Crime and Punishment

Rodion Raskolnikov is a penniless man who, desperate to escape poverty, contrives to murder and rob an elderly pawnbroker. As he attempts to carry out his heinous plan – and must then contend with the consequences of his actions – the novel confronts the reader with near-impossible moral quandaries. What is the nature of good and evil? What are the pitfalls of utilitarianism and nihilism? Crime and Punishment is an intriguing glimpse into Dostoevsky’s early meditations on philosophical questions that would haunt him for the rest of his life.