Crime and Punishment

Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A novel more about the emotions than about the plot itself. It takes you through the emotional travails of the protagonist. The central character, Raskolnikov, is pursuing studies to become an acadamecian. He has come up with a theory on the psychology behind crime and criminals, which he later comes to know got published. According to his theory, the criminals can be divided into two sets: the normal and the extraordinary. The latter set has the right to crime so as to eliminate obstacles from the great work that they're doing. He considers himself part of this set and decides to remove certain obstacles from his path. However, the task turns out larger than he'd expected. This crime directs the rest of life. He undergoes the same changes that he'd talked about in his article which just shows what a great mind he has. The novel describes how his life is a complete ruin following the crime even though he's not been identified as the murderer.

In some sense I find this novel inspiring; it shows that how a person with such a great intellect can be reduced to a wreck because of a single crime: whether he's caught or not.