2021-08-09 - crime and punishment

saturday morning i was listening to a book review of "crime and punishment" on bbc. the book sounded very intriguing, so i read/listened to it the past few days.

read on project gutenberg

listen on librivox

crime and punishment, by fryodor dostoyevsky, is about a poor university student in russia who murders and robs an old woman then has to face the guilt of what he had done as he interacts with family, friends, strangers, and police. by the end of the book, he confesses to his murder, makes amends to his friends and family, and turns himself into the police.

to me the book described a person who thought he could depend soley on himself, but once he had done something very wrong, he realizes that he too needs to depend on people. i felt like i could relate to the main character, because i've had similar experiences happen to me a few times in my life. the other takeaway i had was that suffering can be a good thing. if a person feels that they have done something terribly wrong, suffering the consequence is one of the best actions to take for healing.

overall, it was a great book that i recommend you read too. i had never heard of this book until the other day. apparently some high school and college courses have it as a required reading. i guess i wouldn't have appreciated it if i was in high school though. listening to the librivox recordings were much more enjoyable for me, though reading the actual text was somewhat enjoyable too.