"One death, in exchange for thousands of lives - it's simple
arithmetic!"
A new translation of Dostoevsky's epic masterpiece, Crime and
Punishment (1866). The impoverished student Raskolnikov decides to free
himself from debt by killing an old moneylender, an act he sees as
elevating himself above conventional morality. Like Napoleon he will
assert his will and his crime will be justified by its elimination of
"vermin" for the sake of the greater good. But Raskolnikov is torn apart
by fear, guilt, and a growing conscience under the influence of his love
for Sonya. Meanwhile the police detective Porfiry is on his trail. It is
a powerfully psychological novel, in which the St Petersburg setting,
Dostoevsky's own circumstances, and contemporary social problems all
play their part.