by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
It is a murder story, told from a murder;s point of view, that implicates even the most innocent reader in its enormities. It is a cat-and-mouse game between a tormented young killer and a cheerfully implacable detective. It is a preternaturally acute investigation of the forces that impel a man toward sin, suffering, and grace. Ever since its publication in 1866 Crime and Punishment has intrigued readers and sorely tested translators, the best of whom seemed to capture one facet of Dostoevsky’s masterpiece while missing the rest.