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Amazon.co.uk Review
"For those who have vision and the courage to follow it, there is no law and no crime and no punishment, only a revaluation of all values." So declares Rodya Raskolnikov the young Russian intellectual living in ugly poverty. In order to eat, he is forced to pawn precious possessions for a few roubles to the greedy "cockroach", Alyona. If he kills her, Rodya argues, he commits no crime: rather he will rid the world of a "filthy insect", just like one of the cockroaches the listener can hear being crushed beneath his boots. As Alyona examines Rodya's silver cigarette case, he brings his axe down upon her with the horrifying sound of steel hitting human flesh. Despite this not being a crime, Rodya suffers fearful guilt--and inevitable punishment. It is Sonya, the abused young woman forced into prostitution by her drunken father, who holds the power of Rodya's redemption. Dramatisation is a superb vehicle for this tense psychological masterpiece and the performances are powerful: the baiting of Rodya by Jim Norton as Petrovich, the police officer who suspects Rodya's guilt, is chilling; while Barnaby Kay skilfully conveys Rodya's duality as his human conscience, breathless with panic, argues with his controlled and truculent intellect. --Running time approx 2 hours 50 minutes--Rachel Redford
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Reaches as close to Dostoevsky s Russian as is possible in English...The original s force and frightening immediacy is captured...The Pevear and Volokhonsky translation will become the standard English version. --Chicago Tribune
This fresh, new translation...provides a more exact, idiomatic, and contemporary rendition of the novel that brings Fyodor Dostoevsky s tale achingly alive...It succeeds beautifully --San Francisco Chronicle --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
This fresh, new translation...provides a more exact, idiomatic, and contemporary rendition of the novel that brings Fyodor Dostoevsky s tale achingly alive...It succeeds beautifully --San Francisco Chronicle --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Undoubtedly this is a remarkable book and not at all what I was expecting as I first picked it up. I would recommend that the reader cast aside any preconceived ideas about this author and about the mid-Victorian era in which his story takes place, because this book really does have a very modern feel and a very accessible and easy prose and dialogue.
The reader first joins the tale as the morose, dejected down-and-out and former student Raskolnikov contemplates, and is inexorably drawn towards and fixated by the idea of, murdering an old lady pawnbroker with whom he has had business. It only becomes clear later exactly why he did so, and even then his justifications are misguided and muddled in his own mind and essentially some flight of fancy about the permissibility of any behaviour for the greater good - a means to an end, as it were.
But what is most fascinating is not the crime itself or the murderer's fate, but how his crime then comes to obsess him until he can stand it no longer and has been defeated by his own inner struggle with his conscience, which has been forever tormenting him. The dual between Porfiry Petrovich, the police investigator, and Raskolnikov and the mind games and double bluffs that are played on both sides as our antihero tries to evade detection is particularly intriguing. The suspense is palpable.
All in all this is a pretty bleak tale of suffering and a heart-rending one at that. But there is not just introspection, self-examination and 'philosophising' here, but also action, suspense, pathos and genuine sorrow in the ending, which managed to be profound without being sentimental or melodramatic.
The reader first joins the tale as the morose, dejected down-and-out and former student Raskolnikov contemplates, and is inexorably drawn towards and fixated by the idea of, murdering an old lady pawnbroker with whom he has had business. It only becomes clear later exactly why he did so, and even then his justifications are misguided and muddled in his own mind and essentially some flight of fancy about the permissibility of any behaviour for the greater good - a means to an end, as it were.
But what is most fascinating is not the crime itself or the murderer's fate, but how his crime then comes to obsess him until he can stand it no longer and has been defeated by his own inner struggle with his conscience, which has been forever tormenting him. The dual between Porfiry Petrovich, the police investigator, and Raskolnikov and the mind games and double bluffs that are played on both sides as our antihero tries to evade detection is particularly intriguing. The suspense is palpable.
All in all this is a pretty bleak tale of suffering and a heart-rending one at that. But there is not just introspection, self-examination and 'philosophising' here, but also action, suspense, pathos and genuine sorrow in the ending, which managed to be profound without being sentimental or melodramatic.
75 of 77 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you are reading this it is becuase you really can't make up your mind whether to download it or not. Its free, so why not give it a go...you know you want to. This has been going up and down in the download charts of this catergory so lots of people must already have downloaded it, also back when the Big Read was running this was one of the titles that got in the top 100.
This is the Constance Garnett translation, which is probably the most read tanslation of this book; although not my ultimate favourite translation there is not anything wrong with this. If you are studying this for a course then you will have to check with your teacher which they consider the most accurate. Constance Garnett has come in for criticism over the years because she did miss things out and gloss over others, however she did reproduce something that is easily understood, readable and enjoyable into the English language, and in keeping with the actual story. Dostoevsky pushed the bounds of the Russian language to some extent so translating him is never an easy task and even some more modern translators have used her work to help with their own.
Of all Dostoevsky's major works this is probably the easiest one to read and that is why it has become so popular. The story is relatively simple in outline. Our anti-hero decides to commit a crime and this follows him through the planning, the execution, and the aftermath. 'Simples' I hear you say, any Tom, Dick or Harry could write that. It is the whole execution of the novel though that holds you entranced. Delving deep into the psyche Dostoevsky produced here something that can never be replicated as you go through what our anti-hero, Raskolnikov feels and thinks.
Truly what Shakespeare was to the play, Dostoevsky was to the novel, so even if you only ever read one of his novels then try this one. As I've said, it is the easiest major work of his to read, plus it is free.
This is the Constance Garnett translation, which is probably the most read tanslation of this book; although not my ultimate favourite translation there is not anything wrong with this. If you are studying this for a course then you will have to check with your teacher which they consider the most accurate. Constance Garnett has come in for criticism over the years because she did miss things out and gloss over others, however she did reproduce something that is easily understood, readable and enjoyable into the English language, and in keeping with the actual story. Dostoevsky pushed the bounds of the Russian language to some extent so translating him is never an easy task and even some more modern translators have used her work to help with their own.
Of all Dostoevsky's major works this is probably the easiest one to read and that is why it has become so popular. The story is relatively simple in outline. Our anti-hero decides to commit a crime and this follows him through the planning, the execution, and the aftermath. 'Simples' I hear you say, any Tom, Dick or Harry could write that. It is the whole execution of the novel though that holds you entranced. Delving deep into the psyche Dostoevsky produced here something that can never be replicated as you go through what our anti-hero, Raskolnikov feels and thinks.
Truly what Shakespeare was to the play, Dostoevsky was to the novel, so even if you only ever read one of his novels then try this one. As I've said, it is the easiest major work of his to read, plus it is free.
73 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read the Wordsworth Classics translation of Crime and Punishment when I was 16 and thought it was awful. I could not understand why this book was considered such a masterpiece. Afterwards I read the Penguin translation by David McDuff. It was much better. A good read, and I realised the importance of a good translation. Then I came across the Vintage edition by Richard Pevear. Its brilliant!! By far the best. The Penguin edition by comparison is stitled, unfluent, and the language is quite dated. Pevear's translation reads like a modern novel, and you feel the passion, the darkness, the cerebral torments of Dostoevsky's characters. Its impossible to hype this book enough. It is quite simply one of the greatest novels ever written and this translation does it justice. Most bookstores will have numerous copies of the Penguin edition. Ignore it, and get hold of the Vintage one. Its miles better!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
unreadable
I found this book unreadable largely due to the translation: I did not feel I was reading Dostoesvsky. Read more
Published 3 days ago by John Benn
Consider getting the newer translated version
The one with the red cover with a skull and cross on it.
I really wanted to read this book and ended up buying the 'classic' version. Read more
I really wanted to read this book and ended up buying the 'classic' version. Read more
Published 12 days ago by neko83
Great Product
No problems, arrived on time and very cheap compared to other books. Page and print quality is fine. If you just want to read the book then it is fine. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Sita
Not a clue
A guy murders two women, mopes around for a bit then gives himself up and goes to prison. This fairly flimsy premise is padded out by pages of interminable conversations that have... Read more
Published 25 days ago by The Book Reader
Great book
After reading this book in Russian as a teen, I have decided to read it again in English. It is a classic Dostoevsky, well written and once you start it, you can't put it down.
Published 1 month ago by Olga
Crime and Punishment
Unlike the title, the book, which I have been meaning to read for a long time, is a good read . Fortunately Kindle makes this an easy option
Published 1 month ago by DJC
Classic book but dodgy kindle formatting
There is very little else I can add in praise of this stunning novel, which is regarded as one of the greatest classics of literature, and the Vintage Classics version, translated... Read more
Published 2 months ago by J Wesley
I'm afraid I can only give it one star
This is just not literature! It's a good attempt, undoubtedly, and on the right track, and had the author have lived longer he may well have written something of lasting value. Read more
Published 2 months ago by wendy jones
too long winded
if your looking for a book on the psychology of the human conscience this is the one for you.I found it heavy going in places and as a consequence it took me a while to finish... Read more
Published 2 months ago by katannmandu
Truly a Masterpiece
As other reviewers have commented, this truly is a remarkable masterpiece of literature. A good translation is, of course, important but I had an outdated translation and still... Read more
Published 4 months ago by B. L. Gillgan
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