C&P: Family Complicates Everything: Part 3

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

***Open discussion of Part 3 below, no spoiler marks needed. Be sure you have read through Part 3 before reading! Note: if this is your first visit to this topic I recommend you read this post about discussion ideas, then skip down and post your initial response, then read and respond to other people's posts.***

At the very least check in here when you finish this section and tell us if you are enjoying the book. I'll post specific discussion ideas below, along with some general topics we'll see repeated throughout the book.

Part 3 discussions:

1) Does your impression of Raskolnikov change during this section?

2) Who is Dunya's true love?

General Discussions:

1) Share your favorite quote(s) from this section.

2) Share your favorite word(s) used in this section.

3) Do you have a favorite or most intriguing character at this point in the novel?

Location reminder

If you are returning to this topic after having continued past this section, here is a plot reminder:

The mysterious man in the neighborhood proves to be Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov.

GO!

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

This was my very favorite section of the book so far. I couldn't stop reading. Exceptional plot points for me include: Razhumikin's level of intoxication and frantic behavior, Raskolnikov's mother and sister and their response to all of the insanity, and introduction of the inspector Porfiry.


I started feeling different about Raskolnikov during his conversation with Porfiry. I had viewed him as a bit of a raving madman up until this point in the book, even considering that his actions were because of something wrong in his character or possibly because of a mental illness. He seemed purposeful, organized and logical in his thoughts. He was well-spoken and in control of his emotions. He transformed from an extremely ill person into a calculating sociopath for me during this section and I was scared in a Hannibal Lecter kind of way.


I am hoping against all hopes that Dunya ends up with Razumikhin. I think their interactions are adorable. The potential hook-up between the two of them reminds me of What About Bob? when the Doctor's sister ends up with the annoying guy who won't go away.


My favorite quotes include "Not one truth has ever been reached without first lying fourteen times or so, maybe a hundred and fourteen, and that's honorable in its way; well, but we can't even lie with our own minds! Lie to me, but in your own way, and I'll kiss you for it. Lying in one's own way is almost better than telling the truth in someone else's way..."

"... he handles cases, he's a lawyer, and his conversation is so...prententious - yet his writing is quite illiterate . Everyone stirred; this was not what they were expecting."

" I seemed to love them so much when they weren't here , flashed through his head."

"What an awful apartment you have, Rodya; like a coffin.."


My favorite words include: dissembler, despot, presentiment, salutary, taciturn, egoist, exchequer, torment, cockeyed, hogwash.


My favorite character in this section is Porfiry. He is super smart and reminds me of Hercule Poirot. I was in utter suspense during the tete a tete between Porfiry and Raskolnikov. It was like watching a super intense tennis match.

[Andrew, Wound Up]

I find that as I get into the meat of a book I start taking less notes. Then it picks up near the very end. C&P has surprised me with its readability, zaniness, and fast pacing. I'm really loving the book here at the halfway point and I have no idea where this story is heading.

Raskolnikov: I think my views or R keep getting reaffirmed more than anything else. Other than Razumikhin's so far unsubstantiated deference to R's "genius" he has done little to make me think he is intelligent.

My main point from this section has to do with R predicting his own illness in his article (published unbeknownst to him). Porfiry explains "...you maintain that the act of carrying out a crime is always accompanied by illness. Very, very original." This answers a major question I had - was R's theory of illness a popular idea in Russia when this novel was written. Nope.

So R comes up with his theory on crime which would make investigating things like murders much easier since detectives would just have to start investigating who became extremely ill immediately following the incident. He clearly thinks he's a smarty-pants and ALSO notes in the same article that he thinks smarty-pants should be able to commit crimes unpunished since their ongoing contribution to society will be so great.

Genius. I think R is a spoiled shit. He uses poor logic that sounds witty when used in public discourse but will never hold up to actual scrutiny. Everything he's done feels like it's been random and scatter-shot.

Dunya's Love: Doctor Zossimov. Her fiance is bland, Razumikhin is juvenile, and Svidrigailov is an abusive ass. Putting aside Razumikhin's slanders, which I believe are inflated in a degree similar to his ideas about R's genius, we don't know many bad things about the doctor.

Zossimov has shown tact with Dunya and cared for her family. He has a job. He isn't already married. He might be portly but otherwise seems like a fine looking chap. He is well spoken. He isn't caught up in R's craziness - and even shares suspicions with the rest of the world about R's relations to the murders. He acknowledges that R may be mentally ill. Kudos.

Quotes: This quote is almost embarrassing to put since it's the equivalent of a "that's what she said" joke. "Ahh! Look at the size of it - almost too big for a lady." "I like it like that," said Dunya. Schoolboy giggle.

He's an intelligent man, but it takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently. R's discussion of Pyotr's letter was actually somewhat intelligent.

He likes hoodwinking people, or not hoodwinking them but pulling their leg.

The translator's note talked about the occasional reference to staging, as though the book is a play. There was a superb direct example of this starting with The scene presented itself as follows: and continuing to this great explanation where he stood with his back to the public. It took me a second to put that together but it made visualizing the scene perfectly simple to do.

Murakami consistently references the classic Russian authors and the section where R's dream is described shares the surreal feeling Murakami's books consistently capture. The entryway was very dark and empty, not a soul, as though everything had been taken out... A huge, round, copper-red moon was looking straight in the window. "It's because of the moon that it's so silent," thought Raskolnikov, "asking some riddle, no doubt." That makes me want to re-read 1Q84.

Words: cockeyed; thrice-cursed yesterday; exchequer; phalanstery; dissembler; apoplexy.

Character: Porfiry. This man is cunning. I have a feeling his whole fixation on the latter point in the article is a ruse, he is truly obsessing about the relation R tries to illustrate between crime and illness. Maybe my favorite character so far in the book.