Just Literature discussion

Having only gotten a little over half way through the novel, I cannot say for certain what the punishment is. But I am not entirely sure Raskolnikov committed any crime. I am beginning to think that he either imagined that he killed Alyona Ivanovna and Lizaveta; or he witnessed their murders and projected himself into the role of the murderer. Raskolnikov is so far gone mentally and physically, I do not know that I should believe anything he does. Dostoyevsky is a master at creating this sense of bewilderment. With his long list of nearly unpronounceable characters, whom he weaves in and out of Raskolnikov's life seamlessly, he creates a complex web of a story. I cannot wait to finish this novel (though I unfortunately had to put it on hold because I had to start reading other classics such as V by Thomas Pynchon and The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James for a class I am taking in the fall).

Tyler wrote: "Having only gotten a little over half way through the novel, I cannot say for certain what the punishment is. But I am not entirely sure Raskolnikov committed any crime. I am beginning to think t..."

I think that's one of the great beauties of the novel; it challenges our concept of reality, or at least, our certainty of reality...

I have finally finished Crime and Punishment and I have to say that it is probably the best novel I have ever read. Dostoyevsky's writing is incredibly rich and descriptive. I could see and feel and smell and touch and hear everything going on in the story. St. Petersberg comes to life in his hands. This, above all, is a psychological novel. It is not so much about the actual crime and the actual punishment. It is about the crime and the punishment of the mind; of the soul. An amazing novel. That is all I can say.