Crime and Punishment

[Colinsign]

I am reading Crime and Punishment at the moment!!

How repugnant it is! But, I am to a certian extent engrossed by it…so far every page is layered with puuure decadence and the grease of sin! A morbid book, of morbid facsination, I could tell almost instantly that Dostoevsky himself was a cruel man! it just seems to emit from the very pages and entire tone…

I have onl reached part two - Raskolnikov has just killed Alena Ivanonva, and unpremediated, killed Lizzeta! The book is intense - in inner dialogue is pretty gruelling! It is an interesting dissection of MORALITY.

“It is moral to kill someone who is immoral” - rang to mind…

But the vileness of the chracter of Raskolnikov…and the dream where a horse is being wiped and beaten by its owner and a druken crowd, whipped even over its eyes…This is a dark little disease of a book…it goes to the dark places…it actually explainsa lot about Russia…a place i have always felt never really “fit into the world”. if that makes sense…perhaps i should explain myself further…

[The_Underground_Man]

I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read this. Raskolnikov is awsome, he is one of the best characters in literature that I’ve ever come across.

When I read the book I was rather horrified at how Dostoevsky seemed to have reached into my soul and expressed what I should have been expressing. Perhaps, one can only understand the darkness, if one is on more or less the same level that Raskolnikov is on – I certainly dwell in those depths.

In fact, nothing horrifies me or suprises me about Raskolnikov; he makes perfect sense until the very end of the novel – which I of course will not spoil, though, judging from your post, who knows, you may actually like Dosteovsky’s conclusion. By the way, the protagonist in Notes From the Underground is far darker than Raskolnikov, and it is a far shorter book.

I think, there is something really noble within Raskolnikov if one looks deep enough. Beautiful I think as well.

it goes to the dark places…it actually explainsa lot about Russia…a place i have always felt never really “fit into the world”. if that makes sense…perhaps i should explain myself further…

Now that I would like to hear – please do explain. There is . . . a feeling I sometimes get that I think only a Russian can truly understand; perhaps, it is something like a chizled piece of ice that sits somewhere deep within the Russian heart, or it is a certain insidious look one can give of when looking in a mirror, or when condescending to an inferior specimen.

Dostoevksy certainly captured the darkness of the human soul, not just the Russian soul though. Actually, I would maintian that his insights are rather universal, however, Tolstoy certainly showed some great aspects of Russia, and the Russian soul, as well. And even Dostoevsky isn’t as dark as some of his major works make him out to be – consider “White Nights,” a romantic short story of his, as an example.

[Colinsign]

@The Underground Man

I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read this. Raskolnikov is awsome, he is one of the best characters in literature that I’ve ever come across.

Colin: The more I read the more I agree with you…He is a GREAT chracter! Mischiefous, dispicable…and therefore, honest? He does reach into a human chunk of the human spirit i.e. human psychology!

When I read the book I was rather horrified at how Dostoevsky seemed to have reached into my soul and expressed what I should have been expressing. Perhaps, one can only understand the darkness, if one is on more or less the same level that Raskolnikov is on – I certainly dwell in those depths.

Colin: I am not necessarily horrified by it…just the intensity of the oppression in the book…like Dantes inferno…or a mad house…the immortal immoral…

In fact, nothing horrifies me or suprises me about Raskolnikov; he makes perfect sense until the very end of the novel – which I of course not will not spoil, though, judging from your post, who knows, you may actually like Dosteovsky’s conclusion. By the way, the protagonist in Notes From the Underground is far darker than Raskolnikov, and it is a far shorter book.

Colin: I have read “Notes from Underground” and The Double" once again it had the trademark blackness over everything! Dostoevsky sure knows hwo to confront the human SHADOW. at times “Notes from Underground” reads like puure psychology!

I think, there is something really noble within Raskolnikov if one looks deep enough. Beautiful I think as well.

Colin: There is a nobility. The moral “grey area of Raskolnikov…” The grey area of immorality and morality…Raskolnikov embodies the contradictions…“beyond good and evil” sort of thing…

Now that I would like to hear – please do explain. There is . . . a feeling I sometimes get that I think only a Russian can truly understand; perhaps, it is something like a chizled piece of ice that sits somewhere deep within the Russian heart, or it is a certain dark look one can give when looking in a mirror, or when condensending at an inferior specimen.

Colin: There is, for sure, universla message in Crime and Punishment…but it goes to the heart of Russia to! I have always felt that Russia by degree hada kind of “moral hardness” or, dare I say, a “strength for immorality” not just shown in both World Wars…but also in their culture…in their acceptance of “the shadow”! I think it has a lot to do with the terrian in Russia…the landscape reflecting the mindscape if you like…Harsh conditions allow people to accept harsh realities…

Dostoevksy certainly captured the darkness of the human soul, not just the Russian though. Actually, I would maintian that his insights are rather universal, however, Tolstoy certainly showed some great aspects of Russia, and the Russian soul, as well. And even Dostoevsky isn’t as dark as some of his major works make him out to be – consider “White Nights,” a romantic short story of his, as an example.

Colin: I will find this short story and give it a read…Dostoevsky is keeping my interest steadfast…