Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

by Harold Bloom

This volume is designed to present biographical, critical, and bibliographical information on Fyodor Dostoevsky and Crime and Punishment. Following Harold Bloom's introduction, there appears a detailed biography of the author, discussing major life events and important literary works. Then follows a thematic and structural analysis of the work, in which significant themes, patterns, and motifs are traced. An annotated list of characters supplies brief information on the chief characters in the work.

A selection of critical extracts, derived from previously published material from leading critics, then follows. The extracts consist of statements by the author on his work, early reviews of the work, and later evaluations down to the present day. The items are arranged chronologically by date of first publication. A bibliography of Dostoevsky's writings (including a complete listing of all books he wrote, co-wrote, edited, and translated in his lifetime, and important posthumous publications), a list of additional books and articles on him and on Crime and Punishment, and an index of themes conclude the volume.

Genres: Literary Criticism, Classics, Fiction, Criticism, Russia, Literature

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.

Reviews

[Ryan Blacketter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Raskolnikov. Instead of being a perfect innocent, like Sonya, a prostitute with a heart of gold, he is flawed and dark, convincing and human.

He gives his money away frequently, and wishes instantly that he hadn't. He loves children. He hates children. He wishes only to serve his family and friends. He despises his family and friends. He dreams of a grandiose, Napoleonic victory in which he might change history, and succeeds only in killing an old cleaning woman. He begins slowly to slip away from madness and to see that all human life is valuable.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loquacious and a little outdated, the critical essays in this collection largely draw parallels between Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment and Ivan in Brothers Karamazov, exploring the effects of a philosophy in which all is permissible. I particularly appreciated the Nuthall essay on Christianity and Existentialism which grasped the intense nature of moral responsibility.

[David Winn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of the older essays in the book are only interesting from a historical standpoint (and not even the historical context of Dostoevsky or the book itself, but its later, Western audience). It is amusing to watch an Englishman gawk over the presence of a redemptive prostitute in the nineteenth century, but I think the literary merit is somewhat questionable.

It's also disappointing to see only mentions of Mikhail Bahktin and certain other scholars.

[Matt Sheffield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has a short biography of Dostoevsky and then a great summary of Crime and Punishment. The rest are excerpts from works of various scholars, some better than others.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and concise. Critical comments cover a wide range of thinking about the book. Will be useful in discussion of Crime and Punishmentat book club.

[Cainmark]

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