Crime and Punishment

Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in the St. Petersburg of the tsars, is determined to overreach his humanity and assert his untrammeled individual will. He convinces himself that his motive for the murder is to benefit mankind and, desperate for money, commits the perfect crime: the murder of a vile pawnbroker whom no one will miss. So begins a tragic novel that illuminates the eternal struggle between human emotions and desire, and the harsh laws of ethics and justice. Part thriller and part philosophical meditation, this is a penetrating look at the core of human nature.