Crime and Punishment (With Preface) (Phoenix Classics)

chefs kiss

Miaow aus Aachen am 24.03.2026
Bewertungsnummer: 3087371
Bewertet: Buch (Taschenbuch)

peak mental breakdown, a lot of ramblings and a 10/10 existential crisis this book is absolutely timeless, loved it even more now that my frontal lobe is developed emotional, engrossing and unsettlingly human

Brilliant Book, Questionable Blurb

Bewertung am 20.02.2026
Bewertungsnummer: 3052472
Bewertet: Buch (Taschenbuch)

I loved this book, it was truly amazing, which is why I’m giving it five stars. My only practical criticism concerns the condition in which it arrived. It looked as though it had been used as a football before being shipped. That likely isn’t Orell Füssli’s fault, but it was still disappointing. My second critique concerns the description of the novel. It states that Raskolnikov commits a “random murder without remorse or regret,” which I find misleading. The murder is not random at all, he spends a long time contemplating and rationalising it in his mind. Moreover, remorse and psychological torment form the very heart of the novel. The entire structure is embedded in the title: first comes the crime, and then comes the punishment, not merely legal punishment, but the crushing weight of guilt and conscience. The description also suggests that Raskolnikov imagines himself to be a great man like Napoleon. While it is true that he develops a theory about “extraordinary” individuals who may act beyond conventional moral law, he is deeply conflicted about his own status. He does not confidently see himself as great; rather, he oscillates between intellectual arrogance and profound self-doubt. That internal struggle is what makes the novel so powerful. Despite my disappointment with the blurb, the book itself is a masterpiece. Its psychological depth and moral complexity are extraordinary, and that is why it fully deserves five out of five stars.