Monday, April 20, 2009

Don't Fear The Russians

As we know, in the Hixx household there is really no disposable income. We are learning to live with less and I am happy about this mostly. I want to learn to live with less, I believe it's who I am actually.

But one of the things I haven't been able to purchase with immunity, are books. I know I can get books pretty cheaply online and in havens like the Brown Elephant. But I just haven't had the time to go book browsing and to do it cheaply.

So I've been digging into my own books and rereading them (at least the ones I haven't sold to half.com already!).

And my latest venture is Crime and Punishment.

I know people fear the Russians except they really shouldn't. I'm aware too that Crime and Punishment is filled with so many ideas on society, psychiatry and well...crime and punishment. But for one who reads books for pleasure and not to sink into any great discussions on Russian Serfdom, C&P provides so much pure enjoyment.

So Raskolnikov is this student, he's all mopey and smart and thinks he's above everyone, and he's really poor and slightly "mad" and just so everyone knows, all Russians in these books are "mad." He goes and murders this old lady and not even really for the money he knows she has but because he's smart and moody and mad. He also kills this other lady who walks in, kills them with a hatchet. Brutal.

But then the story starts and Raskolnikov starts wandering the streets of Russia. He's sick and "feverish" all the time. And just so you know, all Russians in these books are "feverish", it's mostly because they're "consumptive." Russians are feverish, consumptive and mad, and thats what makes these stories oh so very much fun.

Well this one cop starts playing cat and mouse with Roskalnikov and they go back and forth, Raskolnikov thinks he's really smart and with it and tries to play with the cop, but he keeps fucking it up and saying the wrong thing and then trying to cover up what he just said, but then he gets really angry and says something stupid...it's really fun.

And no one, no one, does a better job than Dostoevsky and showing the true pain of having your mother and sister show up right at this point, poor tortured Raskolnikov.

And other characters are wandering around and coughing up blood because they're consumptive too, men get murdered by horses in the street, love possibly happens with a prostitute as the cop gets closer and closer to Raskolnikov.

It's a great story, I mean, of course it is, its Crime and Punishment for petes sakes, but what I want to say is that these books are great for the masses too. It's not hard to read once you get the pronunciation of the names right (just spell them out, out loud, slowly, trust me) and its really fun to watch this guy completely lose his mind while he realizes he's losing it.

C'mon, do it, get up on the Russians.

3 comments:

wafelenbak said...

C and P is one of my all time favorite books! It got me reading Nietzche at the tender age of 17. :)
Love me some crazy existentialist Europeans!

Wendy said...

Man, I usually get up on what the Hixx is reading, maybe I'll try it again. I tried to read C & P a couple of years ago and just couldn't get through it. Maybe I do have issues with the names...too many v's.

Hixx said...

Wendy, if you can get into it, its really fun once you get there. Trust us, you gotta love it.