Hello, it is Reviewsday Tuesday, and today sees the return of the Quiet as Mouse Book Club
And I am reviewing at Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
This review is a little bit late so I'm sorry if you have been waiting for it.
I had a look earlier and it turns out that this review was originally due on 4th October 2016,
So it's been pushed back a bit, I have reviewed six books since then, instead of reviewing Crime and Punishment,
But today I'm actually going to be reviewing this book.
Crime and Punishment was originally published in 1866. It has six parts, and an epilogue.
The story follows Raskolnikov, a young man who used to be a student,
Who comes up with a plan to murder an elderly pawnbroker.
He has a theory, belief, an idea that there are people in this world
Who should be able to commit crimes with impunity, and he thinks that he might be one of those people.
Most of the novel takes place after this event, after this crime that he has committed,
And is concerned with the aftermath, the psychological consequences for him,
And his increasingly peculiar behaviour which affects those around him
And draws the attention of the police, especially the detective Porfiry.
This book took quite a long time for me to read, obviously,
But I wouldn't say that it's a difficult read.
I would say that it requires concentration which is where I've probably had trouble with it
Because last year I went through a stage of not being in the mood to read
And I would say that this probably isn't a good book to read when you're not in the mood for reading.
There's a lot to think about all the time, it goes into a lot of depth.
It delves very deeply into Raskolnikov's thoughts, and as he is confused the book is confused,
And as he is indecisive so is the text.
It's a style that requires a certain amount of patience, I thought.
The rhythm and the flow more or less fluctuates throughout the book,
Depending on the characters and Raskolnikov's state of mind,
And I found I just had to be in a certain mood to read it, which is why it has taken me so very long.
It is very engaging, though, even though, as I say, I found it to be quite a heavy read.
There are a lot of great complex characters, and great complex ideas to enjoy.
It explores morality and humanity and philosophy.
It's very easy to become invested in the story because as a reader you spend a lot of time in Raskolnikov's brain,
Experiencing his internal struggle, and we spend most of the book with him,
Although we do occasionally spend time with other characters when the narrative requires it.
And there are a lot of great characters in this book
And I liked how we got to see their quirks, of thought, of movement, of speech.
It makes them quite easy to separate from each other
And it also produces a few subplots which weave in and out.
But I didn't find that there were too many characters or side plots which was good
Because in a novel of this size it would be very easy to get very bogged down in characters and side plots.
There are a lot of very memorable scenes in this book which I enjoyed,
And which was really helpful to me because I was reading this book a lot slower than I normally read,
There were sometimes quite large gaps between me reading it and then picking it up again.
But I found that I could remember what happened previously and that's a very good sign.
There was a memorial dinner after a funeral which I felt to be very vividly painted
And at the beginning as well after Raskolnikov had committed his crime and was returning to his rooms,
I thought that whole section was exciting and a great way to start, and involve the reader in the story.
It also encouraged me to keep reading the book when I was being so slow about it,
Because I knew that I enjoyed the book already and would probably continue to if I persevered,
Whereas another book I might have just put down by now & thought I'm not going to read this, I don't have time.
One of my favourite things about this book is that it's very thought-provoking.
It asks a lot of questions about morality, for instance.
We get to see contrasting characters with contrasting views.
Because we spend so much time in Raskolnikov's head we get to explore what committing this crime has done to him.
It's a book I'd recommend. I wouldn't be put off by the length or the style, I think it's worth the effort.
The only part of the book I didn't particularly enjoy was the epilogue.
It personally felt a bit anticlimactic, but I could see why it was there.
I'm going to give Crime and Punishment 3.9 out of 5.
Arguably I should rank it a little bit higher
But because it took me so much time and effort to read it I feel like I should reflect that in my score.
It wasn't a difficult read but for me it was quite a heavy read.
I'd love to know what you think about Crime and Punishment if you have read it.
Let's talk about the next books I am going to be reviewing on my channel.
On 13th March I am planning on reviewing How Not to be a Boy by Robert Webb,
And on 10th April I am hoping to review Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly.
I'm trying to get the Book Club back on track, trying to get it back to being a consistent thing.
My plan for Reviewsday Tuesday going forward is to have a book review in the middle of the month,
A Favourites video at the end, and then other reviews filling up the other Tuesdays.
That's the new plan, I am very excited about the Book Club being back in my life,
And to reading more because I feel like I am out of my reading slump.
So end screen, if you'd like to keep track of what videos I have coming up,
Be they reviews or otherwise, then you can do so on my website beside me here.
And you can also subscribe to my channel beside me here.
And my latest video and a playlist of Book Club videos will be below me here.
I hope you have a fantastic day and I will see you later on in the week!