Started Crime and Punishment recently

jimmurt

A friend of mine who is a regular reader like myself was raving about this classic so I started reading it about 2 weeks ago.

After the first two chapters I found I wasn´t really enjoying it so I said I´d give it another 100 or so pages to get into it.

I´m on page 105 and finding that I have to nearly force myself to read a few pages every day.

Has anyone else felt this way about it? It´s really well written and obviously has a lot of themes but for me reading is a hobby and something I should enjoy.

Does it get any better or should I just ditch it now? :pac:

Would be good to hear thoughts from fans and people like myself.

Arghus

I've tried to read Crime and Punishment several times during the years but I've never got beyond page 200 or so. I was never grabbed by the story and the manner in which every action by a character is agonized and scrutinized over and over and over again was, well, agonizing for me to read through. I had much the same problem when I also attempted to read The Idiot. Though I did manage to finish The Brothers Karamazov and Notes From The Underground.

I can't dispute that Dostoevsky is one of the greats and his ability to put you in the place physically and mentally of characters suffering all manner of emotional and spiritual distress is one of his unique artistic strengths, but it sure doesn't make him easy or fun to actually read.

I actually found Tolstoy far more enjoyable. Different writer of course, but I can't mention one without the other! War and Peace might be beyond huge, but it has a narrative drive and an epic sweep, which I found engrossing. Anna Karenina is also a mammoth undertaking, but it still feels fresh. A good place to start with him if you don't feel ready to commit to an epic is The Death of Ivan Illyich - it's pretty short, but really good. Dostoevsky seemed to write about madness and suffering from a place of madness and suffering, which is why his work has such intensity and merit, but it doesn't lend itself to readability. Tolstoy had a more detached and ironic style, focusing more on the big picture than on the individual and in his own way is just as downbeat and pessimistic as Dostoevsky can be, but will keep you engaged.

buck65

One of my favourite books is Crime and Punishment. Persevere.

Harry Angstrom

It doesn't get any better. Crime and Punishment was originally published in a periodical magazine, and it reads as if Dostoyevsky gave it plenty of padding, considering it was originally meant to be a novella. The conversations between Raskolnikov and Porfiry become tiresome and contrived, and you find yourself wishing that he'd just confess to the murders and be done with it (and it seems as if he never shows much regret for the killing of the pawn-broker's innocent sister).
Perhaps it's a masterpiece in its original Russian, but I found myself wanting to finish it as quickly as possible.

July_happygirl

Dostoyevsky shouldn't be a pleasant or an easy reading. If you don't know what to call it, you definitely know what it isn't - a light book for an enjoyable evening.
I agree with Arghus that Tolstoy is livelier. And of all the Russian classics, I personally enjoy Chekhov the most. Cherry orchard can be quite an undertaking for the first time, so I suggest some short stories book. It's light and lovely and gives a good insight into characters' understanding of morals and life.

Sonas55

definitely Dostoyevsky is not something you want to read after a day's work to relax. I didn't have a heart to finish it either, but i watched the old Soviet movie adaptation, and it is really great. So if you are still interested what happens there you should check it out