Amazon.com description: Product Description: "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky is one of the most important novels of the nineteenth century. It is the story of a murder committed on principle, of a killer who wishes to set himself outside and above society. The novel is marked by Fyodor Dostoevsky 's own harrowing experience in penal servitude, and yet contains moments of wild humor. Dostoyevesky writes with intelligence and skill, helping the reader to view the murder from the mind of the murderer. A real page-turner, "Crime and Punishment" does more than provide an engaging read: it brings terrifying philosophies to life. The "extraordinary man" theory, as well as the redemptive nature of suffering, are just two of these ideas. In "Crime and Punishment," uses the story of Raskolnikov's soul, as well as parts of the novel such as the dream, to criticize the philosophies that were quickly spreading through Russia. Dostoyevsky undoubtedly feared that these philosophies would be the undoing of Russia and the world, as alluded to in Raskolnikov's dream. Although Raskolnikov's dream is undoubtedly directed toward the then-popular Hegelian theories, it could almost be read as a warning against the modern ideas of relativism. In the end, "Crime and Punishment" is really about redemption, and well worth the effort to read it.