Crime and Punishment

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-12-01
Features: Crime and Punishment is one of Dostoevsky's greatest masterpieces, a psychological novel that reveals the moral conflicts within a character, alternating between good and evil. It is a mature sign of the author's complete departure from conventional creativity. After its publication, it garnered widespread social attention and brought the author international acclaim, earning it the title of "the Russian-style new novel."
ISBN: 91658
At the beginning of the seventh month, one exceptionally hot evening, a young man stepped out of the tiny room he had sublet in C Alley, onto the street, and slowly, as if undecided, made his way toward K Bridge. He managed to avoid his landlady as he went downstairs. His room was under the roof of a tall five-story building, looking more like a cabinet than a room. The landlady (to whom he rented the room, along with meals and a maid) lived in a private apartment on the ground floor. Every time he went out, he had to pass by her kitchen door, which was almost always open, facing the stairs. Thus, every time he passed by, he felt a sense of pain and timidity. This feeling made him ashamed and frown. He owed his landlady a great deal of money and was afraid to meet her. He was not a timid person—in fact, quite the opposite—but from some point onward, he had been in a state of irritability and tension, as if suffering from suspicion. He was deeply immersed in his thoughts, avoiding contact with anyone, even afraid of meeting people—not just his landlady. He was impoverished, yet lately, even his financial difficulties no longer troubled him. He had stopped working to make a living and no longer wanted to worry about it. In truth, he was not afraid of his landlady at all; whatever she might do to him, he did not care. But standing on the stairs, listening to her ramble on about trivial matters unrelated to him, stubbornly demanding money, threatening, complaining, and he could only stammer, apologizing and lying—no, it would be better to slip down the stairs like a cat and sneak away without anyone seeing him. But this time, the fear of meeting his creditor even shocked him as he walked onto the street.
What am I going to do? he thought, a strange smile playing on his lips. Well, everything is in someone else's hands; being timid means losing opportunities—it's a principle. I really want to know what people are afraid of? They are afraid of taking new steps, speaking new opinions.
However, I say too much, because I say too much, so I do nothing. But perhaps it's the other way around: because I do nothing, I say too much. This is something I've only recently learned—to talk endlessly, lying around in corners and imagining things about Prince Peas.
What am I going to do now? Can I really do this? Is this thing real? It's not real at all. It's just that I've overthought it, deceiving myself: just for fun! Yes, perhaps it is just for fun!