Rodion Raskolnikov is a former law student living in a cramped garret in the poorest quarter of St Petersburg. Proud, feverish and penniless, he has persuaded himself that extraordinary people have the right to overstep moral law for a higher purpose, and he plans to prove it by killing an old pawnbroker whom he regards as worthless.
The murder is revealed early, and the novel's suspense lies in what follows: Raskolnikov's mental unravelling, his cat-and-mouse conversations with the shrewd investigating magistrate Porfiry Petrovich, and his relationships with his devoted mother and sister, his loyal friend Razumikhin, and Sonya Marmeladova, a gentle young woman driven into prostitution to feed her family. The sinister Svidrigailov offers a dark mirror of Raskolnikov's ideas.
Published in instalments in 1866, the novel examines guilt, alienation, poverty and the dangers of rationalist ideologies that place an idea above human life. Its feverish interior perspective made it a forerunner of existentialist fiction and one of the most influential works in world literature.
Book details
| Author | Fyodor Dostoevsky |
|---|---|
| First published | 1866 |
| Original language | Russian |
| Translated by | Constance Garnett |
| Genre | Classic |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 551 |
| Setting | St Petersburg, Russia, 1860s |
Themes
- Guilt
- Morality
- Poverty
- Alienation
- Redemption
Who should read it
Readers who enjoy intense psychological fiction and big moral questions explored through a gripping story.