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Dostoevsky contends with Tolstoy for the title of being the greatest Russian novelist. Although his work exhibits less narrative drive than that of Tolstoy, he demonstrates immeasurably greater psychological insight, especially into the minds of the unbalanced. Crime and Punishment is a novel which can change the reader's life. Unexpectedly readable, with occasional bizarre humour, it takes a theme of great simplicity - Student Raskolnikov kills a pawnbroker and her sister and is then torn apart by his conscience - and endows it with extraordinary surprises, each one more consistent with character than a more conventional solution might have been. A clash of very different people thrown together in an unusual circumstance produces, at length, a sense of inevitability and resolution, and therefore of quite unusual power and compassion. Strongly recommended to all cocksure murderers and self-satisfied policemen, among others. (Kirkus UK)
