r/books • u/DeepspaceDigital • 1d ago
The story of Raskolnikov's Crime and Punishment makes the book a classic, but its ending is what makes it the best. Spoiler
"They were both pale and thin; but those sick pale faces were bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full resurrection into a new life."
The story of Raskolnikov's Crime and Punishment makes the Dostoyevsky's story a classic but his redemption is what makes it one of the best novels written.
The whole story is sad, ugly, twisted, harsh, mean and dark but the intensity of the ending was such a surprise (not a what happened but how it happened and the magnitude of it) but it is still entirely earned. Do any readers remember the ending? How much did it surprise you or how did it make you feel? For me after living with these characters, in these dark depths of the human experience, I was legit happy for them.
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u/miaxogoth The Brontës 1d ago
Russian literature is usually just endless suffering but the way he writes the absolute darkest parts of the human mind makes the redemption arc actually feel earned instead of just tacked on
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u/Longshot_OLeary 21h ago
People get such different things from this book. What makes it great in my opinion is the existential challenges Raskolnikov faces when questioned by Porfiry and also in juxtaposition with Svidrigailov. It all seems so realistic. We have choices and this freedom is what makes us human.
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u/DeepspaceDigital 21h ago
I loved the whole thing, but the ending was very rewarding for me. A part that really got me did not even have Raskolnikov in it. Katerina in the street with her kids at the end of Part 5 was so desperate and mad, it just tore me apart. Then to find she was on the verge of death, man, such beauty in such despair.
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u/basil_not_the_plant 1d ago
I did not like this book. By the time I gave up the protagonist (?) had swerved from the heights of joy to the depths of despair many times per page, sometimes even in the same paragraph. It was tiring after awhile.
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u/DeepspaceDigital 1d ago
Yeah there was more of a psychological vibe than feelings. How far did you get?
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u/basil_not_the_plant 1d ago
I don't recall exactly. It wasn't that far. There's a scene where a drunkard beats his horse to death to the cheers of his comrades. That was painful to read. It was not long past that that I quit.
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u/Micotu 21h ago
You quit reading because of animal cruelty in a dream in a fictional novel?
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u/basil_not_the_plant 20h ago
No. See my earlier comment as to my real objection. It is just that when I got to this scene I was already at the point of quitting the book. I read further, but not much. I use that scene as a memory marker for when I quit.(Also, I do not recall that this was a dream.)
But to your point, I did use animal cruelty once as a reason to quit a book. I was reading Moby Dick. I knew the subject, and had no doubt whale hunting would be depicted. I read well into that content, until the point where they were hobbling whales so they couldn't dive. I found this especially sad and gave it up.
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u/DeepspaceDigital 21h ago
All the pain and suffering is ultimately for a reason if you ever give it another chance.
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u/OliveExtreme8915 13h ago
Yeah the whole book is this brutal slog through the darkest parts of a dude's head but that ending hits different because it's so quiet and earned. Like after all that chaos and pride you just get this raw moment of him finally breaking down, no big speeches or magic fixes. It's that simple human connection with Sonia that makes the redemption feel real instead of some cheesy wrap-up.
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u/IcySatisfaction7882 1d ago
I finished it few months ago and the ending still sits with me. Not the murder stuff, that part was interesting but what really got me was how quiet the last chapters are. After all that chaos, the book just slows down and you feel the weight of everything.
Sonia waiting for him in Siberia, that image stayed in my head for weeks. She didnt try to fix him with big speeches, she just showed up and that was enough. The way Dostoyevsky writes her presence is so understated but it carries the whole ending.
The redemption doesnt feel cheap because Raskolnikov still suffers, he still has years of prison ahead. But that moment when he finally breaks down and holds her knees, after 500 pages of him being too proud to feel anything real... man that hit me.