First published 2016
In the suffocating streets of St. Petersburg, Rodion Raskolnikov lives on the razor's edge of desperation. A brilliant but impoverished former student, he constructs an audacious philosophical justification for murder—believing some humans are extraordinary enough to transcend moral law. When he kills a miserly pawnbroker, calculating her death will serve a greater good, he discovers that intellectual theories collapse under the brutal weight of real-world consequences. Stalked by a penetrating police investigator and consumed by mounting psychological pressure, Raskolnikov finds himself trapped between his radical theory and the crushing reality of his actions. His mental state fragments, each passing day a dangerous negotiation between potential confession and complete psychological disintegration. As guilt and paranoia consume him, Raskolnikov must ultimately confront the most terrifying question: Can a single act of violence ever truly be justified?
Genres: fiction, drama, historical-fiction, crime, psychological-thriller, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: psychological-horror, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Russia, St. Petersburg
Period: 19th Century
113 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics
Content warnings: mental-illness, violence