Crime and Punishment (1865-1866)

A poor student named Rodion Raskolnikov struggles to make ends meet and is forced to borrow money from an old woman, who lends money. Tired of his life of poverty, he asks himself a philosophical question: Am I a trembling creature? To prove to himself that he is not and that he is the master of his own destiny, he decides to commit a crime – to kill the old woman. Fyodor Dostoevsky reflects on the nature of violence and the circumstances in which life can place a person.

The novel has been adapted for film several times in the writer's homeland, as well as in several European countries. Woody Allen's 2015 movie ‘Irrational Man’ based on the book.

Translated by Constance Garnett, Publisher Macmillan, 1919