Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevskyby Fyodor Dostoevsky
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 122 novels
Dostoevsky's psychological crime novel is praised for its gripping murder scene and its themes of ego and justice. Critics find the prose dense and long-winded.
Dostoevsky's psychological crime novel is praised for its gripping murder scene and its themes of ego and justice. Critics find the prose dense and long-winded.
48 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 39
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 39 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Gripping murder scene and suspense
“The murder scene itself is so vivid that it's easy to forget that the long middle of the novel is the cat-and-mouse game”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “The murder scene grabbed as well as any modern thriller.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “That was a real page turner.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” Enjoyable, page-turning read
“one of the very few school curriculum mandatory books that I enjoyed reading and actively got ahead of the required per week pages”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “I read Crime and Punishment, and thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “I thoroughly enjoyed Crime and Punishment”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” - Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult”
Deep themes of ego and justice
“"Crime and Punishment" about ego and justice”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Brothers Karamazov was Einstein's favorite novel” “Many lessons to learn by these brilliant writers.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “a masterful depiction of a soul's torment in C&P”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” Widely considered a masterpiece
“widely considered one of the greatest novels of all time”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “The Great Blogging Collapse: What Happened to 100 Successful Blogs?” “I still think C&P is the best of his books”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “this is the novel I enjoyed the most in my life”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Dense, long-winded prose
“very long-winded and often take several pages to go through something that would take a single page”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “If it were half as long it would be 10x better.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “the dense boring prose of Dostoyevsky was”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” Style did not appeal
“I didn't find much in the style to savor. Really it was more thematically interesting and suspenseful.”
Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “Maybe the Default Settings Are Too High” “I simply don't like his style”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” Depressing, unlikable protagonist
“I never read a book that depressed me more than Crime and Punishment.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “the dude in Crime and Punishment is just such a massive loser”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” Weak translation and French passages
“Despite it not being a great translation I found the book and topics covered really interesting”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “The huge pages of French didn't help.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor DostoevskyThis page | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Atlas Shruggedby Ayn Rand | 23 | 31 | 43% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 49 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“"Crime and Punishment" about ego and justice”
“Spoiled many other books for me”
“If it were half as long it would be 10x better.”
“The murder scene grabbed as well as any modern thriller.”
“very long-winded and often take several pages to go through something that would take a single page”
“widely considered one of the greatest novels of all time”
“I read Crime and Punishment, and thoroughly enjoyed it.”
“a masterful depiction of a soul's torment in C&P”
“I simply don't like his style”
“the dense boring prose of Dostoyevsky was”
“I remember it vividly reading while backpacking in my 3USD Bangkok guesthouse 20 years ago”
“having the pronunciation and prosody of many the names already embedded in me”
“when you pick up Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, or Dead Souls”
“I found this Librivox audiobook to have a good narrator.”
“has a very good Crime & Punishment audiobook”
“Many lessons to learn by these brilliant writers.”
“Despite it not being a great translation I found the book and topics covered really interesting”
“it had such a profound effect on me”
“your rational plans for success seem logical to you, but will not work out in the way you imagine”
“books like C&P are perfectly readable for young adults”
“I loved it so much that I immediately purchased”
“it really reads like young adult luterature”
“entrenched this view in my mind undisputedly”
“That was a real page turner.”
“the dude in Crime and Punishment is just such a massive loser”
“If you are going to read in English, I can recommend the translation by Oliver Ready”
“The 2nd attempt's translation used more contemporary language, which made it much more understandable”
“useful for non-obvious idioms and cultural/contemporary references”
“I felt like it was good for me”
“I loved Crime & Punishment exactly for those reasons”
“one of the very few school curriculum mandatory books that I enjoyed reading and actively got ahead of the required per week pages”
“I still think C&P is the best of his books”
“I was blown away by Crime and Punishment.”
“The murder scene itself is so vivid that it's easy to forget that the long middle of the novel is the cat-and-mouse game”
“I thoroughly enjoyed Crime and Punishment”
“The huge pages of French didn't help.”
“I never read a book that depressed me more than Crime and Punishment.”
“I enjoyed those books very much.”
“this is the novel I enjoyed the most in my life”
“I didn't find much in the style to savor. Really it was more thematically interesting and suspenseful.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.