Staff Pick
This is one of the finest explorations of criminal psychology ever written. With enormous scope, Dostoyevsky dissects poverty, rationalization, the criminal mind, guilt, confession, religion, and redemption. He also provides an exquisite look at overwhelming paranoia. Crime and Punishment is a perfect, breathtaking masterpiece. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Crime and Punishment, by
Fyodor Dostoevsky, is part of the
Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of
Barnes & Noble Classics:
- New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
- Biographies of the authors
- Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
- Footnotes and endnotes
- Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
- Comments by other famous authors
- Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
- Bibliographies for further reading
- Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest.
Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. Few authors have been as personally familiar with desperation as
Fyodor Dostoevsky, and none have been so adept at describing it.
Crime and Punishmentthe novel that heralded the authors period of masterworkstells the story of the poor and talented student Raskolnikov, a character of unparalleled psychological depth and complexity. Raskolnikov reasons that men like himself, by virtue of their intellectual superiority, can and must transcend societal law. To test his theory, he devises the perfect crimethe murder of a spiteful pawnbroker living in St. Petersburg.
In one of the most gripping crime stories of all time, Raskolnikov soon realizes the folly of his abstractions. Haunted by vivid hallucinations and the torments of his conscience, he seeks relief from his terror and moral isolationfirst from Sonia, the pious streetwalker who urges him to confess, then in a tense game of cat and mouse with Porfiry, the brilliant magistrate assigned to the murder investigation. A tour de force of suspense, Crime and Punishment delineates the theories and motivations that underlie a bankrupt morality. Priscilla Meyer is Professor of Russian Language and Literature at Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut. She published Find What the Sailor Has Hidden, the first monograph on Vladimir Nabokovs Pale Fire, and edited the first English translation of Andrei Bitovs collection of short stories, Life in Windy Weather.
Synopsis
Dostoevsky's characters are unbelievably, almost painfully fleshed out, leading the German romantic philosopher Friedrich Netzsche to proclaim: Dostoevsky [is] the only psychologist, incidentally, from whom I had something to learn; he ranks among the most beautiful strokes of fortune in my life. In addition to the tormented killer Raskolnikov, Crime and Punishment introduces Porfiry, the brilliant investigator assigned to the murder case, and Sonia, a despoiled but pious woman devoted to Raskolnikov. Through his interactions with these two apparent opposites, Raskolnikov confronts his conscience, and learns that only through suffering can one find true happiness.
Synopsis
Crime and Punishment, by
Fyodor Dostoevsky, is part of the
Barnes & Noble Classicsseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of
Barnes & Noble Classics - New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
- Biographies of the authors
- Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
- Footnotes and endnotes
- Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
- Comments by other famous authors
- Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
- Bibliographies for further reading
- Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest.
Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.Few authors have been as personally familiar with desperation as
Fyodor Dostoevsky, and none have been so adept at describing it.
Crime and Punishmentthe novel that heralded the author s period of masterworkstells the story of the poor and talented student Raskolnikov, a character of unparalleled psychological depth and complexity. Raskolnikov reasons that men like himself, by virtue of their intellectual superiority, can and must transcend societal law. To test his theory, he devises the perfect crimethe murder of a spiteful pawnbroker living in St. Petersburg.
In one of the most gripping crime stories of all time, Raskolnikov soon realizes the folly of his abstractions. Haunted by vivid hallucinations and the torments of his conscience, he seeks relief from his terror and moral isolationfirst from Sonia, the pious streetwalker who urges him to confess, then in a tense game of cat and mouse with Porfiry, the brilliant magistrate assigned to the murder investigation. A
tour de force of suspense,
Crime and Punishment delineates the theories and motivations that underlie a bankrupt morality.
Priscilla Meyer is Professor of Russian Language and Literature at Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut. She published
Find What the Sailor Has Hidden, the first monograph on Vladimir Nabokov s
Pale Fire, and edited the first English translation of Andrei Bitov s collection of short stories,
Life in Windy Weather."
Synopsis
&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RCrime and Punishment&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RFyodor Dostoevsky&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R:
&&LDIV&&R
- New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
- Biographies of the authors
- Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
- Footnotes and endnotes
- Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
- Comments by other famous authors
- Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations
- Bibliographies for further reading
- Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences--biographical, historical, and literary--to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&RFew authors have been as personally familiar with desperation as &&LSTRONG&&RFyodor Dostoevsky&&L/B&&R, and none have been so adept at describing it. &&LI&&RCrime and Punishment&&L/I&&R--the novel that heralded the author's period of masterworks--tells the story of the poor and talented student Raskolnikov, a character of unparalleled psychological depth and complexity. Raskolnikov reasons that men like himself, by virtue of their intellectual superiority, can and must transcend societal law. To test his theory, he devises the perfect crime--the murder of a spiteful pawnbroker living in St. Petersburg. &&LBR&&R &&LBR&&RIn one of the most gripping crime stories of all time, Raskolnikov soon realizes the folly of his abstractions. Haunted by vivid hallucinations and the torments of his conscience, he seeks relief from his terror and moral isolation--first from Sonia, the pious streetwalker who urges him to confess, then in a tense game of cat and mouse with Porfiry, the brilliant magistrate assigned to the murder investigation. A &&LI&&Rtour de force&&L/I&&R of suspense, &&LI&&RCrime and Punishment&&L/I&&R delineates the theories and motivations that underlie a bankrupt morality.&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LB&&RPriscilla Meyer &&L/B&&Ris Professor of Russian Language and Literature at Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut. She published &&LI&&RFind What the Sailor Has Hidden&&L/I&&R, the first monograph on Vladimir Nabokov's &&LI&&RPale Fire&&L/I&&R, and edited the first English translation of Andrei Bitov's collection of short stories, &&LI&&RLife in Windy Weather&&L/I&&R. &&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R
Synopsis
The first of Dostoevsky's masterworks,
Crime and Punishment presents the powerful story of Raskolnikov, who reasons that intellectually "superior" men like himself can and must transcend conventional moral law. To test his theory, he devises the perfect murder. What follows is a nightmare world of bitterness and torment, and one of the most gripping crime stories of all time.