The following reviews by COHS students are on “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 542
Reviewer: Alejandra M.
Raskolnikov kills two people and robs them. Later on he is speaking with the murderers and faints so the police start to suspect him. He calls off his friends wedding and later falls in love with the bride-to-be. His friend Sonya tries to make him confess and it works. Raskolnikov is taken to the prison in Siberia and Sonya moves to the town outside the prison. After he is freed Razumikhin and Dunya are married for a short while. Then he realizes his true feelings for Sonya.
Crime and Punishment was an interesting book because of the issues. At the same time it was hard to know what was happening. Even though I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would still recommend it to friends because of the entertaining story.
1. Dostoyevsky’s purpose for writing Crime and Punishment was to show that people can change overtime.
2. The theme of Crime and Punishment is to think about the consequences before you commit the action.
3. The way the author shows changes in the novel is very slowly; with an increase in tension.
4. The main issue that Crime and Punishment raises is: is it correct to cause someone psychological pain? The way the author solves the issue is by punishing Raskolnikov years later.
The most engaging discussion I’ve ever had with students was about “Crime and Punishment.” I was teaching sophomore English and had two girls in the class who should have been in honors class, but it didn’t fit their schedules because they were in journalism class. So they were in my regular class, and frequently finished all their work early.
I suggested that the three of us read a ‘classic’ that none of us had ever read before and then discuss it twice a week. We picked “Crime and Punishment.” What a lucky choice! What a rendering of the themes of guilt and forgiveness! I highly recommend this one!