Crime and Punishment

[Jamuary 2006]

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Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky

number of voters: 7
percentage of voters who finished the book: 43
highest rating: 9
lowest rating: 3
average overall rating: 6.9
average rating of finishers: 8.2
number of readers who thought this book was a crime: a peck
number of readers who thought this book was a punishment:  a bushel


“Allow me tell you about the conversation I had earlier this week with a group of highly intellectual women. They were discussing a novel by Dostoevsky… you may have heard of him. He’s that Russian writer who spent 10 years in exile in Siberian labor camps as a political prisoner. The women with whom I spoke were discussing Dostoevsky’s book Crime and Punishment, which he’d written upon his return to Russia in 1860. From what I could tell, the women rated his book very highly. Many had struggled with the book’s length and some had failed to finish it at all (albeit not without trying or vowing to finish it at a later date). Still others had failed to even start the book. These looked on the others with a sense of awe and guilt… and perhaps a little relief. As far as the story was concerned, many found it excruciating… in good and bad ways. It is excruciatingly suspenseful, but it is also excruciatingly long. As far as high brow literature is concerned, most of the women rate it among the highest. As far as entertainment value, very few would recommend it on enjoyment alone. The main character was discussed loathingly, although most admitted they sympathized with and even rooted for him. In the end, it was an evening well spent. I may even request of them that I be allowed to eavesdrop on their next discussion… It is some modern piece of fiction (Bee Season) by one of these liberal authors (Myla Goldberg) so well-published these days…
“But I’m sorry, I haven’t even let you get in a word this whole time…”