasure of being in the company of Prince Myshkov.
The book is truly rewarding and written in an accessible way, not scholarly at all. Suffice it to say that now I am going to read two other books on Dostoevsky, still having the pleasure of being in the company of Prince Myshkov.
July 9, 2021
Full disclosure: I am something of a Dostoevsky fanatic. I will read anything by and about him. I once read a book about the books he read while writing “The brothers Karamazov”. I named my dog for one of his characters. THIS book is right up my alley and when I received an ARC from Penguin Press I squealed with delight.
This book is, as it says in the cover, about the crime that inspired Dostoevsky to write one of his absolute master pieces, it is also a book about what was going on in Dostoevsky’s life at that point and how the story of C&P evolved meanwhile.
For me, the biographical parts didn’t really hold a lot of news, I am familiar with Dostoevsky’s life events already, that said Birmingham really knows how to spin a narrative. Even knowing the details already, I was engrossed in the narrative and appreciated the focus on e.g. the condition of publishing in tsarist Russia and the people around Dostoevsky who also contributed to the intellectual climate, more so than him in some cases.
Basically, Birmingham is a really good author and knows how to pace a story and how to interweave parts that don’t obviously belong (Lacenaire, more on that later). When the book wrapped up at a very natural stopping point, I was so wrapped up in the story that I was completely stunned and fully prepared for an equally detailed continuation of the rest of Dostoevsky’s life and literary works (I am here for the sequels, in other words).
Now, to what was new to me - the Lacenaire case. It was really interesting, and though it was a bit jarring at times to jump back and forth between him and Dostoevsky, partly because Lacenaire was such a worlds-apart kind of personality, but I loved seeing this story and contemplating (not like Dostoevsky contemplating the psychology of a murderer) but the psychology of the general public who love to consume gruesome murder stories, including me. Lacenaire, and many other old cases, really prove that the “craze” for true crime content lately is not a new thing at all, people have always been nuts for these things and it is immensely fascinating, especially in the case of a “gentleman” murderer whose personality seems somehow attractive rather than appalling to people.
It was interesting to see the development of Raskolnikov next to the person of Lacenaire and consider Dostoevsky’s purpose and meaning with his own work (which I felt was highlighted in the incongruence Birmingham presented here).
All in all, the writing is accessible but beautiful in style, to the reader not familiar with Russia at the time there will be plenty of interesting information, Dostoevsky’s life is fascinating and gripping, and the true crime is like a bit of spice in the mix. A must for die hard C&P fans and a treat for the casual ones. I love seeing how regular things, like a newspaper story, can influence a creative mind and emanate into a masterpiece. It is a reminder that a brilliant mind is as contingent as the rest of us.
This will look good on my Dostoevsky shelf eventually. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press for this pre-release copy!
This book is, as it says in the cover, about the crime that inspired Dostoevsky to write one of his absolute master pieces, it is also a book about what was going on in Dostoevsky’s life at that point and how the story of C&P evolved meanwhile.
For me, the biographical parts didn’t really hold a lot of news, I am familiar with Dostoevsky’s life events already, that said Birmingham really knows how to spin a narrative. Even knowing the details already, I was engrossed in the narrative and appreciated the focus on e.g. the condition of publishing in tsarist Russia and the people around Dostoevsky who also contributed to the intellectual climate, more so than him in some cases.
Basically, Birmingham is a really good author and knows how to pace a story and how to interweave parts that don’t obviously belong (Lacenaire, more on that later). When the book wrapped up at a very natural stopping point, I was so wrapped up in the story that I was completely stunned and fully prepared for an equally detailed continuation of the rest of Dostoevsky’s life and literary works (I am here for the sequels, in other words).
Now, to what was new to me - the Lacenaire case. It was really interesting, and though it was a bit jarring at times to jump back and forth between him and Dostoevsky, partly because Lacenaire was such a worlds-apart kind of personality, but I loved seeing this story and contemplating (not like Dostoevsky contemplating the psychology of a murderer) but the psychology of the general public who love to consume gruesome murder stories, including me. Lacenaire, and many other old cases, really prove that the “craze” for true crime content lately is not a new thing at all, people have always been nuts for these things and it is immensely fascinating, especially in the case of a “gentleman” murderer whose personality seems somehow attractive rather than appalling to people.
It was interesting to see the development of Raskolnikov next to the person of Lacenaire and consider Dostoevsky’s purpose and meaning with his own work (which I felt was highlighted in the incongruence Birmingham presented here).
All in all, the writing is accessible but beautiful in style, to the reader not familiar with Russia at the time there will be plenty of interesting information, Dostoevsky’s life is fascinating and gripping, and the true crime is like a bit of spice in the mix. A must for die hard C&P fans and a treat for the casual ones. I love seeing how regular things, like a newspaper story, can influence a creative mind and emanate into a masterpiece. It is a reminder that a brilliant mind is as contingent as the rest of us.
This will look good on my Dostoevsky shelf eventually. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press for this pre-release copy!
March 13, 2022
Review of the book.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
=====
Why David Foster Wallace wants you to read Dostoevsky....
https://www.villagevoice.com/2019/07/...
"Dostoevsky isn’t just great, he’s fun. His novels almost always have just ripping good plots, lurid and involved and thoroughly dramatic. There are murders and attempted murders and police and dysfunctional-family feuding and spies and tough guys and beautiful fallen women and unctuous con men and inheritances and silky villains and scheming and whores."
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
=====
Why David Foster Wallace wants you to read Dostoevsky....
https://www.villagevoice.com/2019/07/...
"Dostoevsky isn’t just great, he’s fun. His novels almost always have just ripping good plots, lurid and involved and thoroughly dramatic. There are murders and attempted murders and police and dysfunctional-family feuding and spies and tough guys and beautiful fallen women and unctuous con men and inheritances and silky villains and scheming and whores."
March 30, 2024
This rekindled my desire to read more Dostoevsky. It is so much more than how Doestoevsky was inspired to write Crime and Punishment. Birmingham tells us of Pierre François Lacenaire, a notorious French murderer of the 1830s. Doestoevsky learned of him reading a periodical. Before the telling of Dostoevsky and how he came to write that novel, we also learn much about Russia of the time.
Tsar Nicholas I was a tyrant. His people could think and speak only one way. Europe was changing and ideas would be printed in these foreign periodicals and Russians would learn of new ideas, especially political or philosophical ideas. So Nicholas banned their import. In Russia, writers were restricted in what they could write and publishers in what they could publish. Doestoevsky wrote the wrong thing and was sent to Siberia for 4 years, followed by 5 years in the army. In Siberia, he came in close contact with criminals of all types, including those who were there for having committed murder.
I think I had known, but not really paid close attention, that Dostoevsky suffered from epilepsy. This book also focuses on how that condition affected him. As I say above, Birmingham tells us so much more than just the writing of Crime and Punishment. There is a paragraph or two about Dostoevsky's The Idiot, whose main character is afflicted with epilepsy. Again, my interest in reading Dostoevsky is rekindled.
There are parts of this book that I thought dragged a bit. Maybe "dragged" is the wrong word, but there were times when I wanted a section to be over and to get on to the next. There weren't many of these, but I did think the information packed into this book is dense and so I had to slow my way occasionally. I didn't want to slow my way!
I don't know how this title came to my attention. It might have been in one of those Kindle Daily Deals emails. In any case, I'm glad to have acquired it and to have read it. Four solid stars.
Tsar Nicholas I was a tyrant. His people could think and speak only one way. Europe was changing and ideas would be printed in these foreign periodicals and Russians would learn of new ideas, especially political or philosophical ideas. So Nicholas banned their import. In Russia, writers were restricted in what they could write and publishers in what they could publish. Doestoevsky wrote the wrong thing and was sent to Siberia for 4 years, followed by 5 years in the army. In Siberia, he came in close contact with criminals of all types, including those who were there for having committed murder.
I think I had known, but not really paid close attention, that Dostoevsky suffered from epilepsy. This book also focuses on how that condition affected him. As I say above, Birmingham tells us so much more than just the writing of Crime and Punishment. There is a paragraph or two about Dostoevsky's The Idiot, whose main character is afflicted with epilepsy. Again, my interest in reading Dostoevsky is rekindled.
There are parts of this book that I thought dragged a bit. Maybe "dragged" is the wrong word, but there were times when I wanted a section to be over and to get on to the next. There weren't many of these, but I did think the information packed into this book is dense and so I had to slow my way occasionally. I didn't want to slow my way!
I don't know how this title came to my attention. It might have been in one of those Kindle Daily Deals emails. In any case, I'm glad to have acquired it and to have read it. Four solid stars.
October 8, 2021
Crime and Punishment is a murder mystery, though the mystery isn’t who killed the pawnbroker and her sister. The mystery is why. from The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham
I was intrigued by the idea of The Sinner and the Saint, this biography/literary criticism/history/true crime book, and found it enjoyable and rewarding reading.
As a biography of Dostoyevsky, I was astonished by his life. He was plagued by poverty and ill health and epilepsy, and cheated by his publishers. He became involved with radical thinkers. He was arrested by the tsar for treason, nearly executed, and sent to Siberia where he studied criminals up close, eliciting them to share their grisly stories. The description of life in Siberia is very affecting. Russia had no prisons, and convict labor in Siberian mines fueled massive wealth.
After four years in prison, Dostoyevsky was required to serve in the Army. He and his brother then tried to run magazines, which failed. He tried gambling in a desperate bid for solvency. The tsar kept tight control with censorship of newspapers, magazines, and books, and yet Dostoyevsky wrote some of the greatest novels ever written.
Russia was in turmoil, reform movements and radicalism spurring the tsar to authoritarianism. One philosophy was to believe in nothing–nilhism. When a man who tried to assassinate the tsar was asked by the tsar what he wanted, he replied “nothing.”
The French murderer Lacenaire, unapologetic and enjoying his notoriety, inspired Dostoyevsky’s character of Raskolnikov. Lacenaire’s wealthy family lost their fortune. He was expelled from schools and hated his jobs, and took up gambling while trying to write. He adopted a philosophy of egoism and decided to become an outlaw. He had no remorse for the murders he committed and met his execution with impersonal interest.
The murderer fascinated Dostoyevsky. He decided to write a murder story from the viewpoint of the murderer. A man who kills for no reason, for nothing. He would not be a monster, he would be someone we could understand.
Dostoyevsky’s novel is about how ideas inspire and deceive, how they coil themselves around sadness and feed on bitter fruit.(…)It is about how ideas change us and how they make us more of who we already are.from The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham
I enjoyed the book on many levels: learning about Russia under the tsar and the philosophical and political ideas that arose in 19th c Russia; as a biography of Dostoyevsky; for its discussion of Russian literature; and as a vehicle to understand Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece, Crime and Punishment.
I received a free egalley from the publisher though NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
I was intrigued by the idea of The Sinner and the Saint, this biography/literary criticism/history/true crime book, and found it enjoyable and rewarding reading.
As a biography of Dostoyevsky, I was astonished by his life. He was plagued by poverty and ill health and epilepsy, and cheated by his publishers. He became involved with radical thinkers. He was arrested by the tsar for treason, nearly executed, and sent to Siberia where he studied criminals up close, eliciting them to share their grisly stories. The description of life in Siberia is very affecting. Russia had no prisons, and convict labor in Siberian mines fueled massive wealth.
After four years in prison, Dostoyevsky was required to serve in the Army. He and his brother then tried to run magazines, which failed. He tried gambling in a desperate bid for solvency. The tsar kept tight control with censorship of newspapers, magazines, and books, and yet Dostoyevsky wrote some of the greatest novels ever written.
Russia was in turmoil, reform movements and radicalism spurring the tsar to authoritarianism. One philosophy was to believe in nothing–nilhism. When a man who tried to assassinate the tsar was asked by the tsar what he wanted, he replied “nothing.”
The French murderer Lacenaire, unapologetic and enjoying his notoriety, inspired Dostoyevsky’s character of Raskolnikov. Lacenaire’s wealthy family lost their fortune. He was expelled from schools and hated his jobs, and took up gambling while trying to write. He adopted a philosophy of egoism and decided to become an outlaw. He had no remorse for the murders he committed and met his execution with impersonal interest.
The murderer fascinated Dostoyevsky. He decided to write a murder story from the viewpoint of the murderer. A man who kills for no reason, for nothing. He would not be a monster, he would be someone we could understand.
Dostoyevsky’s novel is about how ideas inspire and deceive, how they coil themselves around sadness and feed on bitter fruit.(…)It is about how ideas change us and how they make us more of who we already are.from The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham
I enjoyed the book on many levels: learning about Russia under the tsar and the philosophical and political ideas that arose in 19th c Russia; as a biography of Dostoyevsky; for its discussion of Russian literature; and as a vehicle to understand Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece, Crime and Punishment.
I received a free egalley from the publisher though NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
November 15, 2021
Dostoevsky lived a difficult and fascinating life with enough tragedy and suffering to rival some of his greatest fictional creations. His remarkable talent as a writer launched him into literary renown at an early age with the publication of his novella, Poor Folk. But the next period of his life was marked by critical failure, debt, and subversive political activity that culminated in being brought before a firing squad and then exiled to a Siberian prison camp.
The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham is a new book that chronicles the genesis of Crime and Punishment, the novel which heralded the start of Dowtoevsky’s most prodigious period of creative outpouring. It’s also the story of Pierre-François Lacenaire, an aspiring French poet whose notoriously cold-blooded murder of a man and his elderly mother for their money in 1834 gave Dostoevsky some of the details of his most well known plot (and also inspired Hugo, Stendhal, Balzac, Baudelaire, and Flaubert.)
The narrative is divided into three sections. Part I offers a few glimpses into Dostoevsky’s early life, then details his subsequent foray into fiction writing and fateful involvement with the Petrashevsky Circle, a group of literary progressives who promoted ideas of social reform that the tsar found intolerably offensive. Part II chronicles the four years he spent in Siberia as well as his subsequent return to St. Petersburg and his process of reestablishing himself as a writer in a rapidly changing Russia. Part III concerns the reactions to Crime and Punishment once it began to appear in print and provides a skillful dissection of why this novel had the impact it did and still continues to today.
Interspersed throughout are chapters about Larcenaire and the trail of criminal schemes he concocted before he was apprehended and brought to justice by the French police, although I would have gotten just as much out of this book if all the information on Lacenaire was condensed and kept to an isolated, shorter section in the beginning. That Dostoevsky was familiar with Lacenaire’s crimes and took inspiration from them to craft the psychology of his protagonist is clear, but this book is compelling enough just as a biographical work on Dostoevsky without the interweaving of details of Lacenaire’s life.
You definitely don’t need to have read Crime and Punishment to appreciate this book. In fact, I would recommend this as a great introduction for anyone who hasn’t read Dostoevsky but is interested in why his contributions to literature are held in such high regard. It’s also a gripping and fascinating history of the sociopolitical climate of Russia during the mid-19th century.
The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham is a new book that chronicles the genesis of Crime and Punishment, the novel which heralded the start of Dowtoevsky’s most prodigious period of creative outpouring. It’s also the story of Pierre-François Lacenaire, an aspiring French poet whose notoriously cold-blooded murder of a man and his elderly mother for their money in 1834 gave Dostoevsky some of the details of his most well known plot (and also inspired Hugo, Stendhal, Balzac, Baudelaire, and Flaubert.)
The narrative is divided into three sections. Part I offers a few glimpses into Dostoevsky’s early life, then details his subsequent foray into fiction writing and fateful involvement with the Petrashevsky Circle, a group of literary progressives who promoted ideas of social reform that the tsar found intolerably offensive. Part II chronicles the four years he spent in Siberia as well as his subsequent return to St. Petersburg and his process of reestablishing himself as a writer in a rapidly changing Russia. Part III concerns the reactions to Crime and Punishment once it began to appear in print and provides a skillful dissection of why this novel had the impact it did and still continues to today.
Interspersed throughout are chapters about Larcenaire and the trail of criminal schemes he concocted before he was apprehended and brought to justice by the French police, although I would have gotten just as much out of this book if all the information on Lacenaire was condensed and kept to an isolated, shorter section in the beginning. That Dostoevsky was familiar with Lacenaire’s crimes and took inspiration from them to craft the psychology of his protagonist is clear, but this book is compelling enough just as a biographical work on Dostoevsky without the interweaving of details of Lacenaire’s life.
You definitely don’t need to have read Crime and Punishment to appreciate this book. In fact, I would recommend this as a great introduction for anyone who hasn’t read Dostoevsky but is interested in why his contributions to literature are held in such high regard. It’s also a gripping and fascinating history of the sociopolitical climate of Russia during the mid-19th century.
December 7, 2023
I decided to read this in preparation for my first reading of 'Crime & Punishment'. I'm not sure if that was the best order of approach, but Birmingham's book gives wonderful insight into the inspiration behind the novel and the circumstances in which it was written. Understanding the context and history behind a novel can only increase the value of a work, so I think I will have a stronger appreciation for the novel as a result of having read Birmingham's book first. We shall soon see.
It is difficult to fully understand what Birmingham has accomplished here until I actually read the novel, but it is clearly well researched and Dostoevsky is a fascinating study. I enjoyed this one immensely. Strong four stars for now.
It is difficult to fully understand what Birmingham has accomplished here until I actually read the novel, but it is clearly well researched and Dostoevsky is a fascinating study. I enjoyed this one immensely. Strong four stars for now.
June 11, 2022
hot dosto summer is in full swing
August 15, 2023
I read Andrew Kaufman's The Gambler Wife and immediately followed it up with Kevin Birmingham's The Sinner and the Saint. There was quite a bit of overlap, especially in the passages about Fydor Mikhailovich and his second wife, Anna Grigorieva (the focus of Kaufman's book), which was interesting. The authors must have relied largely on the same sources (Anna's Reminiscences).
The Sinner and the Saint is about the genesis of Dostoevsky's reverse detective novel, Crime and Punishment. It is reversed in that the novel begins with a crime—and then chases the motive. The book provides a thorough reconstruction of Dostoevsky's process of writing the novel and of the sensational crimes committed by Pierre François Lacenaire, which partly inspired the story of Crime and Punishment.
In the end, I cannot help but feel just slightly disappointed. There is a big buildup to the publication of the novel, much of which will be known to those who are familiar with Dostoevsky's life. His dealings with the Petrashevsky Circle, his arrest and mock execution, his exile to Siberia, his gambling, and so on. This is relevant, of course, to how Crime and Punishment was conceived and shaped over time (Birmingham's commentary on how Dostoevsky considered many different scenarios for the novel and its characters, based on his notebooks, was one of the best parts of the book for me). As nice as this background is to (re)read, it left me slightly impatient at times to get to the heart of things.
When we finally arrive at the publication of the last installment of Crime and Punishment, little is said about the novel's ending. There has been a lot of crime—but what about punishment? The book ends on the double note of Lacenaire's execution and Dostoevsky's marriage to Anna Grigorievna. At least in Lacenaire's case, the punishment is clearly defined and vividly described (almost to excess). Birmingham does offer some reflection on Raskolnikov's punishment, but this feels quite meagre. I would have especially liked to see more discussion of Dostoevsky's views on punishment.
Overall, though, there is much of interest in the book; it is compelling and, dare I say, fun to read. To readers who are less familiar with Dostoevsky's life—those who haven't read Joseph Frank—the book will be more of a revelation.
The Sinner and the Saint is about the genesis of Dostoevsky's reverse detective novel, Crime and Punishment. It is reversed in that the novel begins with a crime—and then chases the motive. The book provides a thorough reconstruction of Dostoevsky's process of writing the novel and of the sensational crimes committed by Pierre François Lacenaire, which partly inspired the story of Crime and Punishment.
In the end, I cannot help but feel just slightly disappointed. There is a big buildup to the publication of the novel, much of which will be known to those who are familiar with Dostoevsky's life. His dealings with the Petrashevsky Circle, his arrest and mock execution, his exile to Siberia, his gambling, and so on. This is relevant, of course, to how Crime and Punishment was conceived and shaped over time (Birmingham's commentary on how Dostoevsky considered many different scenarios for the novel and its characters, based on his notebooks, was one of the best parts of the book for me). As nice as this background is to (re)read, it left me slightly impatient at times to get to the heart of things.
When we finally arrive at the publication of the last installment of Crime and Punishment, little is said about the novel's ending. There has been a lot of crime—but what about punishment? The book ends on the double note of Lacenaire's execution and Dostoevsky's marriage to Anna Grigorievna. At least in Lacenaire's case, the punishment is clearly defined and vividly described (almost to excess). Birmingham does offer some reflection on Raskolnikov's punishment, but this feels quite meagre. I would have especially liked to see more discussion of Dostoevsky's views on punishment.
Overall, though, there is much of interest in the book; it is compelling and, dare I say, fun to read. To readers who are less familiar with Dostoevsky's life—those who haven't read Joseph Frank—the book will be more of a revelation.
Want to read
March 23, 2022MY HOLD TIMED OUT :(
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my hold finally came through with my library and i am BUZZING with excitement!
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my hold finally came through with my library and i am BUZZING with excitement!
May 13, 2022
Well written mix of biography, literary analysis, and philosophical introspection in which I discovered more about Dostoevsky than I could ever possibly learned otherwise. On top of that, I have an urge to read (or reread) Crime and Punishment.
February 27, 2022
I'm usually a sucker for books about how books/movies/TV shows were inspired by real events and teasing out the connections between real-life stories and how they became fodder for fiction. So when I originally picked this up, I was excited but didn't get into it right away. When I *did* really start reading it, I wasn't sure if I'd made the right call or not. But I'm glad I stuck with it, because the interweaving of the stories behind "Crime and Punishment" done here is excellent.
"The Sinner and the Saint," by Kevin Birmingham, is all about how Fyodor Dostoevsky came to write one of the landmark books of literature, inspired in part by the story of a "gentleman murderer" whose crimes shocked France some thirty years before "Crime and Punishment" came to be written. Birmingham weaves together the life stories of not just Dostoevsky and the murderer in question (Pierre-Francois Lacenaire, who brutally murdered two people in 1834 Paris) but also the life story of the fictional character at the heart of "Crime and Punishment," Raskolnikov. The story comes together artfully, revealing how real life inspires fiction and how fiction can take the tawdry real-life facts of a murder case and turn them into a meditation on man's nature and the ways in which society can shape and mis-shape a human being. Dostoevsky's life story in particular is fascinating, I was only tangentially familiar with the broad outlines but never knew many of the details highlighted here, and the story of one of Russia's greatest writers is a tragedy in its own right (though the unexpected love he finds with the woman who agreed to help him shape his novel "The Gambler" and the last installments of "Crime and Punishment" is heartwarming).
No work of art is born in a vacuum, and Dostoevsky's tale of a murderer driven to madness and seeking redemption is no exception to the rule. "The Sinner and the Saint" takes us back to nineteenth century Russia and all the trials and tribulations its author faced in conceiving his story of a young man who thinks that murder will help keep him alive. And it makes me eager to possibly revisit "Crime and Punishment" itself.
"The Sinner and the Saint," by Kevin Birmingham, is all about how Fyodor Dostoevsky came to write one of the landmark books of literature, inspired in part by the story of a "gentleman murderer" whose crimes shocked France some thirty years before "Crime and Punishment" came to be written. Birmingham weaves together the life stories of not just Dostoevsky and the murderer in question (Pierre-Francois Lacenaire, who brutally murdered two people in 1834 Paris) but also the life story of the fictional character at the heart of "Crime and Punishment," Raskolnikov. The story comes together artfully, revealing how real life inspires fiction and how fiction can take the tawdry real-life facts of a murder case and turn them into a meditation on man's nature and the ways in which society can shape and mis-shape a human being. Dostoevsky's life story in particular is fascinating, I was only tangentially familiar with the broad outlines but never knew many of the details highlighted here, and the story of one of Russia's greatest writers is a tragedy in its own right (though the unexpected love he finds with the woman who agreed to help him shape his novel "The Gambler" and the last installments of "Crime and Punishment" is heartwarming).
No work of art is born in a vacuum, and Dostoevsky's tale of a murderer driven to madness and seeking redemption is no exception to the rule. "The Sinner and the Saint" takes us back to nineteenth century Russia and all the trials and tribulations its author faced in conceiving his story of a young man who thinks that murder will help keep him alive. And it makes me eager to possibly revisit "Crime and Punishment" itself.
January 13, 2023
What a great book!
This time last year I had said the same four little words aloud on turning the last pages of Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. What a fabulous book that was. At that time I didn’t write a ‘review’. I didn’t even gather my thoughts together as they were so many and so disjointed.
This wonderful book has had the effect upon those thoughts of bringing them slowly back up to a simmer and they are furiously boiling now in the saucepan of my brain.
But there are ordinary readers and there are extraordinary ones, the latter may be able to assemble those thoughts into fabulous paragraphs and coherent essays and some particularly extraordinary Napoleon-like readers will compose books like this one,; the former however are those that read for the experience of this journey with these pages and for the pleasure of those bubbling thoughts and are content to just wallow in the after glow of this joyful reading experience.
This brilliant book has brought me back to Dostoevsky’s masterpiece, it has made me relive its story, it has made me see it through intelligent insightful eyes, it has made me love it all over again.
It has also taken me on a journey through some of the most harrowing years of an authors life; and introduced me to the real life French man Pierre-Francois Lacenaire who partly inspired the amazing creation that is Raskolnikov. But perhaps most importantly of all and this is truly a testament to the greatness of The Sinner And The Saint, it has made me crave to spend more time with the words of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Last year I also read and enjoyed The Idiot; which titles will I reach for this year I wonder.
4.5 stars but I have to round it up to 5.
May 14, 2022
This book was very engagingly written and I enjoyed the reading process. I learned a lot about Dostoyevsky’s life. In fact, we don’t get the story of him writing Crime and Punishment until about 2/3 of the way through. I think it’s important to include Dostoyevsky’s earlier life, because it explains a lot of the influencing factors in his writing.
However, I have a few beefs that took some enjoyment out for me. A big one was the fact that the title’s claim (how a specific murderer inspired Crime and Punishment) was essentially falsified by the author’s exploration of Dostoyevsky’s life and process of writing his novel. Maybe that had some influence, but it’s clear that it wasn’t a main influence at all. Another is that the author’s conclusions as to Raskolnikov’s motivations in murdering, as well as Dostoyevsky’s motivations in writing Crime and Punishment(and the point the novel was making), didn’t line up with my understanding of the novel at all. The author doesn’t address Dostoyevsky’s religious beliefs all that much (though he did an excellent job of diving into nihilism and utilitarianism) and I think that omission really affected his interpretations and understanding of Dostoyevsky’s work.
However, I have a few beefs that took some enjoyment out for me. A big one was the fact that the title’s claim (how a specific murderer inspired Crime and Punishment) was essentially falsified by the author’s exploration of Dostoyevsky’s life and process of writing his novel. Maybe that had some influence, but it’s clear that it wasn’t a main influence at all. Another is that the author’s conclusions as to Raskolnikov’s motivations in murdering, as well as Dostoyevsky’s motivations in writing Crime and Punishment(and the point the novel was making), didn’t line up with my understanding of the novel at all. The author doesn’t address Dostoyevsky’s religious beliefs all that much (though he did an excellent job of diving into nihilism and utilitarianism) and I think that omission really affected his interpretations and understanding of Dostoyevsky’s work.
January 16, 2022
An accessible and compelling look at Dostoevsky's early life, times and the circumstances that brought about his masterpiece, "Crime and Punishment".
Birmingham's research and writing lays bare the extraordinary historical literary constraints of Russia at the time, and the straightened situation that Dostoevsky found himself in, in the lead up to penning this classic. Some of the facts that Birmingham shares (Russia had little or no literary tradition before early/mid 19th century, also had no formal legal code until the 1830s) left me simply slack-jawed with astonishment.
An absolutely fascinating book from beginning to end.
Birmingham's research and writing lays bare the extraordinary historical literary constraints of Russia at the time, and the straightened situation that Dostoevsky found himself in, in the lead up to penning this classic. Some of the facts that Birmingham shares (Russia had little or no literary tradition before early/mid 19th century, also had no formal legal code until the 1830s) left me simply slack-jawed with astonishment.
An absolutely fascinating book from beginning to end.
June 28, 2025
A book about the writing of one of my favorite books, Crime and Punishment. This book would likely be a total drag for many folks, but given my niche interest in 19th century Russian thought, the simple fact that it exists is too good to be true.
Here’s my best attempt at succinctly explaining why I found this book riveting:
We live in a weird moment where we simultaneously talk as if our political enemies might commit mass murder and we look at the worst things humans have ever done and believe, “that could never be me/us”. I think both of those ideas are generally pretty silly. We actually do still have the capacity to commit mass atrocities bc we are not morally superior to our ancestors, but what could actually lead us there? What beliefs actually have historically led to atrocities on a scale we haven’t seen in the West for almost a century?
Well to find out, we ought to consider the most murderous regimes in history: 19th century Russia, China, and Germany.
Germany is its own beast, best understood through a blend of fascist politics and Nietzschean thought.
China and Russia both murdered far more innocents than Germany though. So how did they get there? To understand what they did in the 20th century, we ought to understand how they thought in the 19th century. And nobody (in my opinion) had a clearer view of Russian thought and its eventual consequences than Dostoyevsky.
Crime and Punishment is a story about a lot of things, so it feels foolish to try to boil it down, but if I had to, I’d say it is about what happens to a human who has lost any sense of objectivity or accountability to anything outside of himself. The true consequences of a descent into Nihilism, and the repercussions of adopting such a worldview.
So I read C&P years ago and ate it up for this reason: I am pretty obsessed with understanding what could be in the Soviet air around 1900 that would permit the murder of nearly 1 million humans a year for the next 50 years.
This book was like a 400 page essay on that exact idea. And it was also biographical of both Dostoyevsky and the dude who inspired C&P. Basically just overall so neat.
Here’s my best attempt at succinctly explaining why I found this book riveting:
We live in a weird moment where we simultaneously talk as if our political enemies might commit mass murder and we look at the worst things humans have ever done and believe, “that could never be me/us”. I think both of those ideas are generally pretty silly. We actually do still have the capacity to commit mass atrocities bc we are not morally superior to our ancestors, but what could actually lead us there? What beliefs actually have historically led to atrocities on a scale we haven’t seen in the West for almost a century?
Well to find out, we ought to consider the most murderous regimes in history: 19th century Russia, China, and Germany.
Germany is its own beast, best understood through a blend of fascist politics and Nietzschean thought.
China and Russia both murdered far more innocents than Germany though. So how did they get there? To understand what they did in the 20th century, we ought to understand how they thought in the 19th century. And nobody (in my opinion) had a clearer view of Russian thought and its eventual consequences than Dostoyevsky.
Crime and Punishment is a story about a lot of things, so it feels foolish to try to boil it down, but if I had to, I’d say it is about what happens to a human who has lost any sense of objectivity or accountability to anything outside of himself. The true consequences of a descent into Nihilism, and the repercussions of adopting such a worldview.
So I read C&P years ago and ate it up for this reason: I am pretty obsessed with understanding what could be in the Soviet air around 1900 that would permit the murder of nearly 1 million humans a year for the next 50 years.
This book was like a 400 page essay on that exact idea. And it was also biographical of both Dostoyevsky and the dude who inspired C&P. Basically just overall so neat.
March 29, 2022
As a long-standing admirer of Dostoyevsky (My favourite is 'The Idiot'), I chose to read Birmingham's analysis of the creation of 'Crime and Punishment ' to get a little more insight into the working methods of - and influences on - this most fascinating of 19th century authors. It certainly does the job, and more besides!
As well as serving as a very accomplished and clear biography of Dostoyevsky up to the completion of 'Crime and Punishment ', this book also narrates the fascinating story of Parisian murderer, Lacenaire, and his connection with the development of Raskolnikov, the hero of the novel. Linked to this, we are given a clear insight into the criminal justice system of early 19th century France, as well as a brilliantly written summary of literary and philosophical movements in mid- 19th century St Petersburg. Finally, the author describes the design and character of Petersburg and the rigid peculiarities of society in Tsarist Russia against which many critics, authors and philosophers railed. If this sounds like a rather tangled set of themes, Birmingham deserves huge credit for organising each thread so that they weave together in a completely complementary way.
A fantastic book which I would recommend to any student of 19th century literature, philosophy or Russian and French society!
As well as serving as a very accomplished and clear biography of Dostoyevsky up to the completion of 'Crime and Punishment ', this book also narrates the fascinating story of Parisian murderer, Lacenaire, and his connection with the development of Raskolnikov, the hero of the novel. Linked to this, we are given a clear insight into the criminal justice system of early 19th century France, as well as a brilliantly written summary of literary and philosophical movements in mid- 19th century St Petersburg. Finally, the author describes the design and character of Petersburg and the rigid peculiarities of society in Tsarist Russia against which many critics, authors and philosophers railed. If this sounds like a rather tangled set of themes, Birmingham deserves huge credit for organising each thread so that they weave together in a completely complementary way.
A fantastic book which I would recommend to any student of 19th century literature, philosophy or Russian and French society!
January 10, 2022
I really couldn’t get enough of this one. My only wish was that it was longer.
June 5, 2023
This is a conceptually interesting book, but I don't think the two parts quite fit together -- ultimately, the section on Dostoevsky seems to suggest that the "Gentleman Murderer" contributed to the conception of "Crime and Punishment, but Birmingham makes clear that there were a lot of other factors that contributed to making C&P the masterpiece it is. Reading this book inevitably makes one want to read or re-read C&P (and other works by Dostoevsky, so for that alone I am grateful. Birmingham is particularly strong on presenting the intellectual/philosophical/political elements that were the context in which Dostoevsky was creating.
December 23, 2021
Read as a great little biography of Dostoevsky, and the writing was pretty compelling. I knew some bits about his life, but I was on the edge of my seat grimacing over Dostoevsky gambling to try to make enough money to pay off his debts. Rooting for this guy was giving me so much anxiety!
December 2, 2021
The fascinating story behind the creation of Crime and Punishment.
May 31, 2022
I read Crime and Punishment at the urging of a student who wanted someone to talk with him about the novel. I was surprised by how vivid it was, how the scenes between our murderer and the police inspector read like a scene from Law and Order.
So, I approached this biography with enthusiasm...I got more than I bargained for...in a good way and bad.
The novel may have been inspired by a couple of true stories...Dostoevsky's years in a Gulag in Siberia, living in close proximity with murderers, one of whom killed Dostoevsky's dog to line their boots; and a true-crime story of an axe murderer in Paris, whose story was horrifically fascinating.
The biographical details of Dostoevsky's life were grim: falling in with the wrong crowd, being arrested, nearly executed, sent to Siberia, developing epilepsy, suffering from compulsive gambling issues, living pennilessly, and trying to create art. To me, the political connections of the literary crowd surrounding Dostoevsky bogged down the two, and then three, narratives, and I found those sections tedious.
Three narrative threads...Dostoevsky's life, Lancenaire's (the French murderer), and C&P...give us views into the minds of creative, brilliant, men on the edge and over the edge of insanity.
As a teacher, the most compelling narrative was the creation of Raskolnikov and Dostoevsky's feverish notes (Oh, to see them, even tho I wouldn't be able to read them), and Dostoevsky's race to finish the book, AND another, to keep creditors from artistically enslaving him for years.
I have so very much more I could talk to my student about the novel now...
So, I approached this biography with enthusiasm...I got more than I bargained for...in a good way and bad.
The novel may have been inspired by a couple of true stories...Dostoevsky's years in a Gulag in Siberia, living in close proximity with murderers, one of whom killed Dostoevsky's dog to line their boots; and a true-crime story of an axe murderer in Paris, whose story was horrifically fascinating.
The biographical details of Dostoevsky's life were grim: falling in with the wrong crowd, being arrested, nearly executed, sent to Siberia, developing epilepsy, suffering from compulsive gambling issues, living pennilessly, and trying to create art. To me, the political connections of the literary crowd surrounding Dostoevsky bogged down the two, and then three, narratives, and I found those sections tedious.
Three narrative threads...Dostoevsky's life, Lancenaire's (the French murderer), and C&P...give us views into the minds of creative, brilliant, men on the edge and over the edge of insanity.
As a teacher, the most compelling narrative was the creation of Raskolnikov and Dostoevsky's feverish notes (Oh, to see them, even tho I wouldn't be able to read them), and Dostoevsky's race to finish the book, AND another, to keep creditors from artistically enslaving him for years.
I have so very much more I could talk to my student about the novel now...
March 3, 2022
To have the opportunity to bear witness to the critical years of one mankind's greatest authors during the creation of one of the single most substantive works of literature of all time is an experience of not only the mind, but, the soul. Within the pages of The Sinner and the Saint, author Kevin Birmingham practically transports the reader to mid 19th century Russia during the reign of the tsars. The in-depth research and attention to every detail that Birmingham brings to his book gives an almost real time eyewitness account of Dostoevsky during the critical decade leading up to and including the writing of Crime and Punishment. The reader is bombarded by descriptive elaborations on everything from Dostoevsky's political views, to his poor health, gambling addiction, social distresses, and relationship woes. I feel that a true understanding as well as appreciation for Dostoevsky and all of his works is significantly enhanced by a reading of The Sinner and the Saint.
May 24, 2025
4.75 stars
I had yet to read bathing resembling a memoir of Dostoevsky because I wanted to avoid spoilers for any of the books of his I hadn’t yet read. Now I’ve read so much of his work, I felt I could finally listen to at least this one in particular!
Crime and Punishment is my favorite book of all time, and having all of this added context was nothing short of illuminating. How anyone could survive years of penal servitude in Siberia without being entirely broken is beyond me. And yet Dostoevsky’s drive to learn and write even in such dire circumstances was so strong.
This was such an excellent way to add intrigue and insight to the man behind my favorite work of literature.
I had yet to read bathing resembling a memoir of Dostoevsky because I wanted to avoid spoilers for any of the books of his I hadn’t yet read. Now I’ve read so much of his work, I felt I could finally listen to at least this one in particular!
Crime and Punishment is my favorite book of all time, and having all of this added context was nothing short of illuminating. How anyone could survive years of penal servitude in Siberia without being entirely broken is beyond me. And yet Dostoevsky’s drive to learn and write even in such dire circumstances was so strong.
This was such an excellent way to add intrigue and insight to the man behind my favorite work of literature.
December 5, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a great peek into Dostoevsky’s life as he wrote one of my favorite high school English books, Crime and Punishment. I did not know or remember a lot about Dostoevsky so it was fun to revisit the book. It was also rather interesting to learn that he was inspired by Lacenaire’s infamous murder for his own novel. Overall, I enjoyed the book, even though I felt like it could have been edited down quite a bit.
This book was a great peek into Dostoevsky’s life as he wrote one of my favorite high school English books, Crime and Punishment. I did not know or remember a lot about Dostoevsky so it was fun to revisit the book. It was also rather interesting to learn that he was inspired by Lacenaire’s infamous murder for his own novel. Overall, I enjoyed the book, even though I felt like it could have been edited down quite a bit.
August 11, 2025
A masterful homage to Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment, The Sinner and the Saint captures both the pulse of history and the intimacy of biography. Mr. Birmingham’s deft interweaving of past and present transforms real events into a narrative as gripping as fiction. Rich in detail and alive with moral tension, it is a work that will speak deeply to every devotee of Raskolnikov and to anyone fascinated by the making of a literary masterpiece.
August 19, 2022
I loved this book and look forward to re-reading Crime and Punishment with all of this new information in mind. This is a nice biography (through the publication of C&P anyway) along with a good overview of the tumult in Russian society at this time (1840’s - 1860’s) as Europe seethed with revolutions and Russian society was shaken to the core with attempts on the life of the Tsar, the freeing of the serfs, etc. At the same time, we get a look at the case of an educated French murderer whose crimes inspired Dostoevsky’s insights into the then current nihilism and his vision of murder in service of literally nothing.
I love Dostoevsky, so this may have meant more to me than it would for others, but if you are interested in him or any of his books I’m sure this will be well worth your time.
I love Dostoevsky, so this may have meant more to me than it would for others, but if you are interested in him or any of his books I’m sure this will be well worth your time.
August 13, 2024
I read Crime and Punishment a couple years back, and while I enjoyed it, I certainly felt I couldn't completely understand the material. Why did Raskolnikov want to kill the pawnbroker? Why did he want to emulate Napoleon? What drove him to turn himself in?
I was initially apprehensive about going into this book, as some non-fiction I've encountered in the past use too much technical terminology for someone like me to understand properly, but I'm happy to say I had no such issues! I think just about anyone can go into this book and understand the book perfectly fine.
That being said, I think this covers requisite Russian history, Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky's famous work, and the inspiration behind said work very well, and I feel I understand the work significantly better. My only complaint might be that the ending felt abrupt and a little strange. If I were the editor, I might have recommended some rewording or elaboration at the end of the book. Otherwise, it was a very interesting read.
I was initially apprehensive about going into this book, as some non-fiction I've encountered in the past use too much technical terminology for someone like me to understand properly, but I'm happy to say I had no such issues! I think just about anyone can go into this book and understand the book perfectly fine.
That being said, I think this covers requisite Russian history, Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky's famous work, and the inspiration behind said work very well, and I feel I understand the work significantly better. My only complaint might be that the ending felt abrupt and a little strange. If I were the editor, I might have recommended some rewording or elaboration at the end of the book. Otherwise, it was a very interesting read.
November 6, 2024
An enthralling dive into how Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote ‘Crime and Punishment.’ It outlines his life and work during the time of the novel’s creation, and the parts of the life of a French gentleman murderer who inspired part of the plot and the character of Raskolnikov. A wonderful read!
December 8, 2021
Fascinating and enthralling. One of the best reads of the year comes in at the eleventh hour.
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