Agostino Scafidi

This book. Wow. It's a monster. It's a behemoth. It's a trip into darkness, boredom, excitement, frustration. I can't say that I loved it and I don't think I can even say that I liked it, there were definitely many times where I hated it. There were just a few moments throughout this book where I really enjoyed what I was reading, the rest to me was what I considered to be just shy of rubbish. Blabbering. Pointless literature.

I admit that this was my first foray into Russian literature. I am not however averse or unfamiliar with challenging writing. For example I have read various 19th century literature, I've read Dickens too, not to mention some Honoré de Balzac. I think I had a bit of a hard time dealing with the pressure that classics can impose on a reader. What I mean by that is if you were to take epics like War and Peace, The Count of Monte Cristo or even Crime and Punishment, there seems to be a consensus out there that these books are "must reads". You simply might look like an ignoramus or something if you dislike or even avoid reading classics such as those, at least that's what I had in mind before delving into this book.

If there is one thing I've taken away from this book, one thing I've truly learned, it's that I will never wonder or feel guilty about putting a book down halfway through ever again. I will never feel like I am missing out if I refuse to read a 1000 page "classic".

I had to force myself to finish Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. I don't regret doing it because I have this blog post and this personal lesson as a result.



**Copied from my original blog post at http://thehermitrant.blogspot.ca