It has been a while since I read a long book for leisure. Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky has been in my reading list for a while, and after I received a special eBook reader substitute device (Details will come in a future post) I have decided to begin my journey in a world of twisted psychology and human nature.

For reference, I will not provide you as summary of book but only provide my own opinion and comment on this literary work. The book is widely accessible on the Internet due to its public domain status.

Part one of Crime and Punishment was an emotional ride. Characters share sad stories about their hardship, and on one hand you had this helpless feeling of sympathy towards them. But as the characters reveal certain details on their own contribution to their problems I also had a certain degree of anger and somewhat hatred towards them. This mixture of emotional experience is greatly crafted by Dostoyevsky’s literary skill.

I was able to connect with the main character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, quite well, because we were both college students. Dostoyevsky mastery paints a detailed picture of a complicated network of thoughts of Raskolnikov, and these strings of thoughts allows the reader to at a certain degree understand Raskolnikov’s murder of two women, but I doubt the modern reader sympathizes.

It will be about a week or two until I finish Part 2. I am curious whether Raskolnikov is able to reconcile his sinful act or live in torment as he realizes the magnitude of the murder.