A man must endure relentless physical and mental punishments as retribution for his act of murder.

"Originally published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, in 1992."--verso of title page. "This translation has been made from the Russian text of the Soviet Academy of Sciences edition, volumes six and seven (Leningrad, 1973). Quotations from Dostoevsky's letters and notebooks in the foreword are from Konstantin Mochulsky, Dostoevsky : His Life and Work, translated by Michael A. Minihan (Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1967)."--Title page verso. "It is a murder story, told from a murderer's point of view, that implicates even the most innocent reader in its enormities. It is a cat-and-mouse game between a tormented young killer and a cheerfully implacable detective. It is a preternaturally acute investigation of the forces that impel a man toward sin, suffering, and grace. Ever since it publication in 1866 Crime and Punishment has intrigued readers and sorely tested translators, the best of whom seemed to capture one facet of Dostoevsky's masterpiece while missing the rest. Now Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky render this elusive and wildly innovative novel with an energy, suppleness, and range of voice that do full justice to the genius of its creator"--Back cover. This edition reworked to correct errors in translation, to update word choices, and to improve phrasing in an effort to be more true to the original Russian work.