April 02, 2017

Russia's Greatest Crime Novel


Russia's Greatest Crime Novel
One of Fritz Eichenberg's beautiful 1938 woodcut illustrations for Crime and Punishment.

When you set out to write a murder mystery in Russian – or even in another language, but set in Russia – you should be mindful that you are following in the footsteps the greatest Russian crime fiction writer of all times, Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Surely his Crime and Punishment is a crime novel – crime, after all, is part of its title and it is about a murder – but there may be some doubt as to whether it is a mystery. Of course, it isn't a conventional English whodunit or an American hard-boiled one, but it is a murder mystery nonetheless.

The conventional murder mystery is a product of the Enlightenment. It presents society as a rational structure, in which crime is an aberration. When solving a crime, the detective engages his brain-power and employs the scientific method. Cause and effect are inexorably linked: the detective reverse-engineers the chain of events, getting from the murder to its cause.

The first murder mystery was The Murders in the Rue Morgue, a novella by Edgar Allan Poe. The rational, deductive method is illustrated, and the detective traces his companion’s chain of reasoning and responds to his inner train of in thought.

The plot is all about civilized society. In the end, it turns out that the brutal murder on Rue Morgue was committed by an ape. But a human solves the murder, returns the ape to the zoo, and re-establishes societal norms.

Crime and Punishment is a repudiation of this kind of Enlightenment crime novel. It appeared 20 years before the first Sherlock Holmes story, but also more than 20 years after Poe’s Rue Morgue. Western rationality was already part of the discourse in Russia, and Russian writers were quite obsessed with it. Note that both Crime and Punishment and Toltroy’s War and Peace, published three years apart, make references to Napoleon, who by that time had been dead for nearly half a century. Both authors still saw Napoleon as a sort of symbolic Westerner: rational, active, autonomous.

Let’s briefly summarize Dostoyevsky’s novel.

Rodion Raskolnikov, a destitute student, wants to put himself to the test, to see whether he is, as he believes, an extraordinary human being. He decides to kill and rob an old money lender whose life he deems to be useless. He believes that a superior being ought to be able to commit such crime and have no remorse – to go on to accomplish great deeds. He murders the money lender, but also has to kill her kind and pious sister.

From the start, we know the identity of the murderer and follow the investigation, which is presented as a cat-and-mouse game conducted by the detective, Porfiry Petrovich. The mystery is whether Raskolnikov will get away with his crime, and whether his philosophy will be vindicated. These are two connected developments.

Raskolnikov fails his own test: he can avoid neither remorse nor fear of being caught. Having imagined himself as a kind of Napoleon, he becomes a pariah. He breaks off his ties of friendship and family and later, in the epilogue, is shown to be disliked even by his other inmates.

Unlike the English detective novel, here murder is not a break in the man-made rational order, but a crime against higher authority. Russian society in Dostoevsky is neither rational nor just, but it is highly moral: once you become an individualist, a rational being pursuing money or self-interest, you are lost. In fact, the worst villain in the tale is Arkady Svidrigailov – the most rational, logical and modern character in the novel. He becomes a complete outcast and ends up committing suicide. 

Importantly, the detective does not use any sort of scientific method, nor does he bragging about his grey cells. What he does is intuit Raskolnikov’s guilt. And the story of his detection is not about him collecting clues and putting them together, but about leading a troubled man to confession.

Crime and Punishment, like so much of Russian writing before the final years of the nineteenth century, is a morality tale. But morality is a major component of crime fiction, especially in the American, hard-boiled novel. As Carroll John Daly, the author of the first hard-boiled short story, puts it, in the words of his detective Race Williams, “My morality is my own.”

The best American hard-boiled authors, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, paint a picture of society that is depraved and immoral. Their detectives must abide by its rules, but unlike everyone else, they know its true worth.

American characters are individualistic and stand firmly on their two feet. Their morality stems from their ability and willingness to act, and to act independently. To remain moral beings they have to make a clean break from society. In Dostoyevsky, however, the desire and ability to act independently is evil in itself. Raskolnikov is a murder waiting to happen. He might recoil from murdering this money lender, but having conceived the notion, he will be driven to test it.

There is a Biblical proverb that is common in Russia: “No man is a prophet in his native land.” Thus, the person who may understand Dostoyevsky best is an American, the filmmaker Woody Allen. The form pioneered by Dostoyevsky is unlike a more conventional whodunit, and so it has not had too many imitators. Yet Allen’s best films are Dostoyevskian tales of crime and punishment, from the pointedly titled Crimes and Misdemeanors to the rather significantly titled Irrational Man.


ALEXEI BAYER is a New York-based author and translator. He writes in English and in Russian, his native tongue, and translates into both languages. His translations have appeared in Chtenia and Words Without Borders, as well as in such collections as The Wall in My Head, and Life Stories. His three mystery novels, Murder at the Dacha, The Latchkey Murders, and Murder and the Muse are published by Russian Life Books.

 

You Might Also Like

Murder and the Muse
  • December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955